THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016
Mr. Terrific
asn’t Hal Snow terrific?
I crossed paths with
Hal 30 years ago with soccer
as the catalyst. I played and
coached, and he had sons who
played. Heck, he recognized
that a whole community of
kids who wanted to play.
Thank you, Steve Forrester,
for your comments in the edi-
torial, “A Tribute: Region is
richer because of attorney
Snow” (The Daily Astorian,
Dec. 20). How you introduced
politics into the article was
thought-provoking to me. He
was obviously close to local
government as an adviser, but
he certainly was not a politi-
cian; or, was he the best politi-
cian in the county?
He obviously accom-
plished so much, but I will
only focus on soccer and the
Lower Columbia Youth Soc-
W
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
cer Association. When it came
to LCYSA and building soc-
cer fields, realizing the need
for a quality place to play, his
sideline connections to local
government was just another
tool, another avenue, another
partnership. He had plenty,
because he was never afraid
to start a conversation and
ask for help. And when you
sensed his enthusiasm, and
his generosity, and his sincere
effort, not many of us could
say no. He accomplished, in
my mind, what local govern-
ment is incapable of doing:
He pulled people and funds
together, no taxes required,
and built a complex that con-
tinues to flourish, continues
to receive generous commu-
nity support, and is still run by
volunteers.
When Hal used the expres-
sion “isn’t that terrific,” always
with his infectious smile and
laugh, it was clearly his way to
express satisfaction. When Hal
said thank you in a published
acknowledgement of LCYSA
donors, it always included hun-
dreds of people in the commu-
nity. The lists of donors gave
you a hint as to how many peo-
ple crossed paths with Hal. It
didn’t matter the size of the
contribution, everyone’s con-
tribution mattered — the
moms who donated time to
pick up rocks, as well as the
truckers and bulldozer opera-
tors were equally vital. It was
never about him, yet without
his vision the four soccer fields
now at the complex probably
would not have happened. If
you ever played soccer or had
a child who played at the com-
plex, know that your path also
crossed Hal’s.
What a wonderful friend,
family man, gentleman,
adviser, LCYSA and I have
lost. I spent many a day main-
taining the fields with Hal. I
will always cherish those
moments. Thank you, Hal and
family, from LCYSA.
Isn’t it terrific that we knew
Hal Snow.
JERRY BOISVERT
Warrenton
Chicago sanctuary
o, the headline read: “8
killed, 60 wounded in Chi-
cago over Thanksgiving week-
end,” yet the mayor of that fair
city feels that it would be a
good idea to be a “sanctuary”
city for immigrants who have
entered this country illegally.
According to the mayor,
this would mean that the Chi-
cago law enforcement agencies
would refuse to work with the
S
U.S. Marshals and the other
federal immigration enforce-
ment agencies to identify and
detain individuals who have
entered the country, and are
living here illegally. Perhaps it
would be more productive on
the part of Chicago’s city gov-
ernment if they were to work
more closely with the federal
law enforcement agencies to
stem the epidemic of crime
that is gripping that city.
Perhaps the first step to
quelling the current wave of
lawlessness in this locale is to
enforce the laws of the nation
more stringently, and not less
so. Perhaps, and I know that
it sounds almost like hear-
say, by showing support for
law enforcement, both local
and federal, the goal of reduc-
ing crime and bodily injury
to the citizens of that commu-
nity would be far more likely
5A
to occur. To continue to pout,
throw a tantrum and refuse to
support a federal government
that pledges to re-institute the
rule of law to all the cities
of these U.S. seems awfully
counterproductive to me.
I always thought that a
strong, capable and objective
police force that upheld the
local and federal laws with-
out bias was the best protec-
tion that citizens of any com-
munity could have. To be the
mayor of a major American
city and to stand on a dais and
announce to the world that you
are opposed to supporting the
laws of this republic, certainly
seems to send the wrong mes-
sage to the citizenry, to me.
Nice going Mr. Mayor.
That’s what I think; I could
be wrong.
DAVID GRAVES
Astoria
Israel’s Netanyahu makes Trump his chump
By THOMAS L.
FRIEDMAN
New York Times News Service
or those of you con-
fused over the latest
fight between Presi-
dent Barack Obama and Prime
Minister Bibi
Netanyahu of
Israel, let me
make it sim-
ple: Barack
Obama and
John Kerry
admire and want to preserve
Israel as a Jewish and dem-
ocratic state in the Land of
Israel. I have covered this issue
my entire adult life and have
never met two U.S. leaders
more committed to Israel as a
Jewish democracy.
But they are convinced —
rightly — that Netanyahu is
a leader who is forever dog
paddling in the middle of the
Rubicon, never ready to cross
it. He is unwilling to make any
big, hard decision to advance
or preserve a two-state solu-
tion if that decision in any way
risks his leadership of Israel’s
right-wing coalition or forces
him to confront the Jewish set-
tlers, who relentlessly push
Israel deeper and deeper into
the West Bank.
F
That is what precipitated
this fight over Obama’s deci-
sion not to block a U.N. resolu-
tion last week criticizing Israeli
settlements in the West Bank.
The settlers’ goal is very clear,
as Kerry put it Wednesday:
to strategically place settle-
ments “in locations that make
two states impossible,” so that
Israel will eventually annex all
of the West Bank. Netanyahu
knows this will bring huge
problems, but his heart is with
the settlers, and his passion is
with holding power — at any
cost. So in any crunch, he sides
with the settlers, and they keep
pushing.
