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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher JENNINE PERKINSON Advertising Director DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW What can Brown do for us? Kate Brown becomes the DUH³FRQ¿GHQW´%URZQZLOOEHRQ governor of Oregon today. board, but there is no doubt that a She takes the helm of a state KDUGZRQDOO\KDVEHHQORVW currently embroiled in a mess — a In fact, Kitzhaber’s budget governor deposed and now under had allocated $51.6 million for a threat of criminal investigation — water development fund and he that hasn’t been dealt with here had been an outspoken proponent before. of the project, even winning But she is also taking the helm of over environmentally conscious a state government that is controlled Democrats. by the Democratic Party, which And one of the early tests for gives her plenty of power to be Brown — and the future of the water effective in a brief project — is what \HDUDQGDKDOI she does with the The curtain term before the next governor’s budget statewide election and what she does closes on the in November 2016. his staff. Kitzhaber Era with Remember While the Kitzhaber it was stink will be a tough Richard Whitman, and lifts on one for Dems to Kitzhaber’s top the Brown. scrub off, especially natural resources if the criminal advisor, who prosecution grabs was leading the headlines for months to come, they negotiations between the Northeast remain a political force. Democrats Oregon Water Association and hold strong majorities in both the environmental groups. Those state House and the Senate. The negotiations were key to the viability governor’s mansion passes from the of the project. hands of one Democrat to another. A good measure of how much That might not sound like Brown will rely on the former VXFKJRRGQHZVIRU5HSXEOLFDQ governor’s infrastructure will be dominated Eastern Oregon, where the fate of people like Whitman. If we need to have a lot of friends in he remains employed and becomes the Valley in order to get anything part of her administration, it may accomplished over here. To some, look good for Kitzhaber’s stated Kitzhaber seemed to be one such priorities and the Umatilla Basin friend. project in particular. If he doesn’t, A story in the Feb. 14 East the possibility of more water from Oregonian titled “What about the Columbia takes a serious hit and the water?” detailed the long more than a decade of work may process of educating and lobbying have been for naught and drought. Kitzhaber in order to get his Obviously, the water issue is not support for increasing water from the only one that matters locally. the Columbia River to expand And every municipality in the state irrigation and agriculture production is biting their nails over something in the Umatilla Basin. The goal that that means a lot to their locale — seemed so near completion just a we’re no different in that respect. few weeks ago was pushed back The curtain closes on the into the same limbo that it has called Kitzhaber Era and lifts on the home for more than a decade. Local Brown. What it means for Eastern lawmakers told this newspaper they Oregon will soon be revealed. 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. Community feels left out of statue decisions As a longtime resident of Pendleton and, of course, a taxpayer, why am I and many, many other citizens left out of the decision of what statues we want and where to place them. I think it is a shame that a few feel they are so important that their desires are that of the majority. Ruth Fenton Pendleton Don Requa bronze belongs on Main Street As a person who has a great interest in all of the city of Pendleton history, the discussion of the Don Requa statue at %URZQ¿HOG3DUNVHHPVSHUIHFWKLVWRU\IRU the city of Pendleton. Don Requa is arguably the most famous Pendletonian over the last 70 years. OTHER VIEWS I Call off the dogs ’ll pay for this column. With the understood blessing of The Rottweilers will be the Clintons, Brock runs a $28 million unleashed. cluster of media monitoring groups Once the Clintons had a War Room. and oppo research organizations that Now they have a Slime Room. are vehicles to rebut and at times Once they had the sly James discredit and threaten anyone who Carville, fondly known as casts a gimlet eye at Clinton Inc. “serpenthead.” Now they have the As Confessore and Chozick wrote, Maureen he uses a fundraiser named Mary Pat slippery David Brock, accurately Dowd known as a snake. %RQQHUZKRVH¿UPKDVFROOHFWHG Comment %URFN¿WVLQWRWKH&OLQWRQWUDGLWLRQ millions of dollars in commissions — RIRSSRUWXQLVWLFNQLIH¿JKWHUVOLNH a practice many fundraising experts Dick Morris and Mark Penn. consider unethical. 