OPINION
4A
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
New citizens remind
us that it is YaluaEle
W
‘This is your place now.
This is your history.’
hen you hear the words “naturalization ceremony,” you
picture a clinical, windowless setting in a federal of-
¿ ce Euilding 7hat¶s why it was inspired to moYe a ceremony
for new citizens of Oregon and s outhwest Washington to Fort
&latsop at the /ewis and &larN 1ational +istorical 3arN
86 5ep 6uzanne %onamici
had this idea after of¿ ciating at
a ceremony some months ago in
a 3ortland federal Euilding 7he
congresswoman suggested Fort
&latsop
7he 1ational 3arN 6erYice is
custodian of many sites that haYe
special meaning in the history of
this nation $s 6uperintendent
6cott 7ucNer noted, Fort &latsop¶s
existence was essential to our re-
gion¶s Eecoming part of $merica
It is often said that immigrants
who attain 86 citizenship Yalue
it more than many of us who were
Eorn into citizenship 7hey haYe to
worN for it
6eeing a group of new
$mericans, who came from a
Eroad array of other places ranging
from the Ukraine to Mexico, re-
minds us that gaining U6 citizen-
ship is widely regarded as a prize
During an election season in which
some presidential candidates will
deYalue immigrants and others will
tell us how Ead we haYe it, seeing a
group of new citizens is a remind-
er that in the world today, $merica
is seen as a Yery attractiYe place, a
golden opportunity
6ince , the 1ational 3ark
6erYice and the U6 Department
of +omeland 6ecurity haYe had an
agreement to moYe these ceremo-
nies into national parks “1ational
parks preserYe signi¿ cant natural
resources and cultural heritage
sites and are places where one
can learn aEout and reÀ ect on the
$merican identity and the respon-
siEilities of citizenship,” says -on
-arYis, director of the 1ational
3ark 6erYice
5eÀ ecting on 7hursday¶s cere-
mony at Fort &latsop, 7ucker de-
scriEed the meaning of the place
and the ceremony “7his is your
place now 7his is your history”
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015
I covered Donald Trump
and lived to tell about it
F
or reporters, Donald 7rump threw
down the gauntlet 7hursday night
at the 5epuElican presidential candi-
date deEate “7hey¶re a Yery dishonest
lot, generally speaking, in the world of
politics”
I can only hope that I was not among
those to whom he was referring I kind
of thought “7he Donald” liked me
B Y
I had Eeen coYering 7rump since
R.J.
, shortly after he purchased the
M ARX
-acre property he calls “6eYen
6prings” 7he property, located in New
York¶s Westchester &ounty, ironically
had Eeen owned Ey a newspaper fam-
ily — Katharine Graham, the longtime
puElisher of the Washington Post, and Digest founder Dewitt Wallace
Eefore her, her father, Eugene Meyer, a
5eluctantly, 7rump gaYe up dreams
¿ nancier and puElisher who would haYe of the helicopters and the golf course,
made 7rump himself proud, purchasing too, and why shouldn¶t he — he was
the newspaper at a Eankruptcy Euilding an international golf empire,
auction for , Woodward and highlighted Ey the 7rump National Golf
%ernstein were to follow many years &luE in New York¶s nearEy %riarcliff,
later
with new courses in 6cotland, Palm
When 7rump purchased the prop- %each, /os $ngeles and the United
erty for million — a
$raE Emirates
consideraEle Eargain, eYen
What followed was a
It was decades-long
years ago — he inherit-
¿ ght to Euild
ed conserYation easements,
luxury
homes
on the 6eYen
as if
land coYenants, along with
6prings property, one that,
you
woods and meadows home
as a newspaperman man,
to forest creatures, natiYe
allowed us to gleefully
were
plants, eYen Eald eagles
coYer his eYery utterance
$s the new owner,
Homes — now that made
the
7rump promptly sought
more sense, especially with
to address the most crying
the crying need for afford-
only
