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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, February 13, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher JENNINE PERKINSON Advertising Director DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Tip of the hat; kick in the pants A kick in the pants to Cylvia Hayes and John Kitzhaber’s lawyer Jim McDermott for talking the embattled governor into staying in his now untenable position atop our state government. For more on the controversy, see our front page story today, see our front pages stories from last week and see our front page stories that will continue for weeks ahead. This collapse will not end until Kitzhaber is deposed. He can make it easy on himself and Oregonians and go now, or he can drag out the process and our patience. But these two people — the one he sleeps next to and the other that he pays — are the only ones who believe Kitzhaber can still do the job. Democrats in the legislature have called for his resignation, as did Treasurer Ted Wheeler. Secretary of State Kate Brown — who would take over the job if Kitz quits — described the current governor’s actions as “strange” and the situation as “bizarre” and “unprecedented.” She also said she’s ready to step in. Democrats are not just throwing Kitzhaber under the bus, they are throwing said bus into reverse and running him over again and again. With so little support and a growing mountain of incriminating evidence, it’s hard to believe it will last much longer. %XWZDWFKLQJRQHPDQSURWHFWKLVKLGH²DQGWKHKLGHRIKLV¿DQFpH² while putting his state through the ringer, is enough to make you sad for the state of political affairs and the state of our beloved Oregon. A tip of the hat to the leadership classes at Hermiston and Pendleton, which both spent a day at the East Oregonian this week. The classes — organized by each city’s chamber of commerce — are a great way to groom community leaders by both showing them what makes our towns great and by introducing them to other movers-and-shakers. $QGVHO¿VKO\ZHORYHWRKDYHWKH opportunity to host these classes, lead a tour of our facility and show them what we do on a daily basis. We believe being well-read about local news is necessary to being a good citizen, and even more so a citizen leader. This week’s program was just one of many spread out over months, introducing the classes to local cultural centers, government, law enforcement, agriculture and more. If it sounds like something you are interested in, call up your local chamber and have them to put you on the list for next year. We look forward to seeing you. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. Support for Requa bronze: I read with interest your opinion in today’s paper about the “problem” with the Requa statue. I don’t believe there is a “problem” with the placement of the statue on Main Street. You said yourself, “Worthwhile art is never going to make everyone happy.” That is what is going on here, a subjective disagreement — there are no problems with the placement because all of the right things have been accomplished along the way to satisfy the city regarding the placement issue. Unlike other pieces of public art in downtown Pendleton, this statue had unanimous approval from the city council on a vote taken on January 7, 2013. Unlike other pieces of public art in downtown Pendleton, this statue will be engineered by the city engineering department for proper structural support and safety of the placement. Based upon the approval of the city council, the Linebackers Club raised substantial funds for this project in a very short period of time. Donors relied on what was described to them when they were considering giving their money, and the SODFHPHQWDW%URZQ¿HOG3DUNZDVRQHRIWKH cornerstones. I know, because I raised a fair amount of the funds from individuals and grants. Now there seems to be a move afoot OTHER VIEWS Jeb rolls out kinder candidacy W hen Bushes run for president, food, to housing, to you name it.” they portray themselves as Bush’s message in Detroit was more caring, more gentle plain and simple: I am as far from Mitt and more compassionate than their Romney as is humanly possible. sometimes heartless and harshly But Bush is doing more than just ideological fellow Republicans. distancing himself from Romney and It worked for George H.W. Bush in Ryan — or 2016 rival Walker. He’s 1988, it worked for George W. Bush in returning to the original Bush blueprint 2000, and now Jeb Bush is preparing that won for his father and later for his Byron to give it another go in 2016. brother. York The youngest Bush, who is still In 1988, George H.W. Bush, Comment RI¿FLDOO\³H[SORULQJ´D:KLWH+RXVH running for president after two terms run, is doing a slow rollout of themes as Ronald Reagan’s vice president, for his candidacy. In a recent appearance at sought to distinguish himself from the image the Detroit Economic Club, Bush tested a few of the Reagan administration as cruel and ways to distance himself from Republicans insensitive to the needs of poor Americans. “I who have stumbled on issues related to the want a kinder, gentler nation,” Bush said in the poor and the government’s most memorable passage of efforts to help them. his 1988 convention speech. For example, Bush The preparation of that accused Washington — not speech offered a peek into Republicans, not Democrats, what would become the just big-government Bush family strategy. Bush Washington — of creating sent speechwriter Peggy programs that ensnare Noonan a note which said, people in poverty. “Instead “I know what drives me of a safety net to cushion ... Everyone matters.” In our occasional falls, they her book “What I Saw at have built a spider web that the Revolution,” Noonan traps people in perpetual described how she also dependence,” Bush said. received “a list of words Compare