Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor JIM VAN NOSTRAND, 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 Commercial fishermen on the North Coast say they can’t afford to have the government close any more near-shore ocean fishing grounds, but a marine reserve plan backed by conservation groups and Gov. Ted Kulongoski aims to do just that. Plans to close sections of the 3-mile stretch of state waters off the Ore- gon Coast to extractive uses such as fishing have been the works for years through a group of stakeholders appointed by the governor to the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council. With the recent advancement of wave energy projects — an alternative energy form that could further reduce open fishing grounds — the council is now at the heart of a controversial question that has coastal communities on edge: How should Oregon man- age its ocean waters? Stephen Hildreth, the Clatsop County Animal Control supervisor, said he has a big wish list for the animal shelter. And Christmas is coming early this year. The estate of Grace Larson of Astoria — who died last November — is presenting the shelter with a check for $200,949 at 5 p.m. today before the Clatsop County Board of Commis- sioners meeting. Larson and her husband, Carl, who died in 2002, loved dogs and cats. They always had at least one cat. Carl was a longtime logger and Grace, who worked at Bumble Bee Seafoods for 40 years, retired in 1980. The only stipulation put on her gift was that it be used to benefit cats and dogs. 50 years ago — 1967 SEASIDE — Testimony submitted to the Oregon legislative interim committee on highways here Monday morning indicated concern of coastal communities over control of traffic, vandalism, litter and moral conduct on the beaches. The committee also heard criticism of the new Beach Bill by a Tilla- mook attorney representing a Neskowin engineering firm. The Beach Bill critic was C. Ray Johnson, Tillamook, who called for test of constitutionality of the Beach Bill, which he described as a poor law, hastily enacted under hysteria. Johnson challenged the theory of public ownership acquired through use, which is basic to the Beach Bill. The Daily Astorian/File Photo Astoria junior high school will rise on this site in the James Street area. Site has been cleared and road in foreground constructed. Pile driving was scheduled to start this week. Site work for the new Astoria junior high school is sub- stantially complete, Superintendent Roy Seeborg reported Wednesday. Paving of Klaskanine Avenue from Ninth to 11th, a new street opened up to provide access to the school site, was in progress this week. Driving of foundation piling was progressing well, Seeborg said. It will be finished in two weeks, when placing of forms for the concrete building foundations will start. 75 years ago — 1942 A four-star scrap metal drive, built around a campaign to “sell” the old cannon on the courthouse lawn for thousands of dollars in war bonds, is taking shape here this week. Groundwork for the scrap collection effort is being laid by Neil Morfitt, chairman of the salvage committee working with Floyd Foster, city chief, and Afton Zundel, head of the work in the county. Tentative plans call for participation of every school child in the county, banded together as “Scouts” and flying squadrons of muscle men to both find and bunch the scrap metals for pickup by a fleet of trucks. The idea of “selling” the old German artillery piece was born in the red head of Rusty Coleman, George Amato’s master of ceremonies, who sold more than $5,000 worth of war bonds and stamps almost single handedly at a recent victory rally in downtown Astoria. “If you haven’t used it during the last six months, and you’re not going to use it in the next six months — then it’s scrap.” Neil Morfitt, chairman of the scrap salvage committee here, said today that if “you find by this test that something you own is scrap, then its place is on the firing line … and the firing line begins in Astoria’s scrap salvage depots.” A special midnight showing of Abbott and Costello’s “Pardon My Sarong” and Lt. Com. John Ford’s technicolor pictures of the “Battle of Midway” will be held Friday at the Liberty Theater, with admission being a $25 war bond or larger, A.M. Dunlop, theater manager said today. The showing will be the Liberty Theater’s contribution in the nation- wide “Salute to Heroes” drive, under sponsorship of the motion pic- ture industry to sell $1,000,000,000 in war bonds and stamps during September. The Midway battle pictures were taken by Ford, who although wounded severely, stayed with his camera to shoot the remarkable pic- tures which are described as among the most dramatic ever exhibited. The Abbie Hoffman of the right By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service I t has to be admitted that Donald Trump is doing exactly what he was elected to do. He was not elected to be a leg- islative president. He never showed any real interest in policy during the campaign. He was elected to be a cultural president. He was elected to shred the dominant American culture and to give voice to those who felt