need for that afÀ uent West-
aEle housing in the area
chester community a golf person
Each McMansion would
course His intention was to
Ee , to ,-square-
in the
Ering a world-class course
feet, perfect for the aspiring
that would host his Yersion
7he enYiron-
world. Eillionaire
of the Masters, replete with
ment ¿ gured not at all in
limos for oil sheiks and a he-
7rump¶s plans at a city
licopter pad to proYide easy access for meeting he told Eoard memEers “If
Yisiting golfers
you want squirrels, moYe to 9ermont”
6tudies quickly determined that the 5ead Oregon, the W est & oast equiYa-
pesticides and chemicals used on the lent of that green, anarchic state tucked
course would haYe potentially contam- into northern New England and repre-
inated the nearEy Mianus 5iYer, source sented Ey 6ocialist %ernie 6anders
of drinking water for , nearEy
7here was one awkward moment as
residents 7raf¿ c from limos would dis- a reporter during a 6eYen 6prings prop-
rupt the town¶s miles of dirt roads and erty site walk conducted Ey the local
equestrian traf¿ c $s for the helicopters, wetlands commission I decided to tag
there was a Eat¶s chance for approYal, as along, ¿ guring it was a puElic meeting
7rump¶s new neighEor, corporate raider and what Eetter opportunity to gawk
Nelson Peltz star of the s corpo- 7rump wasn¶t there, Eut his war caEi-
rate exposp “%arEarians at the Gate”, net was, and they were disconcerted to
had already Eeen shot down Ey the see a reporter with gasp notepad and
town and courts in his Eid for a heliport camera Perhaps they were frightened
on his tony property, known as “High we would report on the sharp-shinned
Winds,” formerly owned Ey 5eaders¶ hawks or red-Eellied woodpeckers nest-
CANNON
SHOTS
ing in the woods Freedom of the press
Eeing what it was, I was told to take a
hike Off the property
While local Eoards and commis-
sions kept whittling down the plan, and
lawsuits from the Nature &onserYancy
and nearEy homeowners slowed the
process, 7rump ultimately won approY-
als for 6eYen 6prings in , closing
the loop on a -year process
7he most amusing recent encounter
with “7 he Donald” came in , when
the /iEyan dictator was still aliYe and
committing atrocities Moammar Gad-
ha¿ was at the United Nations to ad-
dress the General $ssemEly and need-
ed a place in New York to maintain his
entourage, including his many wiYes
and children
6tep up Donald 7rump
7rump offered the use of 6eYen
6prings estate on a short-term Easis for
Gadha¿ ¶s tent city 7he /iEyan contin-
gent eYen went as far to set up on the
property with lawn chairs and %ed-
ouin-style tents Only the resourceful
thinking of a local town superYisor
— the equiYalent of a local city man-
ager — could Ering the dictator to his
knees It is widely EelieYed that 6u-
perYisor /ee 5oEerts¶ adroit interYen-
tion in the affair preYented a possiEle
international incident, as she shrewdly
inYoked a local code forEidding tem-
porary outdoor structures and sent the
caraYan packing
7here was no comment from
7rump
While 7rump often used underlings
to do his dirty work, “7he Donald”
would occasionally Ee surprisingly ac-
cessiEle, especially when things were
going his way
7here was always a frisson of ex-
citement when our of¿ ce manager
put her hand oYer the mouthpiece and
whispered “Donald 7rump¶s on the
phone for you!”
$nd when he spoke it was as if
you were the only person in the world
“5-!” he exclaimed “-ust wanted to
make sure you heard the news!”
7hat is the mark of a career politi-
cian you can disagree with almost eY-
erything he says and does, and still Ee
charmed as heck Ey the sound of his
Yoice on the phone
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s
South County reporter and editor of
the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach
Gazette.
Hot water ripples
Just who is helping Iran’s hard-liners?
