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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016 A day and a way for valentines By ALEC CHAPA For The Daily Astorian Valentine’s Day has become redundant and predictable. Y ear after year, the time always rolls around for chocolates and roses, for dinner and wine, for poetic and heartfelt words. The idea of setting aside a day not just for your valentine, but for everyone’s valentine is almost itself romantic, and understandably so. It’s amazing when two people come together to form a deep trust in each other, a bond strong enough to persist even through the absurd, all because of something we call “love.” Through these relationships, each per- son can perhaps come Alec to be more in the pres- Chapa ence of the other. Surely whoever this person is, they could use some appreciation from time to time! So we make it a point to express our affection in one fashion or another, and say something along the lines of “Yes, I still love you and recognize your importance.” Of course, there are so many ways to go about expressing this affection to a partner. Does he like blue? Does she care for poetry? Maybe your partner enjoys simple time in nature with you. All of these characteristics make a person who they are, and over time, the crevices of their character are revealed. Whatever these characteristics are, and whatever moments they are discovered in, as two people develop a relationship the more they begin to share a mutual understanding of each other. In a sense, a relationship is the string- LQJ WRJHWKHU RI RXUVHOYHV ZLWK WKH ¿EHUV RI another, where the fabric is perhaps even more unique than its parts. The more the relation- ship becomes unique, the more meaningful it becomes: that’s why best friends, and only best friends, know all the details! In addition to being unique, relation- ships are also living. As each person contin- ues to grow and change, the ways to express their meaning and importance also changes. Not only is there room for creativity; in some ways, it’s unavoidable. Photo Illustration via Thinkstock and unpredictable the holiday could be, the same gifts seem to sell, and in some ways it makes sense: For one thing, we don’t want our partner to be lonesome in the crowd of teddy bears and roses. So we hurry off to the shops, in search RIWKHSHUIHFWJLIW$OWKRXJKZHKRSHWR¿QG sive and mysterious nature. Interestingly the perfect gift, who knows? And if we don’t enough, however, the holiday has become ¿QG LW ZH IHHO OLNH ZH VKRXOG DW OHDVW JHW redundant and predictable. something. There is a sense that the mate- Year after year, it’s no surprise when rial gift is most important, as if it were the VWRUH VKHOYHV EHFRPH ¿OOHG ZLWK WKH VDPH sole form of expression, without which we chocolate assortments, along with the teddy would be terrible valentines! bears, sometimes so large they could be mis- This doesn’t always happen, but when taken for passengers. Don’t forget the bal- it does, we lose sight of the spirit of Val- loons bearing “Happy Valentine’s Day” entine’s Day because we, in a sense, lose on it. Store managers place the order in sight of our valentines. Even if we found the advance, despite not really knowing who perfect gift, it would be stale all by itself: will come in looking. Where’s the kiss to go along with it? Or the s a result, these two aspects of relation- As for the last-minute procrastinators, touch of their hand in yours, and spending ships make Valentine’s Day interesting: they can count on that same store to have time together? 2Q WKLV GD\ ZH WU\ WR ¿QG D ZD\ WR UHOD\ the same single roses time and time again Without a valentine, why not just buy this deep emotion, even in spite of its illu- — there’s always time. Despite how unique ourselves the teddy bears? W riter’s N otebook A O f course, we search for the perfect gift with the best intentions, but subtly the material gift creates separation by shifting the focus away from the gift’s intended. Sometimes we forget the object of your affections in the hunt for a material representation. Fortunately, when we lose sight of the hol- iday, all it really needs is a little refocusing. We need only remember to keep loved ones in the spotlight: show them affection in any way that helps, whether material or other- wise, and remember to not let minor imper- fections take away from the attention we give them. Simply put, a Hershey’s kiss may be sweet, but it’s only affectionate because it reminds us of its human counterpart. Alec Chapa is a student at Clatsop Com- munity College, studying philosophy and edu- cation. English instructor Julie Brown recom- mended him for this column. He is from San Antonio, Texas. The political party of ‘No way!’ have been a number of Supreme Court YDFDQFLHV¿OOHGLQHOHFWLRQ\HDUV In the 20th century we had six: ,Q WKH 6HQDWH FRQ¿UPHG ASHINGTON — Perhaps Mahlon Pitney, nominated by William the most important thing Howard Taft. Washington will do this year ,QWKH6HQDWHFRQ¿UPHGERWK is decide whether