voiceless in that culture. He’s doing that every day. What’s troubling to me is that those who are the targets of his assaults seem to have no clue about what is going on. When they feel the most righteous, like this past week- end, they are actually losing and in the most peril. Let me try to explain what I think is happening: After World War II the Protestant establishment dominated the high ground of American culture and pol- itics. That establishment eventually failed. It tolerated segregation and sexism, led the nation into war in Vietnam and became stultifying. So in the late 1960s along came a group of provocateurs like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and the rest of the counterculture to upend the Protestant establishment. People like Hoffman were buffoons, but also masters of political theater. They never attracted majority support for their antics, but they didn’t have to. All they had to do was provoke, offend the crew-cut crowd, generate outrage and set off a cycle that ripped apart the cultural consensus. The late 1960s were a time of intense cultural conflict, which left a lot of wreckage in its wake. But eventually a new establishment came into being, which we will call the meritocratic establishment. These were the tame heirs to Hoffman and Rubin. They were well-educated. They cut their moral teeth on the civil rights and femi- nist movements. They embraced economic, social and moral individ- ualism. They came to dominate the institutions of American society on both left and right. Hillary Clinton is part of this more-educated cohort. So are parts of the conservative establishment. If you’re reading this newspaper, you probably are, too, as am I. This establishment, too, has had its failures. It created an economy that benefits itself and leaves every- body else out. It led America into war in Iraq and sent the working class off to fight it. It has developed its own brand of cultural snobbery. Its media, film and music industries make members of the working class feel invisible and disrespected. AP Photo/Evan Vucci President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the House Ways and Means committee in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Tuesday. Because of him (Trump), a new culture will have to be built, new values promulgated and a new social fabric will have to be woven. So in 2016, members of the outraged working class elected their own Abbie Hoffman as president. Trump is not good at much, but he is wickedly good at sticking his thumb in the eye of the educated elites. He doesn’t have to build a new culture, or even attract a majority. He just has to tear down the old one. That’s exactly what he’s doing. Donald Trump came into a segment- ing culture and he is further tearing apart every fissure. He has a nose for every wound in the body politic and day after day he sticks a red-hot poker in one wound or another and rips it open. Day by day Trump is turning us into a nation of different planets. Each planet feels more righteous about itself and is more isolated from and offended by the other planets. The members of the educated class saw the weekend’s NFL fracas as a fight over racism. They felt mobilized and unified in that fight and full of righteous energy. Members of the working class saw the fracas as a fight about American identity. They saw Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin try to dissuade Alejandro Villanueva, a three-time combat veteran, from celebrating the flag he risked his life for. Members of this class also felt mobilized, unified and full of righteous energy. I don’t know which planet is bigger, or which would win an election, but that frankly doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Trump is shredding the culture and ending the dominance of the meritocratic establishment. He continually goes after racial matters in part because he’s a bigot but also in part because multicultur- alism is the theology of the educated class and it’s the leverage point he can most effectively use to isolate the educated class from everyone else. He is so destructive because his enemies help him. He ramps up the aggression. His enemies ramp it up more, to preserve their own dignity. But the ensuing cultural violence only serves Trump’s long-term destructive purpose. America is seeing nearly as much cultural conflict as it did in the late 1960s. It’s quite possible that after four years of this Trump will have effectively destroyed the pre- vailing culture. The reign of the mer- itocratic establishment will be just as over as the reign of the Protestant establishment now is. Of course Donald Trump is a buffoon. Buffoonery is his most effective weapon. Because of him, a new culture will have to be built, new values promulgated and a new social fabric will have to be woven, one that brings the different planets back into relation with one another. That’s the work of the next 20 years. WHERE TO WRITE • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 439 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225- 9497. District office: 12725 SW Mil- likan 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.
