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OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, July 31, 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 the city of Hermiston and its onerous regulation
of taxi drivers.
A current ordinance forbids people with certain types of criminal
charges from working for taxi companies operating in the city. It has forced
unnecessarily embarrassing public
pleas, including one 58-year-old woman
convicted of theft 32 years ago who had
to tearfully stand before councilors and
confess her youthful sins. Thankfully
councilors judged her morally
upstanding enough to keep her job, but
others weren’t so lucky.
No disrespect intended, but driving
cab is a line of employment often chosen
by people who have had nontraditional
career paths. Sometimes those paths
involve run-ins with the law.
Yet Hermiston taxi drivers face more stringent regulations than, say, a
home health caregiver or a housekeeper — other people who often work
with vulnerable populations.
Certainly, in more rural environs, driving cab is a different kind of
job than in a big city. Customers are not businessmen rushing to get to
meetings, but often elderly, disabled and poor residents who need to get to
appointments and the grocery store.
Council is right to realize there are dangers there. But council is wrong
to think that the way to reduce those dangers is by banning people with past
mistakes. The city should relax the regulations. They should not give in to
competitors trying to cause problems for each other.
They should also let law enforcement work, and if a taxi driver breaks the
law, make sure they are punished. But those who have paid for their crime
should be free to try to earn a living.
A tip of the hat to the Hermiston volunteers who helped run the state
Little League tournament this week in
Hermiston.
It’s a long and thankless job, eating into work
hours with lots of time raking dirt under a
hot afternoon sun. But the little ballplayers
appreciate it, and many will remember their
summer travel tournament and the good
memories that come — win or lose — with
team sports.
In addition, we would be remiss not to
tip that hat to the Pilot Rock Little League
softball volunteers who did the same thing
just a few weeks prior.
Both hosts did right by fans and players alike, and their hard work is
appreciated.
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.
OTHER VIEWS
Employers not yet on board with
letting their employees smoke pot
The (Albany) Democrat-Herald
One of the bigger questions
surrounding the legalization of
marijuana in Oregon was how
employers would react to the possibility
that workers would, you know, actually
smoke the stuff now that it was legal.
Well, it’s fair to
say that there’s still
plenty of confusion
surrounding the issue,
which is why three
sessions recently
sponsored by The
Corvallis Clinic
regarding marijuana
in the workplace drew
standing-room-only
crowds.
It’s also fair to
say that employers
with strong anti-drug
policies aren’t showing
much inclination to waver.
Which potentially is a problem
for employees curious about legal
marijuana, especially considering that
tetrahydrocannabinol (you know it better
as THC, the active ingredient in pot),
can linger in the body for weeks. In that
regard, it’s not like alcohol, which the
body metabolizes in a matter of hours.
So consider the case of Cyd Maurer,
the former weekend news anchor at
Eugene’s KEZI television station, who
got herself ¿red after testing positive for
marijuana.
Maurer said she got into a minor
accident while on assignment for KEZI
on May 22 and was ordered to undergo
a drug test, as required by corporate
policy. She says she had consumed
cannabis within a week of the accident,
but was not under the inÀuence when
she went to work. (There’s no reason to
doubt her on this point; remember that,
even though a marijuana test will detect
if someone has used pot in the recent
past, it won’t offer any indications as to
whether someone is impaired.)
The test came back positive. That
violated the company’s anti-drug policy.
She was ¿red. End of story.
The case involving Maurer took place
in May, before the July 1 date when
recreational use of marijuana in Oregon
became legal. But here’s how that story
would have played out
if it had occurred after
July 1:
The test came
back positive. That
violated the company’s
anti-drug policy. She
was ¿red. End of story.
Well, except for the
hundreds of times a
similar story will play
out in Oregon over the
next couple of years.
Here’s the takeaway
for employees in
Oregon: You have
the legal right to consume marijuana.
But, if marijuana use is banned by your
company, the company can ¿re you if
you test positive. That means if you
work for one of those companies, you’re
going to want to check to see exactly
what your company’s drug policy says.
(If you’re an employer, this would be a
good time to review your drug policy.)
Don’t expect the courts to drive much
change in this area: Judges in a number
of states consistently have sided with
employers.
Granted, this all could change,
especially if efforts to legalize pot at the
federal level ever gain much ground.
(That seems inevitable, but not in the
immediate future.) So for now at least,
the early lines drawn by businesses
toward marijuana use seem clear.
In the meantime, Maurer says she’s
interested in pursuing a career as a
marijuana activist. That seems like it
might work out: After all, the signs
suggest that marijuana in Oregon is a
growth industry.
For now at
least, the early
lines drawn
by businesses
toward
marijuana use
seem clear.
OTHER VIEWS
Why the naysayers are
wrong about the Iran deal
M
ike Huckabee says President
Once Iran gets its hands on WMDs, it
Barack Obama is using his
will commit genocide.
nuclear deal to “take the
Iran is widely believed to have
Israelis and march them to the door
developed biological and chemical
of the oven.” Mitt Romney describes
weapons back in the 1980s, and it
it as a “generational calamity.” And
hasn’t used those weapons of mass
while polls diverge, one recently taken
destruction against Israel. And what
by CNN suggests the public wants
American of¿cials ¿nd awkward
Congress to reject the agreement by a
Nicholas to point out is that Israel is already
52 percent to 44 percent majority.
Kristof a signi¿cant nuclear power with a
This is one of the pivotal foreign
huge military edge, which is why it
Comment
policy decisions of the decade, so let’s
has deterred Iran so far. If I lived in
examine the arguments:
Tel Aviv, would I be nervous? Sure.
