OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016
Defy US, pay no price
Founded in 1873
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
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
President Obama
does heavy lifting
He moves the center on gun violence
resident Barack Obama has committed an unspeakable
political sin. He has dared to speak truth about America’s
epidemic of gun deaths. What the president has said and done
is what any responsible parent would do. There are plenty of
such politicians who are smart enough to get that, but they are
cowered by the 1ational 5iÀ e Association.
P
There is a ridiculous fear,
fed by the gun lobby, that any
strengthening of background
checks or sales of assault weap-
ons is a precursor to taking guns
away from responsible gun
owners.
The stark reality of America’s
tide of gun violence is easily
understood from the vantage
point of our northern neighbor,
Canada, or our industrialized
ally, Japan. To people living in
those countries, America ap-
pears barbaric in its willingness
to tolerate massacre after mas-
sacre, knowing that children are
prey in many of them.
The president stated the
case succinctly in a column
published by The New York
Times last Friday. “Gun deaths
and injuries constitute one of
the greatest threats to public
health and to the safety of the
American people,” wrote the
president. “Every year, more
than 30,000 Americans have
their lives cut short by guns.
Suicides. Domestic violence.
Gang shootouts. Accidents.
Hundreds of thousands of
Americans have lost brothers
and sisters, or buried their own
children. We’re the only ad-
vanced nation on earth that sees
this kind of mass violence with
this frequency.”
One could say Mr. Obama
has merely stated the obvious.
But in the upside down world
the NRA creates, anyone who
says we don’t need to live with
all this gun violence is deemed a
dangerous person.
Consequential presidents do
heavy lifting. That is what this
president’s actions and words
were. A decade from now,
Americans will recognize this
moment when the center of
gravity on gun violence shifted.
Crab is back; cash
begins to À ow
Partnerships between crabbers, the
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35-day delay in the start
of crab season was a loud
reminder of the continuing
importance of this ¿ shery for
our region’s economy and the
well-being of local families.
Two decades ago, a lengthy
crab closure was highly trau-
matic, putting many crab-indus-
try families on the charity soup
line.
Impacts this time were less
visible, though still painful.
Local crabbers were unable
to capitalize on Christmas de-
mand. Paychecks for boat own-
ers and crews similarly were
long delayed, suppressing en-
thusiasm for December spend-
ing. In some cases, this lack of
cash continues, as processors
don’t immediately pay for de-
liveries — in effect borrowing
from already cash-strapped ¿ sh-
ermen.
It is a cause for real celebra-
tion to see crab boats coming
and going in the river. Our story
this week with accompanying
amazing photographs by Joshua
Bessex was a tribute to the U.S.
Coast Guard’s starring role in
keeping the À eet safe.
A drop in marine toxin lev-
els that permitted crab season to
proceed also provided a green
light for the start of razor clam-
A
ming this week on the Long
Beach (Washington ) Peninsula.
A three-month delay subtracted
as much as $3 million in con-
sumer spending from Paci¿ c
County retailers, restaurants,
gasoline stations and others. In
turn, this meant business own-
ers and employees didn’t have
as much money to shop with at
Christmastime at regional retail
magnets like Warrenton, Astoria
and Seaside.
Understanding, tracking and
potentially mitigating the down-
sides of algal blooms will re-
quire a greater state investment
in marine biology. Adaptive
management that allows crab-
bers, clam diggers and other
resource users to maximize har-
vests at times when toxins are
low will be key to our economic
well-being this century.
Coastal partnerships and col-
laborations between crabbers,
the Coast Guard, ¿ shery agen-
cies and others are a pleasant
contrast to the enmity in the
news in southeast Oregon. All
is not always perfect in citi-
zen-government relations here,
but by working together we’ll
have a better chance of deal-
ing with a changing environ-
ment and other 21st century
challenges.
The editorials on this page are written by Steve Forrester, editor of 7KH'DLO\
Astorian (sforrester@dailyastorian.com) and Matt Winters, editor of The Chi-
nook (Wash.) Observer (mwinters@chinookobserver.com).
ASHINGTON — If
you’re going to engage
in a foreign policy capitulation,
might as well do it when everyone
is getting tanked and otherwise
occupied. Say, New Year’s Eve.
W
Here’s the story. In October, Iran
test-¿ res a nuclear-capable ballistic
missile in brazen violation of Security
Council resolutions prohibiting such
launches. President Barack Obama
does nothing. One month later, Iran
does it again. The administration
makes a few gestures at the U.N. Then
nothing. Then ¿ nally, on Dec. 30, the
White House announces a few sanc-
tions.
