OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
E
ach week we recognize those people and organizations
in the community deserving of public praise for the good
things they do to make the North Coast a better place to
live, and also those who should be called out for their actions.
SHOUTOUTS
• Class of 2017 graduates from the region’s five high schools
who received their diplomas during commencement ceremo-
nies during the past two weeks. At Astoria High School, more
than 120 students donned caps and gowns during graduation last
Saturday. Their com-
mencement week activ-
ities included participat-
ing in the annual Grad
Walk through the dis-
trict’s school build-
ings and then to cheers
from onlookers along
Commercial Street as
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
they walked in a pro-
Astoria High School’s nine valedictori-
cession from Eighth
ans were the first to line up during grad-
Street to the Liberty
uation Saturday.
Theater last Thursday.
At Seaside High School, 90 graduates received their diplomas
during commencement on Monday at the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center, while Warrenton High School graduated a
class of 47 seniors last Friday. Knappa High School awarded 29
diplomas, while seven seniors received diplomas from Jewell
High School.
• Organizers of last weekend’s second annual Astoria Pride,
which celebrated the LGBTQ community and featured events
at the Liberty Theater, a parade along the Astoria Riverwalk and
a block party. Businesses recognized Astoria Pride by hanging
rainbow flags on buildings and downtown light poles, and the
observance coincided with events across the country that sup-
ported the LGBTQ community with parades and festivals to cel-
ebrate equality.
• The Assistance League of the Columbia Pacific, which
celebrated its 10th anniversary this week. The organization
formed in the region with 36 volunteers in 2007 and is dedicated
to promoting self esteem and emotional well being of children
in the community. The organization now has 129 members and
its charitable programs include Operation School Bell, which
provides new clothing to children whose attendance and perfor-
mance at school have been adversely affected by lack of ade-
quate clothing. In this past school year its efforts provided cloth-
ing for 690 children.
• North Coast Prevention Works, which in conjunction with
the Clatsop County Juvenile Department, recently conducted the
2017 Astoria and Warrenton Youth Recognition Awards Banquet
that honored six youths for being an example to the commu-
nity through their excellence and leadership. Prevention Works
was founded in 2009 to promote community-level change in
the prevention of substance abuse, and the stories of the youths’
strength and perseverance were shared with the banquet’s more
than 50 attendees. Three adults, Mike Davis, Carrie Kaull
and Michael McClure, were also honored with Asset Builder
Awards for going above and beyond in making a difference in
the lives of youths in the community.
• Warrenton High School girls softball player Landree
Miethe, who was recently named the 2017 Player of the Year for
the Lewis & Clark League. The senior catcher finished her final
year as the Warriors’ all-time leader in hits, stolen bases, triples
and home runs. Warrenton missed the state playoffs, but had two
players, Miethe and junior pitcher Niqui Blodgett, who were
first team all-league selections.
CALLOUTS
• Whoever destroyed a military-style headstone and
dumped it at a boat launch in Carnahan Park near Cullaby Lake.
The Clatsop County Sheriff’s Department is trying determine
the identity of the veteran it belonged to and the veteran’s burial
location, and Sheriff Tom Bergin said the headstone appeared
to be intentionally damaged. The broken headstone was missing
several pieces, including those with the name, the date of birth
and date of death. Bergin said the letters “E and R” are discern-
ible, and they are believed to be the last two letters of the vet-
eran’s name. Investigators also determined from pieces of the
headstone that the veteran had been in the U.S. Air Force and
served in both Korea and Vietnam. “Such blatant disrespect for
the veteran’s resting place is an outrage,” Bergin said. He has
asked for the public’s help in finding out the identity of the vet-
eran so the burial location can be determined and the headstone
can be respectfully replaced.
Suggestions?
Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about? Let
us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a look.
The mortification of Sessions
By FRANK BRUNI
New York Times News Service
T
he appearance of Jeff
Sessions before the Senate
Intelligence Committee
on Tuesday didn’t bring us much
closer to under-
standing what did
or didn’t happen
between Donald
Trump and the
Russians, or what
the president has
or hasn’t done to
cover it up. Sessions batted away
many questions. His answers to
others were gauzy and useless.
But as I watched him, a flustered
Gump in the headlights, I saw a
broader story, a dark parable of bets
misplaced and souls under siege.
This is what happens when you
draw too close to Trump.
You’re diminished at best, mor-
tified at worst. You’ve either done
work dirtier than you meant to or
told fibs bigger than you ought to
or been sullied by contact or been
thrown to the wolves.