through shell¿ sh industry
S
Crucial that regulators — and
growers — get it right
ide effects continue rippling
through the coastal economy
from this year¶s warm ocean tem-
peratures, with the potential that
Willapa oyster growers will Ee on
the receiYing end of eYen more
regulations $lready, Eased on an
existing desire to enhance shell¿ sh
safety, growers must ice their prod-
uct much Tuicker than in the past
$s reported in last Friday¶s
edition of Coast River Business
Journal, the Port of Peninsula in
Nahcotta this summer Eegan sup-
plying large quantities of ice to
growers who haYe to comply with
a rule that sharply cuts the length
of time they haYe Eefore harYested
oysters are Erought down to a safe
degrees
%acteria can grow in oysters
that aren¶t kept suf¿ ciently cool,
Must as is true for other perishaEle
foods such as chicken and dairy
products In shell¿ sh, this can lead
to acute gastrointestinal distress, a
phenomenon Mark 7wain famous-
ly encountered in NeYada in ,
leading him to unleash a diatriEe
aEout “scoofy” oysters that effec-
tiYely killed the Mexican oyster
industry In modern times, U6
oyster growers take great pains to
sell only the safest products, since
doing otherwise can result in cus-
tomer dissatisfaction, Department
of Health scrutiny and a torrent of
Ead puElicity
In effect since May , Washington
state¶s new shell¿ sh-cooling rule
impacts aEout of the state¶s
license holders Notwithstanding
a recent controYersy aEout how to
control mud shrimp, Willapa %ay
famously produces consistent-
ly healthy oysters and clams, and
thus is in the lowest-risk category
for temperature-safety compliance
7his premium reputation results in
YaluaEle export sales to places like
Hong .ong
(Yen so, ensuring the rules are
followed will make aquaculture
operations more challenging on
Willapa, a water Eody square
miles in size — the second larg-
est on the West &oast after 6an
Francisco %ay
5ule implementation and fol-
low-up will Ee complicated this year
due to the “%loE” — a pool of warm
water in the Paci¿ c Must offshore —
plus an El Nino temperature pattern
in the equatorial Paci¿ c that scientists
suspect may Eecome the strongest
in recorded history 7his enormous
patch of sun-heated water, concen-
trated Ey cyclical wind and current
conditions, could Ee a Muggernaut
that throws conditions out of natural
Ealance through the ocean, and per-
haps worldwide It is, in other words,
not an ideal year in which to haYe
state regulators carefully weighing
future steps on how to safely manage
shell¿ sh temperatures
Yet another complication is the
Eloom of a type of marine organism
that sometimes produces domoic
acid, a suEstance distinct from the
Vibrio parahaemolyticus Eacteria
that causes scoofy oysters Domoic
acid poisoning can resemEle sick-
ness caused Ey YiErio, meaning it
will Ee more dif¿ cult to identify
the cause of shell¿ sh-related com-
plaints, if any arise later this year
$ study estimated more
than million in economic
Eene¿ ts from shell¿ sh farming in
Paci¿ c &ounty, money that sus-
tains other Eusinesses throughout
the &olumEia-Paci¿ c region It is
crucial that regulators get it right
when it comes to shell¿ sh safety
and that growers continue to ¿ nd
effectiYe ways to adapt to a chang-
ing ocean and climate
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
W
$6HING7ON — 7he latest
Quinnipiac poll shows that the
$merican puElic reMects the president¶s
Iran deal Ey more than -to- 7his is
astonishing 7he puElic generally giYes
the president deference on major trea-
ties -ust a few weeks ago, a majority
supported the deal
What happened? People learned
what¶s in it
$nd don¶t Ee fooled Ey polls that
present, as fact, the administration¶s
position in the very question 7he
Washington Post$%& poll assures the
respondent that, for example, “interna-
tional inspectors would monitor Iran¶s
facilities, and if Iran is caught Ereak-
ing the agreement economic sanctions
would Ee imposed again Do you sup-
port or oppose this agreement?”
