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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
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OUR VIEW
Bundys belong in
federal prison for
armed standoffs
D
ismissal of federal criminal charges against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy
will almost certainly result in more trouble. How well or poorly it ends
will depend on whether the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. attor-
neys manage to learn from the shellacking they just received.
Most Americans have little sympathy for Bundy, his family and supporters. He
might like to think of himself as a folk hero, but his hidebound refusal to abide by
longstanding cattle-grazing rules placed innocent lives in danger, degraded public
lands around his ranch and made a mockery of the law.
As one letter writer observed about
the armed occupation of the Malheur
the trial outcome, “I kind of thought
National Wildlife Refuge, these pros-
things were pretty good in the old days
ecutors have shown they are the gang
when people were honest and did not
that can’t shoot straight.
pull high-powered weapons on law
This is most unfortunate.
enforcement agents. Now they even get Emboldened by their twin victories,
away with it.”
not only the Bundys but others who
The Bundys clearly do not exist in
share their views will be emboldened.
the same U.S. West as the one por-
It is easily possible to imagine sce-
trayed on the TV
narios in which oth-
Cartwright family’s
ers will see fit to treat
Ponderosa. Its manly
land that belongs to all
The Bundys will
men supported law and
Americans as private
mess up again.
order. By wantonly
property, and then
The next time
claiming public land
forcefully resist when
is theirs to take, in the
the law comes to call.
should be the last
fictional universe of
Such conflicts cre-
time, with federal
“Bonanza” the Bundys
ate great potential for
would only be good
injuries and deaths,
prison being their
for an episode or two
like that of LaVoy
next
bunkhouse.
illustrating the many
Finicum during the
annoying downsides of
Malheur standoff.
having lousy neighbors.
It doesn’t take a talented investiga-
tor to uncover plenty of resentment in
However, even annoying anti-gov-
the interior West toward the Bureau
ernment bumpkins have a valid right
of Land Management. Although it has
to expect prosecutors to obey the rules
many dedicated and hard-working
of evidence. Judge Gloria Navarro was
employees, its direction is whipsawed
right to decide that by withholding evi-
by political whims. It often is in the
dence useful to the defense, prosecu-
automatically unpopular role of mall
tors bungled their case beyond pos-
cop or playground attendant as western-
sibility of repair. It was so bad, the
ers recreate and go about their business
judge in effect awarded the game to
out in our nation’s wide-open spaces.
the Bundys by default. This outcome
The key word is “our.” The lands that
should be a career-ending mistake for
the Bundys and others covet belong to
whomever was responsible in the U.S.
all of us, and are not to be fenced off or
Justice Department. Coupled with
overgrazed. We citizens care less about
the earlier court loss in Oregon for
John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Flanked by armed supporters, rancher Cliven Bundy speaks in 2014 at a protest camp
near Bunkerville, Nev.
Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ryan Bundy, son of rancher Cliven Bundy, listens to his father speak two days after
federal charges were dismissed against both of them in Las Vegas.
the BLM’s popularity than about its
continuing ability to do its job.
With erratic amateurs currently con-
trolling the main levers of government
power, it is up to the everyday pro-
fessionals of the BLM and the Justice
Department to get up in the mornings,
and calmly go about their jobs in even-
handed and uninflammatory ways.
They must figure out smarter strategies
for getting along with skeptics while
successfully discouraging and pun-
ishing lawbreakers. They must be the
grownups in the room, and not stoop
to shortcuts or prosecutorial
skulduggery.
The Bundys will mess up again.
The next time should be the last time,
with federal prison being their next
bunkhouse.
GUEST COLUMN
Dr. King, LBJ gave us hope — Trump gives us hate
C
ultural values are on display in every
country, and Americans might think
we come off well in the cultural lens.
But viewed from most other countries, our
rate of gun mayhem, killings and suicides is
glaring. The Times of India commented on the
latest American gun massacre during a recent
visit by my wife and I to that country.
And now the rest of the world is watching
our president return us to the ugly age of
Jim Crow bigotry, with his comment about
“shithole” countries, which are Latino and
black.
Part of what President
Donald Trump had to
say — about his ambition
to bring Norwegians here
— was laughable. Why
would Norwegians want to
emigrate? They have a better
Steve
health care system, a stable
Forrester
economy and they lack a gun
culture.
The president’s remarks are especially
poignant during this week, as we honor Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. There are many ways
of describing Dr. King’s accomplishment.
One is that he liberated Southerners from the
debilitating and corroding burden of institu-
tionalized racism. There is a Biblical aspect to
that liberation. Also there is a psychological
side. Living without hate is healthier than
carrying it around with you.
The important historical comparison
is between Trump and President Lyndon
Johnson. The most interesting historical
characters are those who move beyond the
bounds of the culture that spawned them.
When Johnson in December 1963 told a Joint
Session of Congress that he wanted a Civil
Rights Bill, he rose above being a member
of the Southern Bloc of Congress, in which
he had toed the line on civil rights. He closed
that speech with a line borrowed from the
civil rights movement. “We shall overcome,”
he said.
also about women, who gained new opportu-
nities under Title 9 of that statute.
The truth is that American blacks will not
return to servility, nor will women become
passive, nor will gays return to the closet.
Those trains have been out of the station and
down the tracks for a long time.
There is a reason why the memory of Dr.
King matters and why Lyndon Johnson mat-
tered. They rose above the world into which
they were born. Trump remains a prisoner of
his childhood.
Trump only knows how to feed our
nation’s corrosive, worst, base instincts. The
man may be our president, but he has ignored
the words of his own inaugural address, in
which he promised to be a president for all
Americans. History will not judge him kindly
for that.
A startling discovery overseas
Associated Press
President Lyndon B. Johnson, right, talks with civil rights leaders Jan. 18, 1964. The
black leaders, from left, are, Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); James Farmer, national director of the
Committee on Racial Equality; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference; and Whitney Young, executive director of the Urban League.
The most interesting historical
characters are those who move beyond the
bounds of the culture that spawned them.
Johnson found the vision and courage to
move beyond the world of Jim Crow politics in
which he had risen. Johnson said that any time
a Southern politician was threatened, he would
utter the refrain: “Nigrah, nigrah, nigrah.”
As the Oregon State University political
scientist Bill Lunch learned through research
some 30 years ago, there is among a branch of
Republicans a desire to turn the clock back on
the Civil Rights Act, not just about blacks but
During our November travels in India, we
observed an aspect of rural culture — outdoor
defecation. While driving in the darkness of
early morning, we observed women standing
by the side of the road, looking away from the
headlights. They carried pots.
When we asked our daughter’s mother-in-
law, Zarine Rana, she explained this cultural
value among many Indians. The women were
going to the fields to relieve themselves.
And she directed us to a Bollywood movie,
“Toilet: A Love Story” — a dramatic tale
about a bride who demands that her husband
provide an indoor toilet in their multi-genera-
tional family home.
What ensues is nothing less than a com-
munity movement among the rural village’s
women. The outcome is an indoor toilet.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has made eradication of outdoor defecation
a national campaign. The U.S. Agency for
International Development is assisting.
Steve Forrester, the former editor and pub-
lisher of The Daily Astorian, is the president
and CEO of EO Media Group.