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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2016)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2016 More damned emails inlict injury 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 Who will maintain the Park Service? re America’s national parks being loved to death? The watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has implicitly asked the question for years. In its current issue, the Christian Science Monitor raises the question explicitly. The CSM’s report focuses growth in visitor count, the on the high visibility crown Park Service is innovating. jewels of the park system – Koenen says that Muir Woods Yellowstone and Yosemite. near San Francisco, has cre- Their visitor counts are ated an new advance parking astounding. Yellowstone reservation system, to elimi- receive more than 4 million nate its chronic trafic conges- visitors last year. Total visitor tion. Yellowstone is working count at all parks in the system toward a similar solution. this year will be equivalent to For all of its phenomenal the U.S. population. growth in visitor count, our sys- Our local crown jewel, tem of national parks remains Fort Clatsop and the Lewis a haven for the nation. The and Clark National Historical Western writer Terry Tempest Park saw 270,519 visitors. The Williams told the Monitor: park’s visitor trend has been “Our national parks are breath- trending upward for years. ing spaces in a country that is The Monitor notes that increasingly holding its breath” America’s system of national Williams just produced a report parks is “chronically under- on her visit to a dozen Park funded.” In the most visited Service sites – The Hour of parks, that shows in trail sys- Land: A Personal Topography tems and other facilities that of America’s National Parks. are deteriorating from deferred We cannot expect Congress maintenance. Fort Clatsop’s to do the right thing and give interim superintendent, the Park Service adequate Marcus Koenen, says that is funding. Thus the system will not the case here. have to use ingenuity to main- In the face of inexorable tain its quality. A We must do more to help foster kids O regon’s foster care sys- tem for children in the midst of family crises is in serious trouble. Oregon Public Broadcasting has been shining a bright list at problems with foster care and inding situa- tions that demand redress. This is no new thing. OPB reported “cracks in foster care” ive years ago. But by almost any reckoning, things have gotten worse. There are hun- dreds fewer foster care beds in Oregon this year compared to last. Kids sometimes have to spend nights in state ofices and motel rooms, with a cou- ple state workers detailed to watch them. How did we get to this point? First, there was an under- standable nationwide switch away from state-run institu- tions for neglected, endan- gered and abandoned children, toward what was viewed as a more benign system of hous- ing children in family homes where foster parents received state compensation in return for providing a semblance of home life. Oregon foster parents receive a base rate of $575 to $741 a month per child, depending on the child’s age. There is signiicant additional compensation to help deal with special needs and cir- cumstances. All in all, pay- ments are not transparently unfair. Some, and perhaps even most, foster parents aren’t in it for the money, but welcome the chance to be a savior to kids in need. So why do fewer and fewer participate? In part, our culture has changed. Most modern families have only one or two children. In such small settings, foster children can necessitate major changes in “household chemistry.” This means most contempo- rary families won’t even con- template joining the foster care program. Those who do may ind themselves weighed down by bureaucracy that is viewed as essential in today’s abuse-con- scious and litigious society. It’s becoming clear in Oregon and throughout the U.S. that we must develop and fund alternatives to tra- ditional foster care. The Oregon Department of Human Services and the Legislature must confront this issue head on. We must do a better job of caring for children who are having the worst time in their lives. By CHARLES M. BLOW New York Times News Service ollowing last week’s Republican calamity in Cleveland, the Democratic National Convention rolls into Philadelphia on Monday with big opportunities and big challenges. F Many Democrats will come with enthusiasm, but also with reservations. Unlike the Republican Conven- tion’s speaker lineup, which was backilled with Donald Trump’s chil- dren because there were so few party heavyweights to anchor it, the Dem- ocratic Convention will have a lit- any of A-listers: The president, the irst lady, Bernie Sanders and former President Bill Clinton among them. These speakers will paint a vastly