Well, if you put it that way, sure %ut
it is precisely Eecause these claims are
so tendentious and misleading that puE-
lic — and congressional — opinion is
turning
Inspections? EYeryone now knows
that “anytime, anywhere” — indis-
pensaEle for a clandestine program in
a country twice the size of 7exas with
a long history of hiding and cheating
— has Eeen changed to “You¶Ye got
days and then we¶re coming in for
a surprise Yisit” New York restaurants,
oEserYed -ackie Mason, get more intru-
siYe inspections than the Iranian nuclear
program
6napEack sanctions? EYeryone
knows that once the international sanc-
tions are lifted, they are neYer coming
Eack MoreoYer, consider the illogic
of President OEama¶s argument 7he
theme of his $merican UniYersity
speech Wednesday was that the only
alternatiYe to what he Erought Eack
from 9ienna is war Eecause sanctions
— eYen the more seYere sanctions that
&ongress has Eeen demanding — will
neYer deter the Iranians %ut if sanctions
don¶t work, how can you argue that the
hands of Congress or, more
Iranians will now Ee deterred
accurately, of congressional
from cheating Ey the threat
Democrats It is only Ee-
of sanctions? 6napEack
cause so many Democrats
sanctions, mind you, that
are defecting that OEama
will ineYitaEly Ee weaker
gaYe the $U speech in the
and more loophole-ridden
¿ rst place $nd why he
than the existing ones
tried so mightily to turn the
$nd then came news of
argument into a partisan
the secret side agreements
issue — those warmonger-
Eetween Iran and the In-
ing 5epuElicans attacking
ternational $tomic Energy
Charles
a president offering peace
$gency 7hese concern past
Krauthammer
in our time OEama stooped
nuclear actiYity and inspec-
low, accusing the 5epuEli-
tions of the Parchin military
facility where Iran is suspected of haY- can caucus of making “common cause”
with the Iranian “hard-liners” who
ing tested nuclear detonation deYices
We don¶t know what¶s in these side shout “Death to $merica”
Forget the gutter ad hominem 7his
deals $nd we will neYer know, says the
administration It¶s “standard practice,” is delusional Does OEama really Ee-
you see, for such I$E$ agreements to lieYe the Death-to-$merica hard-liners
are some kind of KKK fringe? 7hey
remain secret
are the goYernment, for God¶s sake
— the entire state apparatus of the Is-
Congress
lamic 5epuElic from the 5eYolutionary
Guards to the supreme leader $yatollah
doesn’t know
Khamenei who for decades haYe propa-
gated, encouraged and applauded those
what’s in
Yery same “Death to $merica” chants
Common cause with the Iranian
these side
hard-liners? Who more than OEama?
agreements,
For years, they conduct a rogue nu-
clear weapons program in de¿ ance of
but Iran does.
multiple 6ecurity Council declarations
of its illegality Eacked Ey sanctions
Well, this treaty is not standard prac- and emEargoes OEama rewards them
tice It¶s the most important treaty of our with a treaty that legitimates their en-
time Yet, &ongress is asked to ratify tire nuclear program, lifts the emEargo
this “historic diplomatic Ereakthrough” on conYentional weapons and Eallistic
OEama while Eeing denied access to missiles, and reYiYes an economy -- de-
scriEed Ey Iran¶s president as headed
the heart of the inspection regime
&ongress doesn¶t know what¶s in Eack to “the 6tone $ge” under sanc-
these side agreements, Eut Iran does tions — with an injection of up to
$nd just this past Monday, $li $kEar Eillion in unfrozen assets, permission
9elayati, a top adYiser to the supreme for the unlimited selling of oil, and full
leader, declared that “entry into our mil- access to the international ¿ nancial sys-
tem
itary sites is aEsolutely forEidden”
With this agreement, this repressiYe,
One secret side deal could eYen al-
low Iran to proYide its own soil samples intolerant, aggressiYe, supremely an-
! from Parchin $nd now satellite im- ti-$merican regime — the chief export-
agery shows Iran Eulldozing and sani- er of terror in the world — is stronger
tizing Parchin as we speak 7he Yeri¿ - and more entrenched than it has eYer
Eeen
cation regime has turned comic
Common cause, indeed
7his tragicomedy is now in the
Where to write
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonami-
ci (D) 5ayEurn HO%,
Washington, DC, Phone
- - Fax --
District office 6W
Millikan Way, 6uite , %ea-
Yerton, O5 Phone -
- Fax --
WeE Eonamicihouse goY
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D)
Hart 6enate Of¿ ce %uilding,
Washington, DC Phone
-- WeE wwwmerkley
senategoY
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
Dirksen 6enate Of¿ ce %uilding,
Washington, DC, Phone
-- WeE wwwwyden
senategoY
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D) 6tate
Capitol, Court 6treet NE, H-,
6alem, O5 Phone --
WeE wwwlegstateoruswitt
Email repEradwitt#stateorus