They are weak, aimed mostly at in-
dividuals and designed essentially for
show. Amazingly, even that proves too
much. By 10 p.m. that night, the ad-
ministration caves. The White House
sends out an email saying that sanc-
tions are off — and the Iranian presi-
dent orders the military to expedite the
missile program.
Is there any red line left? First, the
Syrian chemical weapons. Then the
administration insistence that there
would be no nuclear deal unless Iran
accounted for its past nuclear activ-
ities. (It didn’t.) And unless Iran per-
mitted inspection of its Parchin nuclear
testing facility. (It was allowed self-in-
spection and declared itself clean.)
And now, illegal ballistic missiles.
The premise of the nuclear deal
was that it would constrain Iranian
actions. It’s had precisely the opposite
effect. It has deterred us from offering
even the mildest pushback to any Ira-
nian violations lest Iran walk away and
leave Obama legacy-less.
Just two weeks ago, Iran’s Revo-
lutionary Guards conducted live-¿ re
exercises near the Strait of Hormuz.
It gave nearby U.S. vessels exactly 23
seconds of warning. One rocket was
launched 1,500 yards from the USS
Harry S. Truman.
Nimr, that has brought the
Obama’s
response?
region to a boil. Iranians
None.
torched the Saudi Embassy.
The Gulf Arabs — rich,
The Saudis led other Sunni
weak and, since FDR, de-
states in breaking relations
pendent on America for
with Tehran.
security — are bewildered.
The Saudis feel sur-
They’re still reeling from
rounded, and it’s not para-
the nuclear deal, which
noia. To their north, Iran
Obama declared would be
dominates a Shiite crescent
unaffected by Iranian mis-
stretching
from Iraq, Syria
behavior elsewhere. The
Charles
and
Lebanon
to the Mediter-
result was to assure Tehran
Krauthammer
ranean. To the Saudi south,
that it would pay no price
Iran has been arming Ye-
for its aggression in Syria
and Yemen, subversion in Saudi Ara- men’s Houthi rebels since at least 2009.
The danger is rising. For years, Iran
bia and Bahrain, and support for ter-
has been supporting anti-regime agi-
rorism.
tation among Saudi Arabia’s minority
Shiites. The Persian Gulf is Iran’s ul-
Obama
timate prize. The fall of the House of
Saud would make Iran the undisputed
seems not to
regional hegemon and an emerging
global
power.
understand
For the United States, that would be
the greatest geopolitical setback since
that
China fell to communism in 1949. Yet
disconnecting
Obama seems oblivious. Worse, he
appears inert in the face of the three
the nuclear
great challenges to the post-Cold War
American order. Iran is only the most
issue gave
glaring. China is challenging the sta-
tus quo in the South China Sea, just
the mullahs
last week landing its ¿ rst aircraft on
license to
an arti¿ cial island hundreds of miles
beyond the Chinese coast. We deny
hunt in the
China’s claim and declare these to be
international waters, yet last month we
region.
meekly apologized when a B-52 over-
À ew one of the islands. We said it was
Obama seems not to understand inadvertent.
The world sees and takes note. As
that disconnecting the nuclear issue
gave the mullahs license to hunt in it does our response to the other great
the region. For the Saudis, however, U.S. adversary — Russia. What’s hap-
it’s not just blundering but betrayal. pened to Obama’s vaunted “isolation”
From the very beginning, they’ve seen of Russia for its annexation of Crimea
Obama tilting toward Tehran as he and assault on the post-Cold War Eu-
fancies himself Nixon in China, turn- ropean settlement? Gone. Evaporat-
ing Iran into a strategic partner in man- ed. John Kerry plays lapdog to Sergei
Lavrov. Obama meets openly with
aging the Middle East.
This is even scarier because it Vladimir Putin in Turkey, then in Par-
is delusional. If anything, Obama’s is. And is now practically begging him
openhanded appeasement has encour- to join our side in Syria.
There is no price for defying Pax
aged Iran’s regional adventurism and
Americana — not even trivial sanc-
intense anti-Americanism.
The Saudis, sensing abandonment, tions on Iranian missile-enablers. Our
are near panic. Hence the reckless enemies know it. Our allies see it —
execution of the ¿ rebrand Shiite in- and sense they’re on their own, and
surrectionist, Sheikh Nimr Baqr al- may not survive.
The self-reliant generation
By DAVID BROOKS
New York Times News Service
ast month Fox News re-
leased a poll showing Hillary
Clinton leading Bernie Sanders
in Iowa by 14 points. But the
amazing part of the poll was the
generation gap. Among likely
caucusgoers under 45, Sanders
was crushing Clinton 56 to 34
percent. Among the older voters,
Clinton was leading 59 to 24.
