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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2015)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 Look to whiny dogs, science for hope W hen my dog emits a long, high- pitched hum from his nose, I often tell him, “Use your words.” (He hasn’t yet, EXWZKHQKH¿QDOO\GRHVLWZLOOKDYHEHHQ well worth the years of encouragement.) When he hums around others, I explain he’s so packed with goodness that it comes seeping out like sweat from a ballerina, except in the form of a rather annoying noise. Or if he has a partic- XODUO\ SODLQWLYH WRQH , blame it on the unbear- able lightness of being Duncan. If it seems I spend an unusual amount of time an- alyzing my dog’s thought processes and emotional well-being, well, maybe so. He intrigues me. Duncan and other GRJV DUH ¿UPO\ JURXQG- Matt ed in the moment they’re Winters in. They are predisposed to happiness. If they’re feeling sorry for them- VHOYHVLW¶VXVXDOO\IRUDQHDVLO\XQGHUVWDQGDEOH UHDVRQDEVHQFHRIDIDYRULWHSHUVRQRUDKXPDQ Duncan, when in a pensive mood, wears the coffee tablecloth like a droopy hat. pack member’s unwillingness to share his dark chocolate marzipan bar. Unburdened by complicated expectations, they are content with companionship, clean wa- ter, decent food and a warm place to sleep. All WKHGRJV,NQRZORYHOLIH²H[FHSWIRUWKHÀHDV DQGORXG¿UHZRUNV 'RJVGHYRWHQRWLPHWRZRUU\LQJDERXWVXS- SRVHG FODVKHV EHWZHHQ FLYLOL]DWLRQV 1HLWKHU , think, should we. Considering how seldom most SHRSOH DYDLO WKHPVHOYHV RI WKH OHVVRQV RI WKH past, they might just as well be dogs. But those ZKRUHDGKLVWRU\¿QGDPSOHFRQVRODWLRQVLQWKH IDFW WKDW IRU DOO RXU ZKLQLQJ WKHUH KDV QHYHU EHHQDEHWWHUWLPHWREHDOLYH If appalling cruelties like the Paris attacks make us feel insecure, it should not be because they are some horrifying new thing. Humanity has DOZD\VKDGLWVPDGGRJV%XWXQWLOYHU\UHFHQW- ly, local authorities would hunt them down, hang them from the city gate, and chances are good that RUGLQDU\ FLWL]HQV LQ WKH QH[W QDWLRQ RYHU ZRXOG QHYHUKDYHEHHQYH[HGE\WKHZKROHDIIDLU 6DGO\LQDQDJHZKHQ\RXFDQKDYHGLQQHULQ Seattle and breakfast the next day on Rue Cler in 3DULVYH[DWLRQVFDQJHWLQRXUIDFHVSUHWW\IDVW We can’t afford to be quite as carefree as a dog. But that’s why we’re spending $65 billion on the Department of Homeland Security this year. I’m content to pay them to do a lot of the worrying for me. A good reason to be optimistic about humani- W\¶VSURVSHFWVLVUHDOL]DWLRQRIKRZIDUZH¶YH come, and how quickly. The literally teetering stacks of books by my autumn bedside include 2008’s The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Gen- eration and the Discovery of the Beauty and Ter- ror of Science by Richard Holmes. For anyone lucky enough to know the Aubrey-Maturin se- ries by Patrick O’Brian, called in The New York Times³WKHEHVWKLVWRULFDOQRYHOVHYHUZULWWHQ´ Age of WonderSURYLGHVDVSLULWHGVXUYH\RIWKH actual “natural philosophers” upon whom Ma- WXULQ¶V¿FWLRQDOFKDUDFWHULVEDVHG Recently rereading O’Brian’s last eight books in combination with Holmes’ Age of Wonder was like taking a time machine back to when Ben )UDQNOLQ ZDV LQYHVWLJDWLQJ HOHFWULFDO SKHQRPH- non, Joseph Banks was botanizing the South Pa- FL¿FDQG:LOOLDP+HUVFKHOZDVGLVFRYHULQJ8UD- QXVWKH¿UVWQHZSODQHWIRXQGVLQFHDQFLHQWWLPHV Matt Winters/EO Media Group In 1830, safety lamps, like the one pictured here, were considered one of the greatest lifesaving inventions of the modern era, allowing miners to carry open flames for illumi- nation in underground coal workings without setting off methane explosions. It is pic- tured with a bison skull and a few other objects in Matt Winters’ “cabinet of curiosities.” +XPSKU\'DY\ZDVDVFLHQFHFHOHEULW\YLU- tually unknown to me until Age of Wonder; an HPEDUUDVVLQJ JDS VLQFH 'DY\ PD\ ZHOO KDYH VDYHGWKHOLYHVRIPDQ\RIP\DQFHVWRUV$PRQJ RWKHUDFKLHYHPHQWV'DY\ZDVFHOHEUDWHGIRULQ- YHQWLQJDODPSWKDWDYRLGHGGHDGO\PHWKDQHJDV H[SORVLRQVLQWKHPLQHVRI1RUWKHDVW(QJODQGLQ which a quarter of my male forebears worked. 