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