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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JuNE 29, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
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OUR VIEW
Have fun, but stay safe
A
sk our brave friends in the
Coast Guard and they will
tell you with cool assurance
that the people who survive a rescue
at sea are wearing lifejackets. Those
who fish or sail without wearing
one have little chance of surviving
a dunking in the unforgiving Pacific
Ocean.
The jolly Fisherman outside of
Ilwaco City Hall is an amusing char-
acter with his changing outfits and
decorations, but his message to wear
life jackets is serious. And it is one
locals and visitors alike should heed.
Our beaches are among the most
beautiful in the North American
continent. We are proud to make
this paradise our home, to protect
and preserve it and enjoy its scenic
attributes.
But danger lurks.
The Pacific County Sheriff’s
Office has begun a campaign online
to properly highlight the dangers of
the ocean, focusing on tides, cur-
rents, undertow, sneaker waves and
water temperatures.
We are happy to share their
advice.
“Rip currents are the most haz-
ardous beach condition a swimmer
can face. Not only on beaches, but
anywhere there are breaking waves.
Several people drown in rip currents
every year.
“The real danger with rip currents
is not that you’re getting pulled
away from shore, but how you react.
Most swimmers will panic and try to
swim against the current. They will
tire quickly and soon go under.”
There’s another important safety
consideration. If you are on the
beach and observe someone in dif-
ficulty in the ocean, call 911 and
remain in place so you can direct
first responders and show what you
saw — and where.
Anyone who has family mem-
bers who insist on playing in the
ocean must watch them the entire
time. Better yet, be firm on young
people and instruct them to do no
more than dip their toes in the water,
if they must. Wading out beyond
calf level exposes anyone to those
sneaker waves and undertows the
Sheriff’s Office warns people about.
Both can be fatal, as can logs
in the water and at the shoreline.
Lifted by Mother Nature’s powerful
wave action, they can break bones
and render even the strongest peo-
ple unconscious in the water and at
its edge.
For locals, who should be more
aware of the hazards, there is always
the question of whether to intervene
when you believe that another per-
son’s behavior is putting them at
risk. Far better to do so, than endure
a lifetime of regret.
And then there are the number of
vehicles being trapped by the preva-
lence of super-low tides. Of course,
it is amusing to add snarky com-
ments to photos posted online about
visitors and even locals whose vehi-
cles are swamped by incoming tides.
But it truly isn’t a laughing mat-
ter. Parking your vehicle on the flat
sand and walking down the beach is
a risk — because the tide comes in
so quickly and can soon engulf a car
or truck.
The vehicles have to be removed
and are inevitably ruined beyond
repair. Anyone trapped inside a
vehicle likely would need to be res-
cued. And the action of the waves
just a few feet out is enough to
move a heavy vehicle, even one
filled with saltwater. It creates a
danger. It is costly to remove.
We realize the irony in saying
welcome to visitors, “have a nice
time,” but adding that they should
be cognizant of the dangers here.
But it is an unchanging truth.
Coastal law enforcement, fire and
rescue responders know if we get
through a summer without a drown-
ing tragedy it will be very rare
indeed — because too many peo-
ple choose to ignore safety warn-
ings and the kind of advice printed
above.
Patrick Webb
The Ilwaco Fisherman outside Ilwaco City Hall wears his life vest and has a message
that locals and visitors alike should heed.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
cial Times and financial behemoth UBS.
LYNN GOLDFARB
Denver
Sad commentary
regon Republicans fleeing the cap-
ital and going into hiding is noth-
ing new. In 2011, to stop legislation being
proposed by Wisconsin Republican Gov.
Scott Walker, the infamous “Democratic
14” members of the Wisconsin State Leg-
islature fled the state.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown sending
state troopers to round up missing
GOP members of the Oregon Legislature
would be the same tactic used by
Walker.
Previous generations of state Legis-
lature minority members would always
stay, debate the issues and deal with being
on the losing side of votes. Today, some
engage in political temper tantrums and
go into hiding out of state, rather than per-
form the tasks they were elected to do.
What a sad commentary on the state of
today’s politics.
LARRY PENNER
Great Neck, New York
O
Getting ready to move
I
can remember how every time we got
ready to move as a family, there was
always considerable nostalgia and sad-
ness leaving all the memories, friends and
neighbors of the old home. But on the
positive side, looking forward to all sur-
prises and adventures of the new home
and area.
As Christians, may it not be similar as
we approach the end of our earthly stay?
Saying goodbye to all our earthly memo-
ries and loved ones may cause us nostal-
gia, and sadness and fear.
But on the positive side, our
Lord has said, “Let not your heart be
troubled … I go to prepare a place for
you … That where I am you may also
be … If it were not so, I would have told
you.”
Oh Lord, in very simple human words:
Thank you for “stamping our passports.”
We’re looking forward to a very victori-
Hijacked Fourth?
egrettably, our 2019 Independence
Day will feature President Donald
Trump’s self-congratulatory hymn-singing
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
At 5:43 a.m. on Feb. 24, Trump
tweeted: “Hold the date! We will be hav-
ing one of the biggest gatherings in the
history of Washington, D.C., on July 4.
It will be called ‘A Salute To America’
and will be held at the Lincoln Memo-
rial. Major fireworks display, entertain-
ment and an address by your favorite pres-
ident, me!”
Apparently, the greatness of America
will no longer be reflected in presidential
leaders like George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt or Franklin Del-
ano Roosevelt, but in an “extremely-sta-
ble genius.”
Trump views this Fourth of July as a
priceless rebranding opportunity. That’s
appalling, especially since the presiden-
tial prevaricator will launch his litany of
lies at the Lincoln Memorial, where Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I
Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963.
Unencumbered by the thought process,
our grandstander-in-chief will read some-
one else’s words, pretending to believe
them, sans any semblance of sincerity.
The Declaration of Independence pro-
vides my principal purpose for rever-
ing the Fourth: “We hold these truths to
be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their cre-
ator with certain inalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty, and the pur-
suit of happiness.”
I can’t stomach a blowhard egomaniac
saluting himself, since that would sum-
mon the sensation of sinking slowly to the
bottom of the ocean.
ROBERT BRAKE
Ocean Park, Washington
R
ous voyage and our new home with you.
JIM BERNARD
Warrenton
Green New Deal
he letter “Wishful thinking won’t
fix our climate” (The Astorian, June
22) supports “practical fixes for climate
change.” We really have just one fix now.
Since we’ve delayed for so long, now we
must cut our greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 50 percent nationally if we are
to have any hope of averting catastrophic
climate change, which would cost hun-
dreds of trillions, according to the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC).
The only fix out there which can do
that is the Green New Deal’s energy plan.
Local or state, or even regional efforts will
be much too little, much too late (National
Academy of Sciences).
T
The most important thing we can do to
fix climate change is to elect a president
and members of Congress who will pass
the Green New Deal’s energy plan on the
day they’re sworn in.
Washington’s Gov. Jay Inslee, cam-
paigning for president, has released
an “instruction manual” for the Green
New Deal, a long, dense “policy wonk’s
dream” (vox.com). Until now, no one has
really known what the Green New Deal’s
energy plan was. Inslee has literally writ-
ten it and, contrary to all the GOP claims
that it would cost $100 trillion, it turns out
that it won’t cost U.S. consumers or tax-
payers anything, but would create eight
million good jobs.
Most of the money will come from pri-
vate investment, and the rest will be offset
by a $500 billion annual increase in U.S.
gross domestic product (IPCC). That’s
mainly because rapidly scaling up renew-
able energy, will make them virtually free
within a decade according to The Finan-