OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016
Obama’s ideological holiday in Havana
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
Gun violence epidemic is
a public health concern
Federal data collection
should not be blocked
o business would prohibit its research arm from track-
ing a problem that threatened the lives of its employees.
Similarly, Congress would not prohibit the National Institutes of
Health from researching the causes of diabetes or melanomas.
But in 1996 Congress tive strategies for prevention.”
David Hemenway of the
did prohibit the Centers
for Disease Control and Harvard School of Public
Prevention from keeping data Health is a leading proponent
on incidents of gun violence: of this idea. Hemenway’s
accidental shootings, homi- important book is “Private
Guns, Public Health.”
cides and suicides.
Hemenway’s publishers
Republicans and some
Democrats in Congress note: “On an average day in
— doing the work of the the United States, guns are
National RiÀ e $ssociation used to kill almost 80 peo-
— wanted to quash the bur- ple, and to wound nearly 300
geoning movement of public more.”
We have an epidemic in
health physicians who argued
that the large number of gun incidents of gun violence. If a
woundings and deaths should member of Congress doesn’t
be treated as a public health understand that, he also prob-
issue. 7he NR$ construed ably doesn’t know that Donald
that research to be tantamount Trump is running for president.
Sen. Wyden says: “$s a
to a drive for gun control.
Ten years later, one man nation, we can no longer just
is willing to take back that shrug our shoulders at the
vote. He is f ormer U.S. Rep. tragic roll of shootings that
Jay Dickey, a Republican of Oregon sadly knows all too
well. I have long held that
$rkansas .
Last week, Oregon U.S. tackling mental health is a key
Sen. Ron Wyden joined to solving our country’s epi-
16 senators who argue that demic of mass shootings, and
the CDC should “establish ¿ rmly believe that treating gun
an integrated public-health violence from a public health
research agenda to understand perspective is a necessary
the causes of gun violence and long-overdue step toward
and identify the most effec- achieving that goal.”
N
$ wise investment
in the Coast Guard
ast week’s intense action
for the U.S. Coast Guard
in the Columbia estuary and
elsewhere on the Oregon
C oast — including search-
ing for a missing airplane off
$storia — highlights the agen-
cy’s signi¿ cance and justi¿ es
our nation’s major ongoing
reinvestment in it.
Proud as our area is of the
Coast Guard, some of its key
assets are at or near the end of
their useful lives. This is par-
ticularly the case for high-vis-
ibility vessels like the medium
endurance cutters $lert and
Steadfast, which are on the
cusp of replacement. Bigger
and smaller vessels here on the
n orth Paci¿ c and elsewhere in
the nation will also be traded
out, as U.S. taxpayers fund the
Coast Guard’s largest acquisi-
tion budget in history.
With many of the Coast
Guard’s watercraft at or
near the half-century mark,
Congress recognized the need
to play catch-up .
The largest new Coast
Guard vessels include an
updated icebreaker for use in
$merica’s extensive $rctic
L
waters and as many as 10
national security cutters at a
cost of $695 million per ship.
Our region will have more
to do with new offshore patrol
cutters. Twenty-¿ ve of these
— at $421 million each — will
replace the Coast Guard’s 29
current cutters like $lert and
Steadfast.
In addition, 58 new fast
response cutters at about $65
million each will replace
1980s-era 110-foot Island class
patrol boats that are approach-
ing the end of service life. The
Coast Guard is considering
basing two of these vessels in
$storia or Newport, neither of
which currently homeports an
Island class boat.
$ report Tuesday by the
Congressional Research Of¿ ce
(tinyurl.com/CutterReport)
raises a variety of important
matters, especially with the
new national security cutters,
which have functional and
expense issues that must be
addressed.
Overall, however, this
is an exciting time for the
Coast Guard and its home
communities.
response “tone deaf.” But
it up with Raul even as Bel-
that misses the point. This
gian authorities are picking
is more than a mere mistake
body parts off the À oor of the
of presentation. Remember
Brussels airport?
his reaction to the behead-
Obama came into of¿ ce
$SHINGTON — The
ing of the $merican jour-
believing that we had vastly
split-screen told the exaggerated the threat of ter-
nalist James Foley? Obama
made a statement express-
story: on one side, images of rorism and allowed it to per-
ing his sympathies — and
vert
both
our
values
and
our
the terror bombing in Brussels; foreign policy. He declared
then jumped onto his golf
on the other, Barack Obama a unilateral end to the global
cart for a round of 18.