different picture of the country and its future than the unremittingly dark and dangerous one portrayed by the Republicans. There will also likely be less acri- mony in Philadelphia, as the Demo- crats review the failed stagecraft of Cleveland and work hard not to rep- licate it. But, all is not roses for the Democrats. The presumptive presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has a bat- tered image — partly due to a con- certed effort by Republicans to bat- ter it, and partly the result of her own poor choices. Two-thirds of regis- tered voters don’t believe that she’s honest and trustworthy, and trust- worthiness is one of those attributes that tends to be dificult to quickly and easily alter. Clinton’s honesty numbers are even worse than Trump’s, but not by much. They both have some unbe- lievable negatives. As The New York Times reported earlier this month: “In a development not seen in any modern presidential contest, more than half of all voters hold unfavorable views of the two major party candidates and large majori- ties say neither is honest and trust- worthy. Only half of voters say Clin- ton is prepared to be president, while an astonishing two-thirds say that Mr. Trump is not ready for the job — including four in 10 Republicans.” But, being about as bad as Trump is hardly a good thing. Trump is a horrible candidate who shouldn’t have a shot, but in this race he does. Although Clinton remains the favor- ite to win in November, the race is too close for comfort. There are paths to victory — uphill though they may be — for Trump to win. (Just typing that sent shivers down my spine. The idea that a man who used a racist attack on a judge in one of his own cases might get to pick the next one — or even two or AP Photo/Alex Brandon Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., marches during a protest in downtown on Sunday, in Philadelphia. The Democratic National Con- vention started Monday in Philadelphia. three — Supreme Court pletely fair to Sanders. justices is in itself unfath- This was reignited in omable. The fact that he’s the conversation last week even competitive makes when WikiLeaks released me question the electoral nearly 20,000 internal competency of America.) emails from the Demo- Too many voters ind cratic National Commit- themselves in the worst tee in which some oficers possible position: They expressed antipathy and have a choice between a outright hostility to Sand- Republican of whom they ers and his candidacy. Charles are frightened and dis- No matter whom one Blow gusted and a Democrat supported during the of whom they are leery primaries, or even This and unenthused. what party one aligns Last week Clinton with, this should turn kind of had a chance to shake the stomach. This up the race with her collusion is kind of collusion is vice-presidential pick, precisely what is poi- but instead she chose precisely soning faith in our the safer route, choos- politics. what is ing the Democratic This reinforced the centrist Tim Kaine. feeling of many that poisoning the system was rigged Kaine has his vir- tues — he is solid and faith in our from the beginning. affable, a solid liberal CNN reported on from the crucial state Sunday that in the politics. of Virginia — but this wake of the scandal, is not the sort of pick that taps into the tainted party chairwoman, Deb- the progressive populism sweeping bie Wasserman Schultz, agreed to the party or the expansive diversity step down from her role at the con- that constitutes the party. clusion of the convention. Kaine reinforces Clinton’s But the injury is already inlicted. “steady hand” message, but that is These leaks further damage an a message, however valid and nec- already damaged faith in the Demo- essary, that’s completely devoid of cratic nominating process. In March, sizzle. the Pew Research Center found: Trump is campaigning on fear, “Forty two percent of Republi- change and winning, all intense and can voters have a positive view of even seductive ideas, even though the primary process, compared with his proposals are insular, unrealis- 30 percent of Democrats. The share tic or hollow. “Steady” just doesn’t of Democrats expressing a posi- have the same emotional appeal. tive view of the primary process And although I hate to boil a historic has declined 22 percentage points election, and monumental policy (from 52 percent) in February 2008. challenges, down to emotions, I’ve Republicans views are little different been around long enough to know than in 2000 or 2008.” that this sort of visceral sensibility What are those Democratic vot- can swing elections. ers supposed to do who don’t trust The Democrats also have to deal the candidate, the party or the pro- with the resurgent idea of a primary cess, even if they view The Donald process and party apparatus that as the Devil? This is one of the con- favored Clinton and wasn’t