that to Rep. that had special meaning for Paul Ryan’s suggestion, him” — a list that included repeated many times during “kindness,” “caring,” the 2012 campaign, that “decency” and “heart.” government programs “He spoke with a can be an inducement to gentleness that was laziness. “We believe in a striking,” Noonan wrote of safety net,” Ryan said, “but Bush. “This was the genesis we don’t want to turn it into of ‘I want a kinder, gentler a hammock that lulls able- nation.’” bodied people into a sense of complacency.” Bush won the presidency, and a family Ryan no longer uses it, but the line is still template was set. In 2000, George W. Bush SRSXODUZLWKKLJKSUR¿OH5HSXEOLFDQV)RU ran by promoting himself as a “compassionate example, unveiling his new state budget this conservative,” which, like “kinder, gentler,” week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said, VXJJHVWHGZLWKRXWÀDWRXWVD\LQJVRWKDW “These programs should be a temporary safety there was something wrong with other net — not a hammock.” Walker said the same Republicans. thing in a well-received speech at a GOP Now comes Jeb Bush. There are presidential forum in Iowa. conservatives who will gag at what he’s doing, There’s a lot of difference between a spider just like older ones gagged at “kinder, gentler” web and a hammock. Bush’s message was and “compassionate conservative.” But Jeb’s absolutely clear: I’m not one of those guys. critics will have to confront this question: Can In addition to those Americans caught in they name any Republicans not named Bush the web of big-government social welfare who have been elected president in the last 30 programs, Bush also discussed millions more years? who live “on the edge of economic ruin.” The fact is, the Bushes are the only “Something is holding them back,” Bush Republicans who have cracked the code for said. “Not a lack of ambition. Not a lack winning the White House in more than a of hope. Not because they are lazy or see generation. Maybe that will change in 2016, themselves as victims ... “ As Bush sees it, the but Jeb Bush will have his supporters. “something” holding poor Americans back is Jeb speaks of George H.W. Bush with the burdensome intrusion of government. enormous reverence. “My dad is the greatest Compare that to Mitt Romney’s infamous man alive, and if anybody disagrees, we’ll go “47 percent” hidden-camera video from the outside,” he said in Detroit. 2012 campaign. “There are 47 percent who Now, he’s doing more than just paying are with (Obama),” Romney said, “who are tribute. He’s adapting his father’s game for dependent upon government, who believe that 2016. they are victims, who believe that government Ŷ has a responsibility to care for them, who Byron York is chief political correspondent believe that they are entitled to health care, to for The Washington Examiner. There are conservatives who will gag at what he’s doing — but can they name any Republicans not named Bush who have been elected president in the last 30 years? YOUR REQUA VIEWS to have the statue moved. That simply should not happen. Coach Requa had a positive impact on literally thousands of Pendleton High School students, myself included. His impact was VLJQL¿FDQWO\JUHDWHUWKDQWKDWRIDOORIWKRVH currently memorialized in all the existing downtown statues combined, and then some. Mike Temple Seattle As a former student and Buckaroo player at Pendleton High School, I strongly support the placement of coach Don Requa’s statue on the Main Street site. As a former resident of Pendleton, a VWXGHQWDQGDWKOHWHDW3+6,NQRZ¿UVW hand the impact “Req” had, not only on our great city, but the countless lives he touched, myself being one. Jim Rackley, PHS class of 1964, Gresham I am in strong support of the Requa EURQ]HEHLQJORFDWHGLQ%URZQ¿HOG3DUN The leaders of Pendleton have put in many great statues throughout the city, especially on Main Street. Having the Requa bronze located on the north end of Main would draw people to that area where several historic buildings and the Pendleton River Parkway and walking trail are located, not to forget the beautiful Pendleton Arts Center and historic homes that are right across the bridge. Lori Anderson Johnson Redmond Concerning the placement of the Requa bronze: I think the folks who want to place the statue away from Main Street obviously have not seen the bronze and/or don’t understand the concept of honoring an outstanding person of so many accomplishments. Well, I have seen it. And touched it in its full-sized clay incarnation — it is PDJQL¿FHQW I cannot conceive of the bronze being placed anywhere but its home: near WKH%URZQ¿HOG3DUNRQ0DLQ6WUHHWLQ Pendleton. Ron Kearney, PHS Class of 1957 Tualatin I am writing this letter to show my support of placing the Don Requa bronze in %URZQ¿HOG3DUN As a former player for Coach Requa and follower of Pendleton football, I know he KDGDSRVLWLYHLQÀXHQFHRQPDQ\\RXQJ people’s lives. I encourage the community to honor him and Pendleton athletics by placing WKHEURQ]HDW%URZQ¿HOG3DUN Todd Knop Ione Statues of a person are useful in recalling the noble qualities of that person and to inspire others to make valuable contributions to their communities, states, nations religions, etc. I, and many others feel Mr. Requa was such a person. Placing his statue in a location where it will be seen by many people seems more appropriate than at our old high school where few young people could be inspired by it. Bill Wright (PHS class of ‘58) Coos Bay Editor’s note: These letters were edited for space consideration. They appear in their entirety at eastoregonian.com. LETTERS POLICY The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to with- hold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private cit- izens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendle- ton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastorego- nian.com.
