OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
OUR VIEW
Pot laws should
be left in place
by new leaders
A
ttentive readers may recall that The Daily Astorian won-
dered two years ago what the 2016 presidential election
would mean for state legalization of marijuana:
“It remains to be seen whether the federal government will
continue to stand by as states effectively break away from the
dictates of U.S. law. It is tempting to believe that a new presi-
dent elected in 2016 from either political party will acknowl-
edge the winds of change — at least continuing to keep the
Department of Justice on the sidelines, or perhaps even explic-
itly moving to loosen or revoke federal laws. At a minimum,
there clearly is a need for additional legitimization of the mar-
ijuana industry when it comes to banking regulations aimed at
illicit drug proceeds.”
The election of Donald Trump to the presidency and his
appointment of marijuana foe U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to
be attorney general turns up the heat under these issues.
This Monday, Politico.com reported “With little more than
the stroke of his own pen, the new attorney general will be able
to arrest growers, retailers and users, defying the will of more
than half the nation’s voters. ... Aggressive enforcement could
cause chaos in a $6.7 billion industry that is already attracting
major investment from Wall Street hedge funds and expected to
hit $21.8 billion by 2020.”
Congress, including U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who is
taking on a key chairmanship in the U.S. House, must aggres-
sively intervene to keep the nation from again wasting its time,
money and credibility on a lost war against marijuana.
Many of us were dubious about the wisdom of legalizing
another intoxicating substance in a society already plagued with
addiction. But this decision has been made, has not had dire con-
sequences and should be left alone.
‘God Squad’ is
the wrong idea for
endangered species
T
he “God Squad” may sound like a Quentin Tarantino
movie, but actually is perhaps the hottest of environmen-
tal hot-button issues in the Pacific Northwest.
The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association in
Kennewick, Washington, recently raised the specter of the God
Squad by asking the Trump transition team to override the cur-
rent Endangered Species Act process.
As explained by the Columbia Basin Bulletin, the God Squad
— formally called the Endangered Species Committee — was
“created as part of congressional amendments to the Endangered
Species Act, (and) can be called together to decide whether a
federal agency, or agencies, can be exempted from responsibili-
ties regarding the protection of listed species.”
In essence, this means allowing a species to go extinct if a
determination is made that keeping it in existence is too costly.
The irrigators are frustrated by federal court decisions that
have consistently determined federal agencies are shirking their
responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act to restore
Snake River salmon and steelhead runs to a point where they are
out of danger of extinction. Most recently, the court raised the
possibility that it may be necessary to restore natural-flow con-
ditions on part of the Snake River in Idaho. This would lower
reservoirs. Current arrangements for pumping irrigation water
would become unviable.
“These pump stations are not Tinker Toys — the dams are
not Tinker Toys for children to play with ...” one of the irrigators
told the Trump team.
The same can certainly be said, with considerably greater
validity, of iconic salmon species that swam in the waters of
the Columbia and Snake for tens of thousands of years before
the Snake dams were constructed over strong objections from
Astoria-area fishermen and conservationists from throughout the
nation.
Farming is important. And the dams have many other strong
defenders in this era of climate change.
But convening the God Squad to write off salmon would be
a clumsy and infuriating blunder. It is the kind of excess that
would invite a harsh reaction in the opposite direction once the
nation’s political pendulum swings back again.
The current species protection scenario — irksome and
expensive as it may sometime be — must be allowed to play
out. The alternative is too dreadful to contemplate.
Ryan’s dangerous
silence is too much
By FRANK BRUNI
New York Times News Service
P
aul Ryan has long been cast
as Congress’ Boy Scout: ear-
nest, honest and brimming
with the best intentions, whether
you agree with his
proposals or not.
Donald Trump
is putting an ugly
end to that.
Or, rather, Ryan
himself is, with
his example of utter submission to
Trump. Other Republicans are look-
ing to the speaker of the House for
guidance on when to confront the
president-elect and when to let his
craziness go unchecked. And Ryan
is charting the wrong course.
I’m referring to his recent “60
Minutes” interview, the apotheo-
sis of all of his tongue biting and
conscience snuffing to date. In par-
ticular I mean the part when he
was asked about Trump’s reck-
less — and wholly unsubstantiated
— tweet that millions of Ameri-
cans had voted illegally for Hillary
Clinton.
“I’m not really focused on these
things,” Ryan said, all too blithely.
Then: “I have no knowledge of
such things. It doesn’t matter to
me.”
Such things? Was he at a tea in
the Cotswolds, discussing the pesky
upkeep of the carriage house?
Doesn’t matter? No, I guess a
president-elect’s effort to undermine
Americans’ confidence in our polit-
ical system — and, beyond that, his
attachment to conspiracy theories
— aren’t pressing concerns. My bad
for assuming otherwise.
Tump’s tweets
Ryan’s answer was margin-
ally better than the one given on
the ABC News show “This Week”
by Mike Pence, who described
Trump’s tweets as “refreshing.”
An adjective’s connotations can
change from era to era as a lan-
guage evolves, but I still associ-
ate “refreshing” with lemonade and
dips in the sea, not wild accusations
of voter fraud. My command of
English is clearly slipping.
Pence, of course, is Trump’s des-
ignated sycophant. That’s practi-
cally written into a vice president’s
job description. Ryan has no similar
duty, just a growing willingness to
part ways with principle.