Charles
He later told NBC News’
doing the wave with Raul war on terror and down- Krauthammer
Chuck Todd that this was a
played the threat ever since.
Castro at a baseball game in He frequently reminds aides, reports mistake. “Part of this job is also the the-
Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, that ater of it,” he explained, “it’s not some-
Havana.
On one side, the real world of ris- more $mericans die annually of bath- thing that always comes naturally to
me.” $s if postponing a bucolic recre-
ing global terrorism. On the other, tub accidents.
It’s now been seven years. The real ation was a required piece of political
the Obama fan-
world has stubbornly playacting rather than a president’s nat-
tasy world in which
refused to accommo- ural reaction — a mixture of shock and
What kind
romancing a geopo-
date Obama’s paci¿ c sorrow — to the terrible death of a citi-
dreams.
The Islamic zen he could not save.
litically insigni¿ cant
of message
It’s not as if Obama is so super cool
State
has
grown from
Cuba — without an
does
it
JV team to worldwide that he never shows emotion. Just a
ounce of democ-
threat, operating from few months ago, he teared up when
racy or human rights
send to be
Libya to $fghanistan, speaking about the Sandy Hook school
yielded in return
Sinai to Belgium. It shooting. That was the work of a psy-
yukking
is well into the in¿ l- chotic. But when speaking about the
— is considered a
tration phase of its work of Islamist terrorists, he offers À at
it up with
seminal
achieve-
European campaign, perfunctory words.
ment of $merican
Raul
even
I cannot fathom why. Perhaps hav-
with 500 trained and
diplomacy.
hardened cadres in ing long seen himself uniquely quali-
as Belgian
Cuba wasn’t so
place among the esti- ¿ ed by background and history to make
much a legacy trip
mated 5,000 jihad- peace between Islam and the West, to
authorities
as a vanity trip, vin-
ists returned from now recognize how badly things have
dicating the dorm-
are picking the 0iddle East. The gone on his watch is to admit both fail-
room enthusiasms of
increasing tempo and ure and the impossible grandiosity of
body parts
one’s student days
sophistication of its his original pretensions.
Whatever the reason, he seems gen-
when the Sandinistas
operations suggest
off the
were cool, revolution
that it may be poised uinely unmoved by a menace the rest
was king and every
a continent-wide of the world views, correctly, with hor-
fl oor of the for
ror and increasing apprehension. He’s
other friend had a dog
guerrilla campaign.
named Che.
In the face of this, been in of¿ ce seven years, yet seems
Brussels
When Brussels
Obama remains inert, utterly ¿ xed on his campaign promises
airport?
intervened,
some
unmoved, displaying and pre-presidential obsessions: shut-
argued that Obama
a neglect and insou- ting down Gitmo, rapprochement with
should have cut short his trip and come ciance that borders on denial. His non- Iran, engagement with tyrants (hence
back home. I disagree. You don’t let reaction to the Belgian massacre — his Havana), making the oceans recede
three suicide bombers control the itin- 34-minute speech in Havana devoted (hence the Paris climate trip). Next
erary of the $merican president. 0ore- 51 seconds to Brussels — left the world we’ll see yet another useless Washing-
over, Obama’s next stop, $rgentina, is as stunned as it was after the Paris mas- ton “summit” on yet another Obamaidee
actually important and had just elected sacre, when Obama did nothing. Worse, ¿ [e: eliminating nuclear materials.
With the world on ¿ re, the $meri-
a friendly government that broke from at his now notorious November news
its long and corrupt Peronist past.
conference in Turkey, his only show of can president goes on ideological hol-
Nonetheless, Obama could have passion regarding Paris was to berate iday. $s was said of the Bourbons:
“They have learned nothing and have
done without the baseball. What kind Islamophobes.
of message does it send to be yukking
David $xelrod called Obama’s forgotten nothing.”
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
W
The Republicans’ sin of endorsement
By GAIL COLLINS
New York Times News Service
ow can things get worse
for Republicans? Jeb Bush
turned out to be a terrible can-
didate. 0arco Rubio turned out
to be an annoying twit. Donald
Trump is a nightmare.
H
Something had to be done, and
so the solid, steady moderate elite
decided the best strategy was to rally
around ... Ted Cruz.
Welcome to worse.
They were terri¿ ed of Trump,
whose short list of foreign policy advis-
ers includes a 2009 college graduate
with a résumé that boasts he once took
part in a 0odel United Nations. Far
better plan to nominate Cruz, whose
list includes a guy who wrote an opin-
ion piece suggesting President Barack
Obama is a 0uslim, and a woman who
thinks U.S. Sen. Joseph 0cCarthy’s
judgment about communists in the fed-
eral government was “spot on.”
