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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager Water under the bridge Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2007 The last time Clifford Yarborough Jr.’s friends saw him alive, the athletic 17-year-old was boogie-boarding in shoulder-deep water off Long Beach, Washington, then struggling against a strong undertow that dragged him out to sea. It was about the same time a passer-by jumped into the ocean to save a person fighting the current at nearby Sid Snyder Beach. Just a few hours earlier to the south, a 37-year-old woman was hospital- ized after she and two 15-year-olds were rescued off Arcadia Beach. Despite the onslaught of rip currents and the July 27 tragedy of Yar- borough, plenty of other beachgoers found themselves in similar circum- stances the following two days. On the heels of the U.S. Coast Guard’s busiest weekend yet this year, authorities are urging swimmers to take caution at Oregon beaches. Hamburger wasn’t supposed to be in the overweight division, but he ate his way in. “I have the second biggest pig here,” said Hamburger’s owner, Rachel Anne Miller, an 18-year-old competing in her last 4-H competition at the Clatsop County Fair and Expo. Miller and other 4-H participants and their animals from throughout Clatsop County were at the fairgrounds Tuesday for the first day of this year’s county fair. Ronnie Pass pushed control buttons on the Wauna mill’s aging No. 4 paper machine for the last time Monday, and he said goodbye. “This is it, big guy,” he recalls saying. Pass admits that in his 27 years working on No. 4, he’s spoken to it on more than one occasion. “It hasn’t always been nice things,” he said. As of Tuesday, No. 4 is out of commission, and its contracts have been taken up by other mills, including another Georgia-Pacific mill in Camas, Washington. 50 years ago — 1967 The Daily Astorian/File Showing its bright colors to Astoria Monday afternoon, the new Columbia River Bar Pilots launch Peacock is lowered from the German freighter Ostreisland. Blasts of boat and ship horns wel- comed the vessel to Astoria The new bar pilot vessel Peacock, traditional namesake of the Peacock Spit, arrived in Astoria Monday afternoon to the horn blasts of several welcoming boats and admiring looks of old-time men of the sea. The new Peacock, built in Germany for the Columbia River Bar Pilots, was shipped from Europe on board the German freighter Ostreisland, a journey that took it through the Panama Canal and up the West Coast. The vessel is crammed with equipment, while quarters remain spacious. The engine room is clean, uncluttered and impressive as is the rest of the more than 89-foot vessel An historic meeting was held in Astoria last night. The Port of Astoria took its first official step toward construction of the $142 million Northwest Aluminum company plant near Warrenton. The Port retained Bache and Co., Inc., of New York to underwrite the largest industrial bond issue in U.S. history. Neahkahnie treasure seeker Tony Mareno of Salem has given up digging on the sand below the famed Oregon seacoast moun- tain for the legendary Spanish treasure he says may be worth $500 million. He has pushed the sand back in his 18-foot hole and returned to Salem and his house painting occupation. Mareno said he plans to try again after raising $5,000 to con- struct cofferdams so he can work around what the said were inge- nious water channels installed by the Spaniards to foil looters. Before manliness lost its virtue By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service T he Trump administration is certainly giving us an education in the varieties of wannabe manliness. There is the slovenly “I don’t care what you think” manliness of Steve Bannon. There’s the look- at-me-I-can-curse manliness that Anthony Scaramucci learned from “Glengarry Glen Ross.” There is the affirmation-hungry “I long to be the man my father was” parody of manliness performed by Donald Trump. There are all those authentically manly Marine generals Trump hires to supplement his own. There’s Trump’s man-crush on Vladimir Putin and the firing of insufficiently manly Reince Priebus. With this crowd, it’s man-craving all the way down. It’s worth remembering, when we are surrounded by all this thrusting masculinity, what substantive manliness once looked like. For example, 2,400 years ago the Greeks had a more fully developed vision of manliness than anything we see in or around the White House today. Greek manliness started from a different place than ours does now. For the ancient Greeks, it would have been incomprehensible to count yourself an alpha male simply because you can run a trading floor or sell an apartment because you gilded a faucet handle. For them, real men defended or served their city, or performed some noble public service. Braying after money was the opposite of manliness. For the Greeks, that was just