THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
5A
Vote Trump?
I
f you plan to vote for Don-
ald Trump because President
Obama is a black man, there
are better reasons. Vote for Mr.
Trump because he used to be a
Democrat, but isn’t now. Vote
for him because he used to be
pro-choice, but isn’t now. Vote
for him because he used to be
godless, but has now found reli-
gion. Vote for him because he
used to be a “birther,” but isn’t
now. Vote for him because he
likes women, lots of them.
Vote for him because he
believes in the sanctity of mar-
riage, three times. Vote for
him because he has used thou-
sands of dollars of other peo-
ple’s money from a charity to
pay his personal debts. Vote
for him because he has swin-
dled thousands more from folks
who had signed up for his fake
Trump University. Vote for him
if you want a reactionary, vin-
dictive, me-irst sociopath, with
the personality of a child, with
his hand on the big red nuclear
war button.
Vote for him if you want
to see NATO gutted, and Rus-
sia invading Estonia and Lat-
via with impunity. Vote for him
so he can become the world’s
second wealthiest man, after
his buddy Vladimir Putin. Vote
for him because Russia has
endorsed him. Vote for him
because he refuses to release his
tax returns, because they will
show his cheating on charity
contributions and his inancial
ties to Russia.
Vote for this billionaire,
born with a silver spoon in his
mouth, who has never worked
a day for wages in his life,
because he is just “one of the
guys.” Vote for him because he
says he will cancel trade agree-
ments and somehow, miracu-
lously, bring back jobs that were
actually mostly lost to technol-
ogy advances rather than trade.
Vote for him because, when
asked why he had outsourced
his trademark Trump apparel
line to China, he said “You
can’t get anything made in this
country.”
And, most of all, vote for
him because he is not a woman.
ROD DAWSON
Seaside
Vote for schools
O
ur community must come
together to pass the pro-
posed Seaside School Bond
to build a safe, secure place
for children today and into the
future to learn. I urge you to
visit the www.voteyesforlocal-
schools.com website to see for
yourself the deplorable condi-
tion of our schools. How can
we retain and recruit the best
teachers? How can students
possibly feel that we value
their learning? Yes, the tsunami
is also a serious concern. But
even if it were not a factor, our
school facilities are woefully
inadequate.
The American Association
of University Women strongly
advocates for quality educa-
tion for all children. As a mem-
ber of our local group and a
retired educator, I also place a
high priority on education as
a child’s path to a productive
and positive future. This bond
is not only about our youth, it
is about you. You are likely to
attend concerts, plays, sport-
ing events, adult education or
community gatherings in our
school facilities. Shouldn’t all
of these events happen in a
safe place? Shouldn’t we have
a structurally safe place to go
in the case of an emergency?
We all count on our schools
and now they are counting
on us. Vote yes for the school
bond. It is urgent, and it is the
right thing to do.
JANE McGEEHAN
Seaside
Liberal thoughts
T
o my compatriot living in
Salem (“What’s a liberal?”
The Daily Astorian, Sept. 15),
may I offer a few items for
consideration?
The points he makes per-
taining to unions are not with-
out merit, but I would suggest
the state of affairs is attribut-
able to abuses of the spirit of
the law, not in unions them-
selves. The intent to protect
workers’ rights is a noble one
along the lines of child labor
laws, the 40-hour work week,
overtime pay and a minimum
wage.
The fact that there are some
who abuse the protections
intended by the formation of
unions ought not obscure their
potential for good. Although I
don’t know of a solution to this
dilemma, I suspect it would be
found in common ground and
moderation.
As pertaining to illegal
aliens, one need only put them-
selves in the shoes of the truly
oppressed to realize it’s not
surprising that some are will-
ing to risk everything for the
mere possibility of a better life.
Sometimes such people fail to
go through “proper channels”
as they attempt to escape the
often life-threatening trauma
with which they live daily; lit-
tle or no opportunity to comply
with the law is the stark reality
for many people on this planet.
The U.S. is depicted world-
wide as the land of opportu-
nity and freedom; therefore, it
can be expected that those suf-
fering under oppression and
violence would set their sights
on relocating to such a place.
Perhaps a compassionate
and inclusive solution should
be sought, one in which we
expand the deinition of legal-
ity, to welcome and respect
those who are seeking a bet-
ter life for themselves and their
loved ones.
And inally, it is often said
that God helps those who help
themselves. So let us help our-
selves by embracing the con-
cepts of democracy, ind res-
olution to challenges through
moderation, seeking common
ground, and recognize that des-
perate people in dire straits are
to be respected, if not admired,
for their courage, demonstrated
in doing something — what-
ever they can — to alleviate
their plight.
They are merely trying to
help themselves.