L
When you look at numbers like that
you get the impression that this millen-
nial generation, having endured the
¿ nancial crash and stagnant wages, is
ready to lead a big leftward push.
Indeed, a Harvard Institute of Pol-
itics poll of Americans 18 to 29 found
that 56 percent want a Democrat to
win the White House while only 36
percent favor a Republican. The left-
ward shift is striking even within the
GOP. According to the Pew Research
Center, young Republicans are much
more moderate than older Republi-
cans. Among millennials who lean
Republican, only 31 percent have con-
sistently conservative views. About 51
percent have a mixture of liberal and
conservative views.
But philosophically millennials are
harder to pin down. According to the
Harvard Public Opinion Project, 37
percent of 18- to 29-year-olds identi-
fy as liberal and 35 percent identify as
conservative.
If you look at how millennials ac-
tually live, you certainly don’t see a
progressive counterculture. In fact,
you see what you’d expect from a gen-
eration that lived through a ¿ nancial
crisis, family instability and political
dysfunction. You see an abstract cele-
bration of creative transformation but
a concrete hunger for order, security
and stability.
According to data from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, millennials change
jobs less frequently than people in oth-
er generations. And a study of 25,000
plan to have kids. They are
millennials in 22 countries
also having less sex. A study
by Jennifer J. Deal and Alec
in the Archives of Sexual
Levenson found that at least
Behavior projected that mil-
40 percent expect to stay
lennials would have eight
with their current employer
sexual partners by middle
for at least nine years. For-
age while boomers had 10
ty-four percent said they
or 11. According to a survey
would be happy to spend
from the online dating ser-
the rest of their career at
vice Match, 49 percent of
their current organization.
people in their 20s have not
Millennials travel and
David
had sex in the past year.
move less than earlier gen-
Brooks
The general impres-
erations. They are less like-
ly to have cars, and their relative lack sion one gets is of a generation that is
of driving time is not compensated for stressed, energetic, creative, skeptical
by the use of other modes of transpor- and in the middle of rede¿ ning, and
thinning out, the nature of af¿ liation.
tation.
Another glaring feature of millen- Its members have been thrust into a
nial culture is they have been forced to harsher world where it is necessary to
be self-reliant and to take a loosely net- be guarded, and sensitive to risk. They
worked individualism as the normal want systemic change but there is no
order of the universe. Millennials have compelling form of collective action
extremely low social trust. According available. Their only alternative, which
to Pew Research, just 19 percent say is their genius, is to try to ¿ x their lives
most people can be trusted, compared themselves, through technology and
new forms of social interaction, rather
with 40 percent of boomers.
than mass movements.
Their attitudes toward Social Secu-
rity perfectly reÀ ect this stance. Most
If you look
millennials expect to see no Social
Security bene¿ ts by the time they re-
at how
tire. But they oppose reforms to take
millennials
money away from older workers to
distribute it downward. They just ¿ g-
actually live,
ure they’ll take care of retirement indi-
vidually, often using algorithm-based
you certainly
investment vehicles like Wealthfront.
Politically, this means that millen-
don’t see a
nials may lean Democratic, but unless
progressive
Barack Obama (or Bernie Sanders) is
the ticket, they don’t strongly at-
counterculture. on
tach to the party and it is not clear that
they will vote. They didn’t in the 2014
This leads to detachment from midterm elections. It could be they
large entities. Just 32 percent of mil- are more interested in improving their
lennials say America is the greatest lives by having richer experiences, and
country on Earth, compared with 50 not through the sort of income trans-
percent of boomers. Millennials are fers that come out of Washington.
My own guess is that millennials
very suspicious of organized religion.
Thirty-¿ ve percent say they are unaf- will be a muted political force, at least
¿ liated with any religious group, com- in 2016. But there will be some giant
pared with 23 percent of Generation X cultural explosion down the road. You
just can’t be as detached from solid
(born between 1965 and 1980).
Just 26 percent of millennials are supporting structures as millennials
married, compared with 48 percent of now are and lead a happy middle-aged
boomers at that age. Only 42 percent life. Something is going to change.
Where to write
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washington,
D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-0855.
Fax 202-225-9497. District of¿ ce:
12725 SW Millikan Way, Suite 220,
Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-
469-6010. Fax 503-326-5066. Web:
bonamici.house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Of¿ ce Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Of¿ ce Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-
224-5244. Web: www.wyden.senate.
gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373,
Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1431. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/witt/
Email: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D):
900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.or.us
District of¿ ce: P.O. Box 928, Can-
non Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-
986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/
boone/