One day, you’re riding high on
the myth of Trump as a transforma-
tive figure and reasoning that some
tweaking of norms and maybe even
breaking of rules are an inevitable
part of the unconventional equation.
The next, you’re ensnared in his
recklessness, at the mercy of his
tempestuousness and quite possibly
the butt of his rage: the case with
Sessions, who sank low enough
that he felt compelled last month to
offer Trump his resignation.
“It’s just like through the look-
ing glass: What is this?” Sessions
said during his Senate testimony,
and while he was alluding to the
suggestion that he and the Russian
ambassador had plotted together
to steal a presidential election,
he could just as easily have been
referring to the warped topography
of Trumplandia.
It’s a reputation-savaging place.
Ask Rod Rosenstein for sure.
Herbert McMaster, too. Also James
Mattis. Sean Spicer. Reince Priebus.
Rex Tillerson. Dan Coats. All have
been under pressure, undercut or
contradicted. They’ve been asked
to pledge their fidelity to — even
proclaim their adoration for — a
man who adores only himself.
My God, that video, the one of
the Cabinet in full session at long
last. I’ve never seen anything like
it. It’s the most chilling measure yet
of Trump’s narcissism, and it’s a
breathtaking glimpse into what that
means for the people around him.
They don’t volunteer purplish flat-
tery like that because it’s their wont.
He wants it so badly that they cough
it up. To buoy his ego, they debase
themselves, and what you heard them
doing in that meeting wasn’t just
swallowing their pride but choking
on it. They looked like hostages —
hostages in need of the Heimlich.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Attorney General Jeff Sessions gestures as he testifies on Capi-
tol Hill in Washington, D.C., Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing about his role in the firing of James Comey, his
Russian contacts during the campaign and his decision to recuse
himself from an investigation into possible ties between Moscow
and associates of President Donald Trump.
Well, most of them. Mike Pence
has discovered a freaky talent for
such freakish sycophancy, and
called it “the greatest privilege of
my life” to assist “the president
who’s keeping his word to the
American people.” (Which word is
that?) He sounded like he believed
it. The mysteries of faith, indeed.
A few others in the meeting
I’ve never
seen anything
like it. It’s the
most chilling
measure yet
of Trump’s
narcissism,
and it’s a
breathtaking
glimpse into
what that
means for the
people around
him.
summoned less ardor. “It’s an
honor,” Mattis said, but then
continued, “to represent the men
and women of the Department of
Defense.” Trump turned away just
then, as if the absence of his name
equaled the loss of his interest.
Mattis has suffered the humil-
iation of assuring allies of our
commitment to NATO just before
Trump, without warning him,
sowed doubts about precisely
that. McMaster, whose book
“Dereliction of Duty” is expressly
about talking truth to power, found
himself at a lectern doing damage
control for his damage-prone
boss. He vouched that Trump’s
divulgence of classified information
to Russian officials at the White
House was no big deal.
No one in Trump’s administra-
tion was forced into this service and
its compromises. Some hungered
for power, in whatever bastard
package delivered it. At least a few,
like Sessions, had poisoned reputa-
tions already.
But there were those with
higher motives, too, and they
find themselves in a White House
governed by dread. Who’s next to
be shamed? What tweet or tantrum
awaits? They thought that they’d be
bolstering a leader. They see now
that they’re holding a grenade.
You could sense the stress of
that in Sessions, who endorsed
Trump before any other senator did,
won the prize of attorney general
but on Tuesday was the prosecuted,
not the prosecutor.
At times he had a hurt, helpless
air. He cried foul at the “secret
innuendo being leaked out there
about me.”
He called the suggestion that
he’d conspired with Russia “an
appalling and detestable lie.”
“I did not recuse myself from
defending my honor against scur-
rilous and false allegations,” he
declared. No, but he made it a hell
of a lot harder the moment he took
Trump’s hand.
For all Trump’s career and all
his campaign, he played the part of
Midas, claiming that everything he
touched turned to gold. That was
never true. This is: Almost every-
one who touches him is tarnished,
whether testifying or not.
WHERE TO WRITE
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing-
ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-
0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District
office: 12725 SW Millikan Way,
Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005.
Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-326-
5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Office Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone:
202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden.
senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E.,
H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone:
503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@
state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D):
900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.
or.us District office: P.O. Box 928,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone:
503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/ boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone:
503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john-
son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy-
johnson.com District Office: P.O.
Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone:
503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296.
Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280.
• Port of Astoria: Executive
Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto-
ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300.
Email: admin@portofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of Com-
missioners: c/o County Manager, 800
Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.