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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2016)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 The real plot against America By TIMOTHY EGAN New York Times News Service 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 Preservation still possible in Oysterville A vocal fan club stands up for iconic Northwest village T he only fan club for most small American villages consists of longtime residents, and sometimes not even them. In contrast, Oysterville, Washington is one of a few places fortunate to have an abundance of enthusiastic supporters — many with only a scant connection to one of Paciic County’s oldest surviving settlements. A National Historic District encouragement to adhere to with a picturesque setting on an essential vision of a place Willapa Bay and a colorful where jarring modernization past grounded in the Paciic would be avoided. Although Northwest’s iconic shellish its most avid defenders will industry and the San Francisco doubtless take issue, it always Gold Rush, Oysterville has was pretty much on the “honor greater signiicance than system,” in that Paciic County almost anyplace else its size government has neither the on the West Coast. funds nor fortitude to pursue Unlike other historical enforcement in court. lodestones — the East Coast’s With much disagreement, Colonial Williamsburg comes the board was recently dis- to mind — Oysterville is very solved. Design controversies lightly commercialized and and plans will now be han- essentially is a cherished res- dled by a hearings examiner in idential neighborhood. Its iso- a process adhering to modern lation and lack of an economy administrative law standards. protected it from redevelop- Time will tell whether this ment for decades, until by the change protects Oysterville as 1980s there were enough peo- well as the board did; at this ple who appreciated it as a point, there is no reason to kind of time capsule from a think that it will not. bygone era to spur preserva- Those who served on the tion efforts. board and believed in it can The Oysterville Design take justiied pride in having Review Board was a valiant stewarded their village past the attempt to enshrine the vil- time when it was most vulner- lage’s quasi-New England able to clumsy exploitation. motif. It was never perfect, but Their passion will continue to its mere existence was a strong serve Oysterville well. I n retrospect, it worked out much better than planned. Who’d have thought a pariah nation, run by an authoritarian who makes his political opponents dis- appear, could so easily hijack a great democracy? It didn’t take much. A talented nerd can bring down a minnow of a nation. But this level of political crime requires more reined mechan- ics — you need everyone to play their assigned roles. You start with a stooge, a fugitive holed up in London, releasing stolen emails on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, in the name of “transparency.” Cyberburglars rely on a partner in crime to pick up sto- len goods. And WikiLeaks has always been there for Russia, a nation with no transparency. The emails show ofice gos- sip — catty, sometimes crude back-and- forth by party operatives, and a bias for one can- didate. Ho-hum. To make the plot work, report- Timothy ers have to take Egan the bait. On cue, they decry the fact that politics is going on inside a major political party. The horror — Democratic hacks saying nasty things about Sen. Bernie Sanders. Next, lefty extremists have to act like lefty extremists — that is, myo- pic to the greater good, guided by a Trumpian sense that they alone know how to solve the world’s prob- lems, and everyone else is a sellout. Angered at the contents of the cyber- theft, they boo any mention of their party’s nominee. And told by Sand- ers, the man who brought them there, that booing is too easy, they boo his call to unite to save their country from a monster. But Russia still has to seal the deal. Some work remains. If enough angered lefties won’t go for the Dem- ocratic nominee, a longtime foe of Vladimir Putin, it will be just enough to put a Putin puppet in the White House. And it would also usher in the term that drove the right wing crazy when George H.W. Bush used it — a New World Order. What’s in it for Russia? Well, everything. Territory. Hegemony. Its takeover of the Crimean Peninsula has brought sanctions and condem- nation from the West. What stands between Putin and further aggression in, say, the Baltic States, is a NATO pact that has kept Europe safe for nearly 70 years. And if you thought Trump stiffed the poor suckers who signed up for his “university,” wait till you see how he treats some of our oldest allies. AP Photo/David Goldman A woman wears a shirt reading ‘Trump Putin ‘16’ while waiting for Re- publican presidential candidate Donald Trump to speak at a campaign event at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H., in February. Don- ald Trump just keeps giving Russian President Vladimir Putin more rea- sons to hope he wins the U.S. election, while raising serious questions about the Republican candidate’s intentions toward the Kremlin. What’s in it for Russia? Well, everything. Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting in the Kremlin, in Moscow, July 26. Plus, Putin despises Hillary Clin- ton. Like Trump, his skin is rice-pa- per thin, albeit a paler shade of orange; and, like Trump, he never forgets a slight. He still hasn’t gotten over Clinton’s comment on George W. Bush’s infamous look into Putin’s soul. As a former KGB agent, Clinton said, “he doesn’t have a soul.” What’s in it for Trump? Help at winning the ultimate throne of his gilded dreams. And maybe some investment money from Russian oli- garchs close to Putin, one of many things Trump may be hiding in his tax returns. The two narcissists share a love of torture, authoritarian rule, and women on runways in bathing suits. But then, a wild card, something unplanned. Putin didn’t expect Trump to be so all-in with his collusion. He knows Trump is a fool, world class in only one thing — ignorance. He doesn’t need spies for that. He knows Trump is a man who will say any- thing, and deny in the same breath that he ever said it. The Talented Mr. Trump. In November, before a national television audience, Trump said of Mayor Wheeler may be a friend of ag Open forum Incoming Portland mayor offers hope for rural Oregon P ortland’s mayor often has an effect well beyond the bounds of that city. Ted Wheeler, who is the may- or-elect, brings a much differ- ent perspective to the job than his recent predecessors. In a word, he is less myopic. Wheeler could be one of agriculture’s best friends in a city that has oversized inlu- ence on Oregon’s vast rural expanses. The divide between Portland and rural Oregon is a chasm. Farmers and ranchers may not fully appreciate Portland’s importance as a market and a hub of vital services. But there’s no mistaking Portland’s willingness to push its agenda on farming practices, labor, economic development and the environment on its rural neighbors. “What can agriculture