0\ RI¿FH LV D NLQG RI 9LFWRULDQ FXULRVLW\ cabinet piled with obscure historical and family objects, including my grandfather’s safety lamp, ZKLFK,¶YHKDGVLQFH,ZDVDER\,ODVWOLWLWDERXW 45 years ago, but it was always a minor mys- WHU\WRPHKRZDQRSHQÀDPHFRXOGEHFDUULHG through methane without something blowing up. Thanks to Age of Wonder, now I know. S XUYH\LQJWKHYLFWRULHVRIKLVHUD+HUVFKHO¶V VRQ -RKQ ² KLPVHOI D JUHDW VFLHQWLVW DQG SUHVLGHQW RI WKH 5R\DO 6RFLHW\ ² FRXQWHG 'DY\¶VVDIHW\ODPSDVRQHRIPDQNLQG¶VJUHDW- HVWOLIHVDYHUV$OVRRQ+HUVFKHO¶VOLVWWKHOLJKW- ning conductor, the lighthouse lens, iodine and FKORULQHGLVLQIHFWDQW7KHVHWKLQJV²VRPHVWLOO commonplace, some entirely outmoded by sub- VHTXHQWDGYDQFHV²DOOHYLDWHGPRUHGHDWKDQG Matt Winters/EO Media Group Humanity has always had its mad dogs. VXIIHULQJWKDQFDQEHHDVLO\LPDJLQHG)HZDOLYH today would exist if our great-grandmothers’ in- fected scratches had not been cured by iodine, or great-great-grandfathers’ boats weren’t kept off the rocks by a friendly Fresnel lighthouse lens, piercing the darkness 20 miles out at sea. Quoting Shakespeare, in 1830 Herschel ZURWHWKDWDFRQWHPSODWLYHPDQ¿QGV³µ7RQJXHV in trees, books in the running brooks; sermons LQ VWRQHV DQG JRRG LQ HYHU\WKLQJ¶ :KHUH WKH XQLQIRUPHGDQGXQHQTXLULQJH\HSHUFHLYHVQHL- WKHUQRYHOW\QRUEHDXW\KHZDONVLQWKHPLGVWRI wonders.” If there is any good reason to be discouraged with our times, it may be that so many politicians and citizens willfully reject science and all the DVWRQLVKPHQWVLWUHYHDOV7KH\DUHOLNHZRHIXOO\ VSRLOHGFKLOGUHQZKROLYHLQDPDUYHORXVPDQ- sion, deliberately ignorant of the hard work of generations that it took to put them there. Closing Age of Wonder, Holmes writes this ZLVH YDOHGLFWLRQ ³$ERYH DOO ZH QHHG WKUHH WKLQJV WKDW D VFLHQWL¿F FXOWXUH FDQ VXVWDLQ WKH VHQVHRILQGLYLGXDOZRQGHUWKHSRZHURIKRSH DQGWKHYLYLGEXWquesting belief in a future for the globe.” :H¶OOKDYHWRZRUNDWLW²VROXWLRQVGRQ¶W ¿QGWKHPVHOYHV%XWWKHUHDUHPDQ\UHDVRQVWR be optimistic about the human race. — M.S.W. Matt Winters is editor and publisher of the Chinook Observer and Coast River Business Journal. Seven strikes: Obama’s phony war By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group W $6+,1*721²7HOOPH:KDW¶V a suicide bomber doing with a passport? He’s not going anywhere. And, though I’m not a religious scholar, I doubt that a passport is required in paradise for DPDUW\UWRDFFHVVKLVEODFNH\HGYLUJLQV A Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the terrorists. Why was it there? Un- doubtedly, to back up the Islamic State boast WKDWLWLVLQ¿OWUDWLQJRSHUDWLYHVDPLGWKHUHIX- JHHVÀRRGLQJ(XURSH7KHSDVVSRUWPD\KDYH EHHQIDNHEXWWKHWHUURULVW¶V¿QJHUSULQWVZHUH not. They match those of a man who just a PRQWKHDUOLHUKDGFRPHWKURXJK*UHHFHRQKLV way to kill Frenchmen in Paris. If the other goal of the Paris massacre was to frighten France out of the air campaign in 6\ULD²WKHZD\6SDLQZLWKGUHZIURPWKH,UDT War after the terror attack on its trains in 2004 ²WKH\SLFNHGWKHZURQJFRXQWU\)UDQFHLVD serious post-colonial power, as demonstrated LQ ,YRU\ &RDVW WKH &HQWUDO$IULFDQ 5HSXEOLF DQG0DOLZKLFK)UDQFHVDYHGIURPDQ,VODPLVW WDNHRYHULQ Indeed, socialist President Francois Hol- Obama’s priorities lie elsewhere. lande has responded furiously to his country’s ZLWK DQ LQWHQVL¿HG DLU FDPSDLJQ KXQ- dreds of raids on suspected domestic terrorists, a state of emergency and proposed changes in the constitution to make France less hospitable to jihad. Meanwhile, Barack Obama, titular head of the free world, has responded to Paris with weariness and annoyance. His news confer- ence in Turkey was marked by a stunning tone RI SDVVLYLW\ GHWDFKPHQW DQG ODVVLWXGH FRP- pounded by impatience and irritability at the YHU\ VXJJHVWLRQ WKDW KLV 6\ULD VWUDWHJ\ PLJKW be failing. The only time he showed any passion was in denouncing Republicans for hardhearted- ness toward Muslim refugees. One hundred and twenty-nine innocents lie dead but it takes WKH*23WRNLQGOH2EDPD¶VLUH The rest was mere petulance, dismissing criticisms of his Syria policy as popping off. ,QFRQYHQLHQWO\IRU2EDPDRQHRIWKRVHSRS- per-offers is Dianne Feinstein, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Commit- tee. She directly contradicted Obama’s blithe assertion, offered the day before the Paris at- tack, that the Islamic State (aka ISIL) was con- WDLQHGDQGQRWJDLQLQJVWUHQJWK³,KDYHQHYHU been more concerned,” said Feinstein. “ISIL is not contained. ISIL is expanding.” Obama defended his policy by listing its multifaceted elements. Such as, “I hosted at the 8QLWHG 1DWLRQV DQ HQWLUH GLVFXVVLRQ RI FRXQ- WHUWHUURULVPVWUDWHJLHVDQGFXUELQJWKHÀRZRI IRUHLJQ¿JKWHUV´$Q³HQWLUH´GLVFXVVLRQPLQG \RX1RWDSDUWLDORQH7KH\WUHPEOHLQ5DTTD $QG³:HKDYHPRELOL]HGFRXQWULHVWRJR after ISIL.” Yes, and what would we do with- out Luxembourg? Obama complained of being criticized for not being bellicose enough. But the complaint is not about an absence of bellicosity but about an absence of passion, of urgency and RIFRPPLWPHQWWRWKH¿JKW7KHDLUFDPSDLJQ RYHU6\ULDDYHUDJHVVHYHQVWULNHVDGD\6HY- HQ,Q2SHUDWLRQ'HVHUW6WRUPZHÀHZ VRUWLHVDGD\(YHQLQWKH.RVRYRFDPSDLJQ ZHDYHUDJHG2EDPDLVGRLQJMXVWHQRXJK LQ6\ULDWRJLYHWKHDSSHDUDQFHRIPRWLRQ\HW QRWQHDUO\HQRXJKWRKDYHDQ\FKDQFHRIVXF- cess. Obama’s priorities lie elsewhere. For ex- ample, climate change, which he considers the greatest “threat to our future.” And, of course, FORVLQJ*XDQWDQDPR2EDPDDFWXDOO\UHOHDVHG ¿YHGHWDLQHHVRQWKHGD\DIWHUWKH3DULVPDV- sacre. He is passionate DERXW*XDQWDQDPR,W¶VD great terrorist recruiting tool, he repeatedly ex- plains. Obama still seems WR EHOLHYH WKDW ² HYHQ Charles as the Islamic State has Krauthammer produced an astonishing ZDYH RI WHUURULVW UHFUXLW- ment with a campaign of brutality, butchery DQG HQVODYHPHQW ¿OPHG LQ OLYLQJ FRORU :KR FDQVWLOOEHOLHYHWKDW\RXQJ0XVOLPVDUHOHDY- LQJ(XURSHWRMRLQWKH,VODPLF6WDWHEHFDXVHRI *XDQWDQDPR" Obama’s other passion is protecting Islam IURP DQ\ SRVVLEOH DVVRFLDWLRQ ZLWK ³YLROHQW extremism.” The Islamic State is nothing but “killers with fantasies of glory.” Obama can QHYHUEULQJKLPVHOIWRDFNQRZOHGJHZK\WKHVH SHRSOHNLOODQGZLOOLQJO\GLHWRDGYDQFHDUDG- ical Islamist millenarianism that is purposeful, LQGHHGHVFKDWRORJLFDO²DQGDSSHDOLQJHQRXJK WRKDYHFUHDWHGWKHODUJHVWPRVWGDQJHURXVWHU- URULVWPRYHPHQWRQHDUWK Hollande is trying to gather a real coalition WR GHVWUR\ WKH ,VODPLF 6WDWH HYHQ DV 2EDPD touts his phony 65. For 11 post-World War II presidencies, coalition leading has been the role of the United States. Where is America today? Awaiting a president. The next pres- ident. 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 Founded in 1873