avariciousness, an activity that shrunk you down into a peo- ple-pleasing marketer or hollowed you out because you pursued hollow things. The Greeks admired what you might call spiritedness. The spirited man defies death in battle, performs deeds of honor and is respected by those whose esteem is worth having. The classical Greek concept of manliness emphasizes certain traits. The bedrock virtue is courage. The manly man puts himself on the line and risks death and criticism. The manly man is assertive. He does not hang back but instead wades into any fray. The manly man is competitive. He looks for ways to compete with others, to demonstrate his prowess and to be the best. The manly man is self-confident. He knows his own worth. But he is also touchy. He is outraged if others do not grant him the honor that is his due. That version of manliness gave Greece its dynamism. But the Greeks came to understand the problem with manly men. They are hard to live with. They are constantly picking fights and engaging in 75 years ago — 1942 David J. Lewis, Clatsop County rationing administrator, appealed today to state tire rationing authorities for at least 90 truck tires, 30 truck tubes and a lesser number of passenger tires and recaps to supply a critical short- age in this county. Lewis said Clatsop County has not drawn tires from the state pool since July 8. He said although cool weather has prevailed in the last week to 10 days, the tire requirements for trucks have become acute; and unless some relief is provided immediately a great number of trucks will be sidetracked, particularly if this area is struck by warm weather over any period of time. Recommendations will be made that the riverboat Impe- rial, plying between Astoria and Cathlamet and serving various north shore communities, not be requisitioned by the U.S. Army, according to Congressman Martin F. Smith of Washington. There have been reports that the Army intended to requisi- tion the boat. AP Photo/Alex Brandon White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, right, points to the direction of his seat in the East Room of the White House Tuesday. peacock displays. Take the savage feuding that marks the Trump White House and put it on steroids and you get some idea of Greek culture. The Greek tragedies describe cycles of revenge and counter-revenge as manly men and women wreak death and destruc- tion on each other. It’s worth remembering, when we are surrounded by all this thrusting masculinity, what substantive manliness once looked like. So the Greeks took manliness to the next level. On top of the honor code, they gave us the concept of magnanimity. Pericles is the perfect magnanimous man (and in America, George Washington and George Marshall were his heirs). The mag- nanimous leader possesses all the spirited traits described above, but he uses his traits not just to puff himself up but to create a just political order. The magnanimous man tries to master the profession of statecraft because he believes, with the Athenian ruler Solon, that the well-governed city “makes all things wise and perfect in the world of men.” The magnanimous leader tries to beautify his city, to arouse people’s pride in and love for it. He encour- ages citizens to get involved in great civic projects that will give their lives meaning and allow everybody to partake in the heroic action that was once reserved for the aristocratic few. The magnanimous man has a cer- tain style. He is a bit aloof, marked more by gravitas than familiarity. He shows perfect self-control because he has mastered his passions. He does not show his vulnerability. His relationships are not reciprocal. He is eager to grant favors but is ashamed of receiving them. His personal life can wither because he has devoted himself to disinterested public service. The magnanimous man believes that politics practiced well is the noblest of all professions. No other arena requires as much wisdom, tenacity, foresight and empathy. No other field places such stress on conversation and persuasion. The English word “idiot” comes from the ancient Greek word for the person who is uninterested in politics but capable only of running his or her own private affairs. Today, we’re in a crisis of masculinity. Some men are unable to compete in schools and in labor markets because the stereotype of what is considered “man’s work” is so narrow. In the White House, we have phony manliness run amok. But we still have all these older models to draw from. Of all the pol- iticians I’ve covered, John McCain comes closest to the old magnani- mous ideal. Last week, when he went to the Senate and flipped his thumb down on the pretzeled-up health care bill, we saw one version of manliness trumping another. When John Kelly elbowed out Anthony Scaramucci, one version of manliness replaced another. The old virtues aren’t totally lost. So there’s hope. 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.