do,” the Oregon Farm Bureau’s Dave Dillon asks, “to bet- ter connect with city govern- ment and thought leaders who seem to have insularity and Act locally, CBH ‘T hink globally, act locally.” I believe that we have an oppor- tunity to “act locally” in support of quality community mental health ser- vices. Amy Baker, the interim exec- utive director at Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, has earned a strong rep- utation as a leader in mental health systems of care, with expertise in pre- vention and trauma informed care. The challenges are real. As is the current science on how to prevent much suffering and the potential for healing where suffering exists. Amy and her colleagues at CBH deserve our support and a sense that there is community curiosity about how we can build a strong and responsive organization. In this important time of transition, let’s learn together in support of qual- ity community mental health care. LYNN MCCONNELL Astoria ers throughout the application pro- cess. The Home Rescue program is designed to help homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage. Home Rescue can provide up to one year of mortgage payments, with a maximum beneit of $20,000, and if needed, up to $15,000 in funds to bring the loan current. To qualify, applicants must be able to demonstrate at least a 10 percent reduction in projected 2016 income compared to any tax year between 2009 and 2015. Every two weeks the program opens a limited num- ber of application slots that remain open until illed. The program opens new opportunities to apply every two weeks at noon until all program funds have been exhausted. For the most current information about the program, including eligi- bility criteria and FAQs, please visit www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org. The website will serve as the primary source of information about the MPA program and Oregon’s other foreclo- sure prevention programs. Homeowners who need imme- diate help, including use of a client computer to access the Home Res- cue program, should call Commu- nity Action Team at 800-325-8098 or 503-325-8098, or email Cindy Peake at cindkp@cat-team.org CINDY PEAKE Northwest Oregon Regional Housing Center Astoria sometimes utopian vision of food production that does not match the marketplace and the demands of a growing world population?” In Wheeler, rural Oregon may have a partner in Portland. His family made its money in the timber industry. He appreci- ates the urban-rural divide and urban-rural interdependence. “You can’t talk about suc- cess in the agricultural indus- try without talking about the role urban areas play,” he said. “Urban communities in America are increasingly clue- Homeowner help less about the challenges fac- regon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) announces a ing rural communities.” foreclosure prevention program and From our distant vantage, has launched their website, www.ore- Wheeler seems the best choice gonhomeownerhelp.org. Community Portland has made in recent Action Team Inc. has been identiied as the local agency to help deliver years. He’s a smart guy, a sensi- the state’s Mortgage Payment Assis- ble choice for voters who often tance (MPA) Home Rescue Program in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook prefer the unconventional. counties. The funding for this pro- Though we won’t know for gram comes from the U.S. Depart- sure until he takes ofice in ment of Treasury’s “Hardest Hit Voting woes Fund.” January, Wheeler seems like peaking of elections: It’s kind of On Wednesday, OHCS will open a funny old world when a person someone agriculture can work an online application for the MPA/ Home Rescue program at www.ore- must provide credentials to prove that with to advance both rural and gonhomeownerhelp.org. Community they are eligible to vote, but the candi- Action Team will help homeown- dates do not have present documenta- urban interests. O S Putin, “I got to know him very well.” And Wednesday, Trump said, “I never met Putin.” That was a standard Trump lie, on one end or the other. But even Putin couldn’t fathom that Trump really will say anything. So there was the Republican Party nominee for president inviting an American adversary to wage cyber- war against the country he wants to lead. If that wasn’t Trump’s shoot- somebody-on-Fifth-Avenue moment, nothing will be. What’s more, he was way too obvious about the role of the other pawns in the scheme. “I think you will probably be rewarded might- ily by our press,” he said to Mother Russia. Also, he’s getting carried away with his dictator-philia. On Thurs- day, he said Putin was a better leader than President Barack Obama. D’oh! In public, at least, you’re supposed to root for the home team. Trump misses the old days, back when you could “knock the crap out of” a demonstrator. Yeah, the old days. Back when it was disqualifying for an American politician to lirt with treason. This all seems too preposterous to be planned. Where are the conspiracy nut jobs when you really need them? Even iction, Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America,” about a fascist-lite president during World War II, does not have this level of absurdity. But it unfolds, still, if not accord- ing to Russia’s design, then accord- ing to Russia’s will. Trump is now a national security risk, actively root- ing for a foreign adversary to tam- per with an American election. And very soon, he will start receiving clas- siied brieings on that adversary. Ehhhhhcellent! tion to prove that they are, indeed, eli- gible to run for ofice. Perhaps if we scrutinized the candidates as closely as we do the voters, we would get a better class of elected oficial. But I guess that is not necessarily a requirement by the politicos that run the elections because, in point of fact, voters are not even allowed to actu- ally vote. Voters are simply allowed to select delegates who do the actual voting for the people. In an effort by the political parties to exert even more control over the outcome of elections, some delegates are no longer are even required to vote the way they have been instructed to by the peoples vote — in other words, it is totally up to them to cast their vote the way they see it, or the way they are coerced to do so by those in control. Boy, if that is not the very deinition of a fair and open election, I don’t know what is. I don’t want to hear you belly- aching about the popular vote elect- ing the candidate or any of that non- sense. You, as an educated voter, must realize that the awesome responsibil- ity of electing individuals to run our government and therefore, our lives, is far too demanding to be left to the common voter. I mean — what would happen if the average voter all of a sudden got a lush of common sense and elected someone who had the good of the country and its citizens at heart? And, worse yet, what if the people elected someone who could not be bought or controlled by either political party? Chaos would most certainly ensue, and the country would deinitely never be the same. That is what I think; I could be wrong. DAVID GRAVES Astoria