They thought Trump would be
such an unpopular nominee that the
party would face a historic disaster
in November. Obviously, the way to
improve chances was to support the
most actively disliked Republican pol-
itician in $merica.
Our question for today is, “Why
aren’t these people rallying around
John Kasich?” The Ohio governor is
the other Trump alternative, far and
away the sanest member of the trio.
True, he’s kind of boring, but that
doesn’t seem all that terrible a qual-
ity when you’re comparing him with
Cruz, who is, at his best, excruciat-
ingly irritating.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham started
the trend of people who loathe Ted
Cruz endorsing him to be president
of the United States. He admitted that
Kasich would be a better candidate in
November, but claimed that the gov-
ernor would never get the nomination
because he’s “seen as an insider.” 0itt
Romney, who announced he’d be vot-
ing for Cruz in Utah, made it clear that
he likes Kasich. But he said Cruz had
a better chance of denying Trump the
nomination.
Yes, Romney wanted to make
sure he could strike a blow against
Trump’s “bigotry” and “xenopho-
They thought Trump would be
such an unpopular nominee that
the party would face a historic
disaster in November. Obviously,
the way to improve chances was
to support the most actively
disliked Republican politician
in America.
$fter the Brussels bombing,
bia.” So he threw his
Cruz called for those police
weight behind Cruz, who
patrols, and bragged that he
called for police patrols in
could say something so dar-
$merican 0uslim neigh-
ing only because he wasn’t
borhoods “before they
afraid of being politically
become radicalized.”
incorrect. Trump hyperven-
“I don’t try to ¿ gure
tilated about waterboarding.
them out,” Kasich said in
0eanwhile, Kasich issued
a phone interview. “Every-
a statement about interna-
body decides these things
tional cooperation in the war
on the basis of — I don’t
Gail
against terror. You’d think
know what.”
Collins
that would have moved
The of¿ cial Republican
world now contains people who took somebody.
But no. “Friend — I wanted you
a dive and endorsed Trump, the ones
who’ve endorsed Cruz and pretended to be the ¿ rst to know that today I am
it was a pro¿ le in courage, and the endorsing Ted Cruz for p resident,”
ones still sitting on the fence. They all Jeb Bush wrote in an email Wednes-
day morning. Some political observ-
look miserable.
Wouldn’t you think a few would ers believe that he’s trying to protect
just say, “Look, I know Kasich is the political future of his son, George
behind in delegates, but he behaves P. Bush, who is the Texas land com-
in the way I want our party to be.” It missioner. If that’s the case, non-
would be a nice moment, wouldn’t it? committed Republicans, you really
But so far, the list of people who’ve should consider voting for John
gone there is pretty much con¿ ned to Kasich just to make it clear that you
are not interested in having any more
one ex-governor.
This week Trump and Cruz had members of the Bush family in line
a ¿ ght about ... their wives. $n anti- for the presidency.
“I did get a text from Jeb at 5:30
Trump super P$C circulated an old
picture of 0elania Trump from G4, in the morning, but no phone calls,”
posing more or less nude, with the Kasich reported.
None of these new converts to
message: “0eet 0elania Trump. Your
next ¿ rst lady. Or, you could support the Cruz camp seem to have any
actual arguments about Cruz being
Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
Now, candidates don’t control a good potential president. Bush, in
political action committees, but the his announcement, complained that
Cruz campaign does have a history of “Washington is broken” but made no
dirty tricks, so you could imagine even attempt whatsoever to explain how
a less lunatic person than Trump get- things would be improved by the
ting angry. Then Trump, in his inim- nomination of a senator whose sole
itable way, threatened to “spill the achievement in of¿ ce was an effort
beans” on Heidi Cruz. Leave the fam- to shut down the government. 0aybe
ilies alone! What this country needs is they think if Cruz is the spoiler at the
convention, it’ll be easier to shove him
a bean-free election.
Or at least candidates who can talk away to make room for a brand new
about terrorism without being terrifying. superhero? (Looking at you, 0itt.)
Where to write
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing-
ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-
0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District
of¿ ce: 12725 SW 0illikan 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 Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510. Phone:
202-224-3753. Web: www.merk-
ley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Of¿ ce Build-
ing, Washington, D.C., 20510.
Phone: 202-224-5244. Web: www.
wyden.senate.gov