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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2020)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, FEbRuARy 18, 2020 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher DERRICK DePLEDGE Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager OUR VIEW Public service with humility M onday’s commemoration of Presi- dents Day was a moment to pause and reflect on the legacy of George Wash- ington and Abraham Lincoln. Both were living proof of the adage, “com- meth the moment, commeth the man.” But the passing of centuries has indicated there was more depth to them than any recent occupant of the Oval Office. They did not live in an instant, Twitter age. Their innermost thoughts appeared only in leg- islation, speeches and letters, the latter some- times only revealed decades after their deaths. Historians have agonized over their words for clues to their character. Perhaps inevitably, their stature has risen as time has passed. More books have been written about Lincoln than any other American. And with good rea- son. Preserving the Union from a north-south breakup and freeing the slaves must rate as sig- nificant as declaring independence from King George III and embarking on this remarkable experiment. Marking the first president’s birthday was born of an era in which the memory of Wash- ington was nurtured and venerated. His restraint in resigning his officer’s commission before becoming president then leaving the presidency after two terms was the essence of how he built our nation, historians have noted. So there is good reason to study their lives. In perilous times, Washington and Lincoln showed us the way. In doing so, they defined America, and they set a standard by which their succes- sors should be judged. If we lose sight of their example, we will be doomed to a succession of deeply flawed, mediocre presidents. In the modern era, historians have dissected the lives of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisen- hower. Both men have come out favorably. The Ashton Gazette A sculpture outside the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Illinois. WE SHOuLd PAuSE AT LEAST ONCE A yEAR TO ASK: WHAT WOuLd WASHINGTON dO? WHAT WOuLd LINCOLN dO? morality of Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb on Japanese cities — taking civilian lives to save military lives — is debated more out- side the United States than within. But he was a man of his time, placed in charge by Frank- lin D. Roosevelt’s death and acting in his best conscience. Eisenhower’s often-quoted departing remarks were among the most memorable of speeches during the entire last century. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acqui- sition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial com- plex,” he said. “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” And in the same 1961 farewell address, he also cautioned, “We cannot mortgage the mate- rial assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heri- tage. We want democracy to survive for all gen- erations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.” These remarks addressed escalating military budgets and the burdensome national debt with striking clarity and foresight. Almost 60 years later, it is a cause for regret that we are still wrestling with both. Since Ike’s day, our modern presidents have seemed a tad more flawed, in part because more sophisticated and broader media coverage has revealed their shortcomings. Today, the role of president of the United States exists in a fast-changing world. The parameters of the influence of the other super- powers, Russia and China, wax and wane with every news cycle. Europe is in a state of flux with the departure of Great Britain from its political union. South America’s long-predicted rise to significant clout in world affairs still has not properly materialized. In this context, the man or woman we elect to go to work in the Oval Office juggles weighty domestic and international issues in a fishbowl. We can see all their flaws and often know their innermost thoughts with striking, sometimes troublesome, clarity. It is therefore timely that we should pause at least once a year to ask: What would Washing- ton do? What would Lincoln do? The answers to those theoretical questions should help provide a grounding. Perhaps no human in the White House will ever measure up to those two immortals. But they offer an exam- ple of service with humility that we could all embrace, and that is severely lacking in 2020’s current strategies. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Resign ancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Chuck Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and all the white- clad disrupters are all the ultimate poster children for term limits. Quit wasting taxpayers’ money by doing nothing and resign. KEVIN SWANSON Warrenton N A circular firing squad he same corporations who are our worst polluters, i.e., the petroleum and energy industries and, locally, the Geor- gia-Pacific Wauna Mill and other forest products employers, threaten their own employees and customers — the “truckers, loggers, farmers and others who live and work in rural parts of the state,” as The Astorian describes the #TimberUnity pro- testers — with higher fuel prices if Oregon adopts cap and trade (“#TimberUnity takes center stage in Salem,” Feb. 8). Well, shame on those corporations. Instead of kowtowing to them as the tim- ber heiress state Sen. Betsy Johnson is urging, you, and we, should demand that those companies make the investments necessary