Obama ordered the U.S. to
abstain on the U.N. resolution
condemning the settlements
(three months after Obama
forged a 10-year, $38 billion
military aid package for Israel
— the largest for any U.S. ally
ever) in hopes of sparking a
debate inside Israel and to pre-
vent it from closing off any
chance of a two-state solution.
Driving drunk
Friends don’t let friends
drive drunk, and right now
Obama and Kerry rightly
believe that Israel is driv-
ing drunk toward annexing
the West Bank and becoming
either a binational Arab-Jewish
state or some Middle Eastern
version of 1960s South Africa,
where Israel has to systemat-
ically deprive large elements
of its population of democratic
rights to preserve the state’s
Jewish character.
Israel is clearly on a path
toward absorbing the West
Bank’s 2.8 million Palestin-
ians. There are already 1.7 mil-
lion Arabs living in Israel, so
putting these two Arab pop-
ulations together would con-
stitute a significant minority
with a higher birthrate than that
of Israeli Jews — who num-
ber 6.3 million — posing a
demographic and democratic
challenge.
I greatly sympathize with
Israel’s security problems. If I
were Israel, I would not relin-
quish control of the West Bank
borders — for now. The Arab
world is far too unstable, and
Hamas, which controls another
1.8 million Palestinians in
Gaza, would likely take over
the West Bank.
My criticism of Netanyahu
is not that he won’t simply quit
all the West Bank; it is that he
refuses to show any imagina-
tion or desire to build workable
alternatives that would cre-
ate greater separation and win
COM ING IN FEBR UAR Y!
2017 ED ITIO N
of th e a w a rd-w in n in g publica tion from
th e publish ers of Coa st W eeken d
Israel global support, such as
radical political and economic
autonomy for Palestinians in
the majority of the West Bank,
free of settlements, while Israel
still controls the borders and
the settlements close to it.
Bibi never lays down a
credible peace plan that truly
puts the ball in the Palestin-
ians’ court. And when someone
like Obama exposes that —
and Bibi comes under intense
criticism from the liberal half
of Israel, which sees the coun-
try getting more and more iso-
lated and less and less demo-
cratic — Bibi just calls Obama
an enemy of Israel and caves to
the settlers. U.S. Jewish “lead-
ers” then parrot whatever Bibi
says. Sad.
More troubling
More worrisome is the fact
that President-elect Donald
Trump — who could be a fresh
change agent — is letting him-
self get totally manipulated by
right-wing extremists, and I
mean extreme. His ambassa-
dor-designate to Israel, David
Friedman, has compared Jews
who favor a two-state solution
to Jews who collaborated with
the Nazis. I’ve never heard
such a vile slur from one Jew
to another.
Trump also has no idea how
much he is being manipulated
into helping Iran and ISIS.
What is Iran’s top goal when
it comes to Israel? That Israel
never leaves the West Bank
and that it implants Jewish set-
tlers everywhere there.
That would keep Israel in
permanent conflict with Pal-
estinians and the Muslim
world, as well as many West-
ern democracies and their col-
lege campuses. It would draw
all attention away from Iran’s
own human rights abuses and
enable Iran and ISIS to pres-
ent themselves as the leading
Muslim protectors of Jerusa-
lem — and to present Ameri-
ca’s Sunni Arab allies as lack-
eys of an extremist Israel. This
would create all kinds of prob-
lems for these Arab regimes.
A West Bank on fire would
become a recruitment tool for
ISIS and Iran.
One day Trump will wake
up and discover that he was
manipulated into becoming the
co-father, with Netanyahu, of
an Israel that is either no lon-
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President Barack Obama
meets with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Net-
anyahu in the Oval Office of
the White House in Wash-
ington in November 2015.
ger Jewish or no longer demo-
cratic. He will discover that he
was Bibi’s chump.
What a true friend of Israel
and foe of Iran would do today
is just what Obama and Kerry
tried — assure Israel long-
term military superiority to the
tune of $38 billion, but, unlike
Trump, who is just passing
Israel another bottle of wine,
tell our dear ally that it’s driv-
ing drunk, needs to stop the
settlements and apply that
amazing Israeli imagination to
preserving Israel as a Jewish
and democratic state.
PUBLIC HEARING /
OPEN HOUSE
Oregon
Department of Transportation
Northwest Area Commission on Transportation
(NWACT)
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) –
Draft 2018 to 2021 STIP for Public Review
Thursday
January 12, 2017
NWACT Meeting 1-3 PM
Open House: 3-3:45 PM
Scappoose Fire Station
52751Columbia River Hwy (Hwy 30)
Scappoose, OR
T h e on ly region a l
m a ga zin e focused on
just th e Colum bia -
P a cific region
The open house will feature maps to view and
handouts about selected projects. ODOT staff will be
on hand to answer questions and take comments.
There will be comment cards available to leave
comments regarding specifi c projects.
To view or comment on this document, please visit:
https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/STIP/Pages/
STIPDocs.aspx#2018-2021_STIP.
You can also contact the Region 2 STIP and Financial Plan Manager
John Maher at Ph. 503-986-2614 or his email address:
John.D.MAHER@odot.state.or.us.
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To request an accommodation, please call John Maher the Region 2 STIP
and Financial Plan Manager at 503-986-2614.