NATE MARTIN
Astoria
Why not you, or a woman
you know? When it comes
to politics, many don’t know
where to start. That’s where
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change.
JILLIAN SCHOENE
Executive director,
Emerge Oregon
Portland
Salute Arnie Palmer
Y
ears ago, Portland-bred
pro golfer Peter Jacobsen
brought his golf open to the
Portland Golf Club. He always
brought his favorite profes-
sional, Arnold Palmer, to play.
The last year that Arnie
could play in “Peter’s Party”
I watched, and the thing that
brought me to my knees was
the presence that inal day of
the many silent, slow-moving
older gentlemen who stood in
the shaded recesses behind the
18th hole grandstands. They
waited quietly for a long time
to see “Arnie” to pay their
respects or to just salute him.
Well, I salute them. I salute
their generation and their devo-
tion to their game and their
hero. Most are over 80. They
were too slow to walk the
course, but they could not let
the man who had entertained
them every Sunday on TV for
years pass by without a “thank
you.” They loved to watch
Arnie and Jack duke it out.
Surely they lived a little vicar-
iously through these pros, as
most played a fairly inconsis-
tent game of golf.
My dad (an Astoria Golf
Club member) was lucky
enough to qualify for the 1978
U.S. Senior Golf Tournament,
played at Portland Golf Club.
His last name was Osgood and
his “O” locker was right next
to the “P” for Palmer. He was
so thrilled to be in the com-
pany of such talent.
I salute all these men of
their wonderful generation for
their devotion to their country,
for they were the soldiers who
won World War II for all of us.
But most of all, let’s celebrate
Arnold Palmer’s long life of
hard work and entertainment.
He, like my dad, had a dar-
ling twinkle in his eye that we
who followed him will always
remember.
DIANE OSGOOD
DOHERTY
Portland
Wonderful event
T
he Knappton Cove Her-
itage Center’s (KCHC)
New Citizenship Ceremony
went off without a hitch,
thanks to so many volunteers.
We’d like to give a shout-out
to President Charlene Larson
and the Astoria Lions Club for
not only donating the use of
their event tent, but also set-
ting it up and taking it down
under the capable supervision
of Tom Gill. That is a big job.
The Lions Club also displayed
their beautiful international
small lag display to decorate
the podium.
Kudos to The Daily Asto-
rian for the nice article about
this important and moving
event (“New citizens wel-
comed at historic point of
entry,” Sept. 21). Additional
thanks to the PEO and Daugh-
ters of the American Revo-
lution friends who provided
lots of goodies for the recep-
tion, and all the KCHC board
members who supervised
parking and hosted about 130
visitors throughout the day.
And, of course, congratula-
tions and thanks to the 11 new
U.S. citizens who chose to
travel to this historic site for
this special ceremony.
Our closing event for 2016
will be our annual “O, How
Horriable is the Day” tribute
to the Lewis & Clark Expe-
dition, which canoed past
Knappton Cove on Nov. 10,
1805. We’ll be serving Hot
Cider & History from 1 to 3
pm on Friday, Nov. 11, and
Saturday, Nov. 12.
NANCY ANDERSON
President, Knappton Cove
Heritage Center
Gearhart
Great performance
R
ecently we attended open-
ing night of “Don’t Dress
for Dinner.” We thoroughly
enjoyed the play, with its
many unexpected twists and
turns, and all of the actors and
actresses provided great per-
formances. This was our irst
time attending the Coaster
Theatre Playhouse, which
is cozy with good acoustics.
We highly recommend this if
you are up for a night of fun,
laughter and entertainment.
We were also delighted with
a delicious dinner at the Cast-
aways before attending the
performance.
STEVE and
DONNA OBERG
Seaside
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Women needed
A
merican women have had
a lot to celebrate this sum-
mer. In June, the White House
hosted the United State of
Women Summit, the Supreme
Court reafirmed our right to
choose and 28 major com-
panies signed an Equal Pay
Pledge. In July, we saw the
irst female presidential nom-
inee of a major party. And in
August, female athletes were
the unquestionable breakout
stars of Team USA.
Despite these high points,
we can’t afford to take for
granted what’s at stake for
American women right now.
Women are more likely to live
in poverty and work a min-
imum wage job. Access to
reproductive healthcare is con-
tinually under threat, and sex-
ual assault pervades our cam-
puses and communities.
We need our elected leaders
to address these critical issues.
However, it’s dificult when
the individuals who understand
them best remain so under-
represented in government.
Women bring a unique per-
spective and prioritize policies
that help women and families.
And in Oregon, with just two
women governors, six women
members of Congress and not
nearly enough women elected
to state and local positions
throughout the state, we need
more of them to jump into pol-
itics and begin moving up the
ladder.
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