to clean up their dirty processes, and stop belching out filth for our chil- dren and grandchildren to breathe. That’s exactly what cap and trade gives them an economic incentive to do. #TimberUnity people, you are fir- ing at a solution, not at the problem. Cap and trade is in your, and our, own interest. The illogic of your position is the same as blaming Obamacare because insur- ance companies take advantage of it to raise their rates. That problem lies with the insurance companies, not with Obamacare. The only problem with that program is that it’s a health insurance plan, rather than a health care plan. Stop being a circular firing squad. JOSEPH WEBB Astoria T Choose your candidates ave you ever felt like not voting because you liked neither of the major candidates? I bet most of us have felt that way in at least some of our elec- tions. Did you know more voters cannot currently pick the candidates who will end up on the final ballot, than voters who can pick the Democratic, or Republican, or any other party candidate? That’s right. H Thirty-six percent of registered voters in Clatsop County are considered nonaf- filiated voters. They cannot vote for their favorite candidate in the Democratic pri- mary. They cannot vote for their favorite candidate in the Republican primary. They can’t vote for their favorite candidate in the Green Party primary. You get the pic- ture. Other people will be choosing who you can vote for in November if you don’t register a party affiliation. You must check, then update, your voter registration by April 28. Go online at SOS.Oregon.gov, or call 866-673-VOTE, or go to the Clatsop County Elections Office. You should pick your candidate. Don’t let others decide for you. CHERYL CONWAY Astoria Part of the solution esponding to “Climate change just another political controversy” (The Astorian, Feb. 1): In Don Haskell’s com- ments were several false premises which have been circulated repeatedly by the cli- mate-denying community that cannot con- tinue to go unchallenged without dire consequences. Scientific facts don’t care what your beliefs are or what political party you serve. Applying science is how America became a dominant nation in the last sev- eral hundred years; misapplying technol- ogy is how we have come to a crisis now called climate chaos or climate catastrophe. For many of our fellow creatures, which are at the mercy of our behav- ior, this is an extinction-level event. For many humans the coming water, food and extreme weather crises will also be an extinction-level event. The damage will last for generations, and be ongoing and worsening as long as we continue to pollute the atmosphere with greenhouse gas emissions currently push- ing the carbon dioxide levels far beyond what they would have been were it not for human activities. Quibbling over how much it will cost to rectify the situation only delays solutions. The cost is what it is, and some of it will be ameliorated by creation of new busi- nesses and jobs needed to make the transi- tion to clean energy. We broke the climate; now we have to pay to fix it, Haskell. The sooner you start being part of the solution, the fewer the casualties and damage for this generation and those to follow. FRANK ERICKSON, M.D. Seaside R Protect Social Security he federal administration has pro- posed a $4.8 trillion budget. Within this budget is a proposed rule by the Social Security Administration to increase how often adults and children with disabilities, including brain diseases, must prove that they have a disability. The process is called continuing dis- ability reviews. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Secu- rity Income (SSI) income provide needed financial assistance to many people in the U.S. who have a mental illness (organic brain disease) and are unable to work. It is already very complicated for peo- ple, especially in rural Oregon, to access mental health services. Such a new rule would make it more difficult, and put benefits at risk for this vulnerable population. JUANITA PRICE National Alliance on Mental Illness, Clatsop County board member emeritus Astoria T Dumbfounded very Astoria development code hear- ing since 2018 has been an unfair one to the public. This includes the hearing for Pacific Seafood’s worker housing project at Astoria Pointe. The reason the hearings have been E unfair is because City Hall has the duty to notify the public of the provisions of the development code before the hearing takes place. The city did do this duty by mailing out public hearing notices to the residents affected. After receiving my notice, I visited City Hall to get a copy of the development code. I was shown where to download it on the Astoria city website. This was really helpful. I based my whole three-minute testimony on the online copy of the code, as did my neighbors. After spending two weeks researching the online development code, I decided the best way to oppose the housing proj- ect was to prove it was a form of transient lodging. It fit the definition instate law perfectly. I also triple-checked Astoria’s code for a definition. It was not defined anywhere. After my testimony, my claim of tran- sient lodging was dismissed by the Plan- ning Commission due to the housing proj- ect not fitting the development code’s definition. I was dumbfounded! After the hearing, I revisited City Hall to find the definition. That’s when I discovered the public’s ver- sion of the development code online was an expired version. My concern is how much the city has boomed over the past few years consider- ing this handicapped public voice. MICHELLE ADAMS Astoria