I do understand the position that
he and many pols in both parties are
in. They’re alarmed by Trump, and
frequently aghast at him, but they
want enough peace to steer him in
the directions they desire and to
minimize the damage overall.
Ryan is
sacrificing
too much for
too little, and
it’s time he
rummaged
through
his wobbly
endoskeleton
and made fresh
acquaintance
with his spine.
They have seen how prone he
can be to manipulation, how sus-
ceptible to flattery, how influenced
by the last voice in his ear. So
they’re trying to stick close enough
to whisper — and one of the main
stories of the Trump presidency,
unless it goes completely off the
rails, will be their ceaseless calcula-
tions about when they can afford to
stay mum and when they can’t.
But they can’t afford to stay
mum when Trump, merely to
stroke his own ego and assert his
potency, tells a lie about election
results, calling Clinton’s advantage
in the popular vote a sham. Cer-
tainly Ryan can’t, because he’s a
role model and because this lie epit-
omizes Trump’s demagogic ten-
dencies and legitimizes fake news,
the dark consequences of which are
becoming ever clearer.
The disregard for truth — and
indulgence of fantasy — among
people at the pinnacle of power
right now is chilling. Beyond
Trump there’s Michael Flynn,
his nominee for national security
adviser, who has tweeted pure bunk
about Clinton’s ties to pedophilia
and money laundering. Flynn’s son,
who was his chief of staff, perpet-
uated the whole “pizzagate” mad-
ness. And then of course there’s
Ben Carson, the housing secretary
to be, with his conviction that the
pyramids were grain silos.
Is Ryan really content to look the
other way just for an Obamacare
repeal and some tax reform?
There’s plenty he can’t count on
getting from Trump, who pledged
not to monkey with Medicare,
which Ryan yearns to change, and
is talking about steep tariffs that run
counter to Ryan’s philosophy.
Ryan has at least hinted about
his opposition to those tariffs. But
he and other supposedly principled
conservatives publicly applauded
Trump’s dealings with the air-con-
ditioning manufacturer Carrier, a
degree of meddling in the free mar-
ket that they would have savaged
President Barack Obama for.
Gelatin
On the subject of Trump, Ryan
has spoken out of so many sides of
his mouth that it’s less an oval than
an octagon at this point. Last spring
he even affirmed his endorsement
of Trump while calling him out for
racism. Behold leadership at its
most gelatinous.
Discussing Trump on “60 Min-
utes,” he had a manner that was
borderline coquettish. He said that
Trump, with his tweets, was “basi-
cally giving voice to a lot of peo-
ple who have felt that they were
voiceless.”
Sometimes, yes. But many
times, Trump is giving a green light
to kooks and the finger to the dig-
nity that Americans rightly expect
of a president and that Ryan should
demand of him.
Ryan is sacrificing too much for
too little, and it’s time he rummaged
through his wobbly endoskeleton
and made fresh acquaintance with
his spine. Until that happens, this
sadly groveling Boy Scout will be
lost in the woods.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Obscene profits
o one “weathers Walmart” (“Be
proactive in competing with
Walmart, others,” The Daily Asto-
rian, Nov. 22). Walmart’s aim is to
kill local business. And it works.
That’s why the corporation is so
rich. Neither Fred Meyer (Kroger)
nor Safeway are local businesses, as
the editor ought to know. The busi-
nesses affected will be the real local
businesses, like the food co-op, the
shops downtown, the last local phar-
macies, the two local florists.
The demise of small towns
always occurs when Walmarts move
in. Check it out on a map. Walmart
has its own supply chains, so they
take over the markets completely.
After a while, you can’t shop any-
where else, because it’s the only
place left.
It’s unfortunate that people from
here — and moving here from else-
where — feel the burning desire
for a Walmart on Clatsop Plains.
This once beautiful wetland is now
junked, and there’s no place for the
N
elk to live anymore. Very discour-
aging, watching the world burn up
so people can buy cheap socks from
China.
We who consider such things can
only hope this Walmart is among
the first to go dark and moldy, as the
company “downsizes,” due to hits
its obscene profits are taking from
Internet sales.
SUE SKINNER
Astoria
Distorted message
he recently published letter
“Excluding others” (The Daily
Astorian, Nov.25), critical of the
editorial “Give each other the ben-
efit of doubt” (The Daily Asto-
rian, Nov. 14), was a case study of
a manufactured offense where none
was given.
Coming on the heels of the riots
following the national election,
the editorial was a well-reasoned
and articulate appeal for the better
natures of our personal integrity and
T
community strengths to rise above
the destructive actions of undisci-
plined malcontents.
Through strained assumptions
and faulty conclusions, the letter
writer attempted to mischaracterize
the editorial into something it most
clearly was not: a call for white
Christian dominance of the culture.
It is one thing for us to hold
strongly divergent opinions on how
best to move forward. It is quite
another to shamelessly distort a
message of good will from those
with whom you disagree.
We have an enormous amount
of work to do to bring understand-
ing and healing to our fractured
land. The Daily Astorian’s editorial
was a commendable step in the right
direction.
Unfortunately, the letter writer’s
absurd criticisms were a decided
step backwards, and a sad demon-
stration of why this mess will likely
continue.
ROBERT JOHNSTONE
Astoria