com- vention’s conundrums. Cleveland notes: The two-part rebellion By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group ASHINGTON — The main purpose of the mod- ern political convention is to produce four days of televised propaganda. W The subsidiary function, now that nominees are invariably chosen in advance, is structural: Unify the party before the inal battle. In Cleveland, the Republicans achieved not unity, but only a rough facsimile. The internal opposition consisted of two factions. The more lamboyant was led by Ted Cruz. Its irst operation — an undermanned, underplanned, mini-rebellion over convention rules — was ruthlessly steamrolled on Day One. Its other operation was Cruz’s Wednesday night convention speech in which, against all expectation, he refused to endorse Donald Trump. It’s one thing to do this off-site. It’s another thing to do it as a guest at a cel- ebration of the man you are rebuking. Cruz left the stage to a cascade of boos, having delivered the longest sui- cide note in American political history. If Cruz fancied himself following Ron- ald Reagan in 1976, the runner-up who overshadowed the party nominee in a rousing convention speech that pro- pelled him four years later to the nom- ination, he might relect on the fact that Reagan endorsed Gerald Ford. Cruz’s rebellion would have a stronger claim to conscience had he not obsequiously accommodated himself to Trump during the irst six months of the campaign. Cruz rein- forced that impression of political cal- culation when, addressing the Texas delegation Thursday morning, he said that “I am not in the habit of support- ing people who attack my wife and attack my father.” That he should feel so is not surprising. What is surprising because “everyone is equal, is that he said this publicly, everyone has a place” and thus further undermining “no one is written off.” his claim to acting on high principle. Not exactly Trump’s Man- The other faction of the ichaean universe of win- anti-Trump opposition was ners and losers, natives far more subtle. These are and foreigners (including the leaders of the party’s judges born and bred in congressional wing who’ve Indiana). offered public allegiance to Together, McConnell Trump while remaining pri- and Ryan made clear that vately unreconciled. You if Trump wins, they are Charles could feel the reluctance ready to cooperate. And if Krauthammer of these latter-day Marra- Trump loses, they are ready nos in the speeches of Sen- to inherit. ate Majority Leader Mitch Obama The loyalist (i.e., Trum- McConnell and House pian) case had its own stars. won’t It was most brilliantly pre- Speaker Paul Ryan. McConnell’s pitch, as sented by the ever-lu- sign. ent always, was practical and Newt Gingrich, the direct. We’ve got things Clinton best natural orator in either to achieve in the Senate. party, whose presentation won’t of Trumpism had a coher- Obama won’t sign. Clinton won’t sign. Trump will. and economy of which sign. ence Very speciic, very instru- Trump is incapable. mental. Trump will be our presidential nom- Trump inee Vice enabler, an instrument of the Mike Pence gave an governing (or if you prefer, will. affecting, self-deprecat- establishment) wing of the ing address that managed party. to bridge his traditional conservatism This is mostly fantasy and rational- with Trump’s insurgent populism. He ization, of course. And good manners managed to make the merger look by a party leader obliged to maintain smooth, even natural. a common front. The problem is that Rudy Giuliani gave the most ener- Trump will not allow himself to be the getic loyalist address, a rousing law- instrument of anyone else’s agenda. and-order manifesto, albeit at an Moreover, the Marranos necessarily excitement level that surely alarmed ignore the most important role of a his cardiologist. president, conducting foreign and mil- And Chris Christie’s prosecuto- itary policy abroad, which is almost rial indictment of Hillary Clinton for entirely in his hands. crimes of competence and character Ryan was a bit more philosophical. was doing just ine until he went to the He presented the reformicon agenda, audience after each charge for a call- dubbed the Better Way, for which he and-response of “guilty or not guilty.” too needs a Republican in the White The frenzied response was a reminder House. Ryan pointedly kept his gen- as to why trials are conducted in a ulections to the outsider-king to a courtroom and not a coliseum. On a cheerier note, there were the minimum: exactly two references to charming preambles at the roll call Trump, to be precise. Moreover, in defending his con- vote, where each state vies to out-boast servative philosophy, he noted that at the other. Connecticut declared itself its heart lies “respect and empathy” home to “Pez, nuclear submarines and for “all neighbors and countrymen” … WWE.” God bless the United States.