7KHVLOYHUKDLUHG\HDUROGZKR Everyone wants to be at the trough for sports colorful designer suits and once wore this one because Hillary is likely to raise, and a monocle, brawled his way into a Times more important, spend more than $1 billion on article about the uneasy marriage between her campaign. Hillary Clinton’s veteran attack dogs and the The Clinton crowd is trying to woo Brock group of advisers who are moving over from back into the fold because he’s good at getting Obamaland. money and knows how their enemies think. Hillary hasn’t announced a 2016 campaign The Clintons appreciate the fact that Brock, yet. She’s busy polling more than 200 policy OLNH0RUULVLVDWDNHQRSULVRQHUVW\SHZLWK experts on how to show that she really cares the ethical compass of a jackal. Baked in about the poor while the tactics of the right, courting the banks. Yet Brock will never believe her shadow campaign is that negative coverage DOUHDG\LQDGpMjYXDOO results from legitimate RYHUDJDLQVKDUN¿JKWRYHU shortcomings. Instead, it’s control of the candidate all personal, all false, and all and her money. It’s the a war. same old story: The killer This is a bad harbinger organization that, even with for those who had hoped all its ruthless hired guns, that Hillary would “kill can’t quite shoot straight. off the wild dogs,” as one Squabbling competing Obama loyalist put it, and factions helped Hillary Bill would leave behind the VTXDQGHUDTXDUWHURID VNHWFK\KDQJHUVRQLQWKH billion dollars in 2008. mold of Ron Burkle and As Nicholas Confessore Jeffrey Epstein. and Amy Chozick Hillary’s inability to chronicled, the nasty dispute spilled into GLVSHQVHZLWKEUDVVNQXFNOHIDQDWLFDODFRO\WHV public and Brock resigned last week from like Brock shows that she still has an insecure WKHERDUGRIDSUR&OLQWRQVXSHU3$&FDOOHG VWUHDNWKDWUHTXLUHV%RUJLDOLNHEOLQGOR\DOW\ 3ULRULWLHV86$$FWLRQ²ZKRVHFRFKDLUPDQ and can’t distinguish between the real vast is Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign ULJKWZLQJFRQVSLUDF\DQGWKHYRLFHVRI manager — accusing the political action legitimate concern. committee of “an orchestrated political hit 0RQH\JUXEELQJLVDOZD\VWKHXJO\SODFH job” and “the kind of dirty trick I’ve witnessed with the Clintons, who have devoured $2.1 LQWKHULJKWZLQJDQGZRXOGQRWWROHUDWHWKHQ´ billion in contributions since 1992 to their He should know. political campaigns, family foundation and 7KHIRUPHU³ULJKWZLQJKLWPDQ´DQG philanthropies, according to The Old (Good) impresario of “dirty tricks,” as Brock has said New Republic. of himself, made his living in the ‘90s sliming David Axelrod, the author of a new Anita Hill as “a little bit nutty and a little bit memoir, “Believer,” wrote that Hillary’s past slutty” and breaking the Troopergate story, gurus, Morris and Penn, were nonbelievers which accused Arkansas state troopers of — mercenary, manipulative and avaricious. setting up liaisons for Bill Clinton and spurred He told Politico’s Glenn Thrush that he would Paula Jones’ 1994 sexual harassment lawsuit. have advised Hillary not to cash in with her He has tried to discredit anyone who ERRNDQGVL[¿JXUHVSHHFKHV disagreed with his ideological hits (myself and Axelrod reiterated to me that Hillary’s reporters I know included). And that’s still the designated campaign chairman, John Podesta, business he’s in, simply on the other side as a Bill Clinton’s last chief of staff who left his Hillary zealot. (His conversion began in 1996 post as an Obama counselor Friday, “has when he published a biography of Hillary the strength and standing to enforce a kind that was not a