to approve Louis Brandeis and John Clarke, nomi- President Barack Obama’s nomi- nated by Woodrow Wilson. ,Q WKH 6HQDWH FRQ¿UPHG nee for the Supreme Court. Benjamin Cardozo, nominated by Her- But Republicans have already bert Hoover. announced their decision: “No way!” ,Q WKH 6HQDWH FRQ¿UPHG It’s rich for Republicans to declare Frank Murphy, nominated by Franklin pre-emptively that they will not even Roosevelt. hold hearings on an Obama nominee, ,Q WKH 6HQDWH FRQ¿UPHG considering that they used to Anthony Kennedy, who had denounce (while their party been nominated by Ron- held the White House) the ald Reagan the previous notion that judges’ nomina- November. tions shouldn’t proceed in an A counterexample is Abe election year. Fortas, whose nomination to “That’s just plain bunk,” be elevated from associate Sen. Charles Grassley, justice to chief justice in the R-Iowa, said in 2008. “The summer of 1968 was killed reality is that the Senate has E\ D ¿OLEXVWHU E\ 5HSXEOL- QHYHU VWRSSHG FRQ¿UPLQJ cans and Southern Demo- Nicholas judicial nominees during the crats. But that’s a horrifying Kristof last few months of a pres- bit of history for Republi- ident’s term.” His sense of cans to rely upon, because reality has since changed. A pox on the main reasons for oppo- Sen. Lamar Alexan- sition to Fortas were that all their he favored civil rights der, R-Tenn., said in 2008, “Just because it’s a pres- was Jewish. His ethi- houses! and idential election year is cal lapses mostly emerged no excuse for us to take a later. vacation.” Republicans suggest that it’s stan- In fairness, Democrats have also dard for a Supreme Court vacancy to been hypocritical. In 1992, when be held over when it occurs during an George Bush was president, then-Sen. HOHFWLRQ \HDU 6LQFH , FDQ ¿QG Joe Biden said an election-year vacancy only one example of that happening — VKRXOGZDLWWREH¿OOHGWKHQH[W\HDU in the fall of 1956, after Congress had A pox on all their houses! DGMRXUQHGDQG6HQDWHFRQ¿UPDWLRQZDV Let’s tune out politicians’ rhetoric impossible. in both parties and look at the merits It’s ironic that this tumult should of the arguments. Supreme Court jus- bedevil a replacement for Antonin Sca- WLFHVGRQ¶WGLHLQRI¿FHYHU\RIWHQDQG lia, who emphasized the constitutional in recent decades they have mostly cho- text. The Constitution gives no hint sen to step down before election years. that the Senate’s “advice and consent” But despite what Republican sena- for nominations should operate only in tors would have you believe, there three out of four years. By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service W Doug Mills/The New York Times People demonstrate at a protest organized by People for the American Way outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, Feb. 15. The Republican Party used to be serious and prudent, but today it’s seems less about governing than about obstructing, Nicholas Kristof says. If Republicans block Obama’s nom- ination, Scalia’s vacancy will last more than a year, compared with a histori- cal average of resolving nominations in 25 days. To date, the longest Supreme Court nomination in American history lasted 125 days, and it looks as if we will easily break that record this year. The larger issue here is obstruction- ism. When I was growing up, the GOP was the serious, prudent, boring party, while the Democrats included a menag- HULHRISRSXOLVWVUDVFDOVDQG¿UHEUDQGV Today it’s the GOP that embraces the George Wallace demagogues, and its aim is less to govern than to cause grid- lock. That’s not true of everyone — the House speaker, Paul Ryan, seems to have genuine aspirations to legislate. But to be a Republican lawmaker today is too often to seek to block appoint- ments, obstruct programs and shut down government. Politics becomes less about building things up than about burning them down. Both parties are open to expand- ing the earned-income tax credit, to early childhood programs, to bet- ter approaches to heroin addiction, to supporting women with obstetric ¿VWXOD WR UHGXFLQJ YLROHQFH DJDLQVW women worldwide. Yet practical measures to address these issues stall in Congress. The party of Lincoln is now the party of “No,” refusing even to invite the president’s budget director to tes- tify on an Obama budget, as is custom- ary. Congress is expected to accomplish next to nothing this year. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the apotheosis of this disregard for govern- ing. Cruz’s entire congressional career has involved antagonizing colleagues and ensuring that nothing gets done. And Trump barely bothers with poli- cies, just provocations. All this is ineffably sad. I expect pol- iticians to exaggerate and bluster. But I also expect them to govern, and that is what many in the Grand Old Party now refuse to do. In that case, should they really be paid? Just as we have work require- ments for some welfare recipients, maybe it’s time to consider work requirements for senators. 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