— Obama didn’t deliver what he promised. But I’d be even more nervous without this
For example, we wanted “anywhere, anytime” deal, which reduces the chance that Iran will
inspections, but we caved and got a complex
acquire a nuclear weapon in the next decade.
system that allows Iran to delay inspections.
That’s why ¿ve former U.S. ambassadors to
And in the later years of the agreement, Iran
Israel endorsed the accord. (It’s also notable
won a signi¿cant easing of controls. As Jeb
that American Jews are more in favor of the
Bush put it: “These negotiations began, by
agreement than the American public as a
President Obama’s own admission, as an
whole.)
effort to deny Iran nuclear capabilities, but
— Obama pretends that the alternative to
instead will only legitimize those activities.”
this deal is war. No, the alternative is increased
The U.S. didn’t get all it wanted (and
economic pressure until Iran yelps for
neither did Iran) in an imperfect compromise.
surrender. As Marco Rubio puts it, “Give Iran
True, we didn’t achieve anywhere, anytime
a very clear choice: You can have an economy
inspections, yet the required
or you can have a weapons
inspections program is still
program.”
among the most intrusive
So we apply the same
ever. Remember too that
economic pressure that
this deal isn’t just about
caused the collapse of the
centrifuges but also about
Castro regime in Cuba in
the possibility that Iran
1964? The same isolation
will come out of the cold
that overthrew the North
and emerge from its failed
Korean regime in 1993?
36-year experiment with
The same sanctions that led
extremism. That’s why
Saddam Hussein to give up
Iran’s hard-liners are so opposed to the deal;
power peacefully in Iraq in 2000? Oh, wait. ...
they have been sustained by the narrative of
— Look, even you admit that this is a
the Great Satan as the endless enemy, and
Àawed deal. So why risk it? As Rick Perry
conciliation endangers them.
says, “No deal is better and safer than a bad
— You doves think that a nuclear deal will
deal.”
empower reformers in Iran and turn it once
If the U.S. rejects this landmark deal, then
more into the pro-American and pro-Israeli
we get the worst of both worlds: an erosion of
power it was under the shah. But sanctions
sanctions and also an immediate revival of the
relief may just give this regime a new lease on Iran nuclear program.
life.
We have a glimpse of what might
Iran’s people are perhaps the most
happen. In 2003, Iran seemingly offered a
pro-American and secular of those of any
comprehensive “grand bargain” to resolve
country I’ve been to in the Middle East. (On
relations with the United States, but George
my last trip to Iran, I took two of my kids
W. Bush’s administration dismissed it. Since
along, and Iranians bought them meals and ice then, Iran has gone from a tiny number of
cream, and served them illegal mojitos.) The
centrifuges to 19,000, getting within two
public weariness with the regime’s corruption, months of “breakout” to a nuclear weapon.
oppression and economic failings is manifest.
The point: Fulmination is not a substitute
I would guess that after the supreme leader
for policy, and a multilateral international
dies, Iran will begin a process of change like
agreement achieves far more protection than
that in China after Mao died.
¿nger-wagging.
— That’s speculative. The real impact of
Diplomacy is rarely about optimal
the deal is that it will unlock tens of billions of outcomes; it is about muddling along in the
dollars in frozen assets and new oil revenues,
dark, dodging bullets, struggling to defer war
giving Iranian hard-liners more resources to
and catastrophe for the time being, nurturing
invest in nuclear skulduggery and in extremist opportunities for a better tomorrow. By that
groups.
standard, the Iran deal succeeds. Sure, it is
True, but that will happen anyway.
Àawed, and yes, it makes us safer.
Remember that this agreement includes
Ŷ
Europe, Russia and China as parties. Even if
Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and
Congress rejects the agreement, sanctions will cherry farm in Yamhill. Kristof, a columnist
erode and Iran will get an infusion of cash.
for The New York Times since 2001, won the
— This agreement is a betrayal of Israel.
Pulitzer Prize two times, in 1990 and 2006.
This is one of the
pivotal foreign
policy decisions
of the decade.
YOUR VIEWS
Nonpartisan primaries a way
to beat the two-party system
Last week I listened in on a national
conference call with Representative John
Delaney of Maryland who discussed the Open
Our Democracy Act, HR 2655, which he
recently introduced.
The call was convened and hosted by
Jackie Salit, president of IndependentVoting.
org, the largest association of independent
voters in the country of which I’m a part.
On the call, we got the inside scoop on this
important legislation.
The bill does three things: enacts Top Two
nonpartisan primaries for all Congressional
elections in the United States, makes Election
Day a national holiday, and creates a road map
whereby the practice of gerrymandering could
be replaced with an independent redistricting
process.
In other words, it’s a gridlock¿ghting
package of reform designed to empower
voters and give our country some much
LETTERS POLICY
needed breathing room from the partisanship
that now over-determines every step of the
political process.
Delaney said, “Politicians always make
the mistake of underestimating the American
people. 300 million smart Americans are not
going to let some 500 members of Congress
stand in their way forever.” I couldn’t agree
more.
Given the vested interests of politicians
in the status quo of the two-party system, it’s
going to take a grassroots movement of voters
to build the pressure to make these kinds of
reform happen.
I’ve written to my representative, Peter
DeFazio, and asked him to let all voters
be heard in the election process. Keeping
everyone included is the only way to have a
government by the people and for the people.
Please join me in writing your representatives.
They need to hear from you.
Kemberly Todd
Independent Voters of Oregon (IVOO)
Roseburg
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 withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. 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.