total hit job and that began the of campaign discipline that hasn’t existed thaw.) before.” Just as Bill Clinton was able to forgive But, for now, what Republicans say about DQRWKHUDUFKLWHFWRIWKHYDVWULJKWZLQJ government is true of the Clintons: They really do believe that your money belongs to them. conspiracy, Richard Mellon Scaife, once Someday, they should give their tin cup to Scaife was charmed by Hillary in person and began giving money to the Clinton foundation, the Smithsonian. It’s one of the wonders of the world. so, too, was Bill won over by Brock’s book, Ŷ “Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Maureen Dowd, winner of the 1999 ([&RQVHUYDWLYH´DQG%URFN¶V0HGLD0DWWHUV Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary, and Correct the Record websites, which became a columnist on The New York Times ferociously push back against any Hillary Op-Ed page in 1995. coverage that isn’t fawning. It’s the same old story: the killer Clinton organization that even with all its ruthless hired guns, can’t quite shoot straight. YOUR VIEWS of ... since Dean Fouquette and I secured the location before we began our fundraising campaign, I trust the city council will do the right thing and stand by their word. Chuck Kearney Maywood Park, Ore. While it is understandable that not everyone agrees with all of the details of this WRSLFZHVKRXOGUHÀHFWDELWRQKRZHYHQ today, Requa still is affecting the Pendleton community. Hopefully we all come together as a team and accomplish something worthwhile. At this point, it would seem very disappointing that after all the effort that has went into this, that as we near the moment of installation, approvals are rescinded and an alternative place needs to be further evaluated. Let’s all stick together, put the VWDWXHDW%URZQ¿HOG3DUNDQGDOORZLWWR remind all who see it that we are a team and proud to have had another opportunity to show our unity and appreciation. Tom Melton Pendleton Randy Schimmel Eagle, Idaho Requa found Pendleton and stayed for 36 years because of its Main Street. He belongs there ... The statue is one everyone will be proud Any alternative action now by the council would certainly cause a moral obligation and possibly a legal obligation to return monies donated by individual donors and possibly the return of grant money received as well. As president of the Linebackers Club, I signed 11 grant requests stipulating that the city council had approved our choice for siting the statue. Reneging on this decision puts me in a very precarious position. The sculptor, Rip Caswell of Troutdale, came to Pendleton twice to view the proposed site as input for his work. Subsequently, the statue’s body position, the tilt of the head, and the gaze of his eyes are oriented southward down Main Street. Moving the statue to a different location ZRXOGVLJQL¿FDQWO\FRPSURPLVHWKHDUWLVWLF value of this wonderful piece of public art. Rod Anderson, president Pendleton Linebackers Club Editor’s Note: These letters have been edited for space and to remove duplicity. They appear at eastoregonian.com in their entirety. Out-of-town, well-funded men shouldn’t dictate city’s art One of the best things about Pendleton is its rich, early history of Native Americans, wheat, sheep, cattle, railroad and even the brothels on Main Street. Main Street honors WKHVHKLVWRULFLQÀXHQFHVRQWKHFLW\ZLWKOLIH size, bronze statues. It’s been interesting to watch a dedicated group of citizens raise thousands of dollars WRFRPPLVVLRQDODUJHUWKDQOLIHVWDWXHRID UHYHUHGFRDFKDQGRUJDQL]HDOHWWHUZULWLQJ FDPSDLJQRIPHQZKROLYHRXWRIWRZQDQG RXWRIVWDWH:LWKDFLWL]HQFRPPLWWHHOLNH this, imagine what could be accomplished to enhance the lives of children living in Pendleton today. In the meantime, couldn’t a compromise be reached in placing the large, oversized statue elsewhere, leaving Main Street with its rich, historic pioneer parks and buildings WROLIHVL]HVWDWXHVRISHRSOHZKRFRQWULEXWHG to the earlier history of Pendleton? Jill Heffner Pendleton 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. 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. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.