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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, August 5, 2015 OTHER VIEWS Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher JENNINE PERKINSON Advertising Director DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Time to refocus on the road We Panage to rationaOi]e or gOoss road rage are stiOO SrobOePs %ut it’s over the individuaO traf¿c fataOities in-car distractions that continue to that occur with aOarPing freTuency PuOtiSOy at an astounding rate, and in Eastern Oregon, esSeciaOOy the our SerforPance behind the wheeO dangerous and deadOy &abbage +iOO suffers for it rising to our east 3eoSOe are so gOued to their Shone %ut we shouOd no Oonger And for conversation and entertainPent OocaO coPPunities Pust Pake a that we forget to concentrate on renewed effort to be the asShaOt in front safe on our region’s of us Our *36 As speeds roads navigation turns An East our brains into a are set to Oregonian articOe Sassive foOOower of increase on Oast weekend dictation instead of sSotOighted one an active thinker Eastern Oregon Siece of the Su]]Oe, and SarticiSant highways, noting what a brutaO Our chiOdren year it has been for watch Povies and it’s good to area PotorcycOists teOevision shows in remember 7here have been the back seat and 2 SeoSOe kiOOed in we foOOow aOong, driving is an PotorcycOe crashes or surf through our aOready this year in stash of downOoaded inherently Oregon, coPSared or sateOOite dangerous act. Sodcasts to 2 during the radio stations saPe Seriod in 201 We can teOO you )our OocaO Pen things you’ve heard were seriousOy inMured in PotorcycOe a PiOOion tiPes before Wear a crashes, three of whoP died ,n the seatbeOt Wear a heOPet Don’t sSeed Oast week, there were three Pore Drive defensiveOy /ook both ways, serious PotorcycOe crashes on twice %ut that advice has aOready county roadways becoPe a habit or it hasn’t 7he PiOd winter coPbined with a We do hoSe, however, to rePind hot, dry suPPer Peans there were readers that driving is an inherentOy Pany nice days for hitting the road dangerous act And that it reTuires And it’s certain that cycOists of both our utPost concentration and the Potori]ed and non-Potori]ed resSect /ives deSend on it, both our own and those with whoP we are varieties are sSending Pore tiPe on their Pachines this year, which Oeads sharing the road We’re SrobabOy a generation away to Pore accidents %ut there are underOying issues at SOay froP seOf-driving cars and fuOOy Driving is as dangerous as it has Pechani]ed roadways 8ntiO then, ever been, according to AAA, even it’s deSendent on us to be focused as engineering Pakes our vehicOes and Srudent EsSeciaOOy as the sSeed safer and safer each year ,PSaired OiPits ready to rise on Pany Eastern driving, aggressive driving and Oregon highways 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 *overnor’s conservation order a sign of what’s to coPe to the south and east But it Oooks as if the shieOds Pight be coPing down, even in this neck of the he sobering thing about *ov .ate woods, where we’ve Oong been abOe to Brown’s order to state agencies ¿nd adeTuate water for aOO our needs Oast week to steS uS efforts to When the snowSack in the &ascades conserve water wasn’t so Puch the Pessage itseOf ² as drought strengthens that feeds water to our croSs and keeSs its griS on Oregon, such a Pessage froP water in our streaPs runs ePSty, when our forests dry into so Puch tinder so the governor was, if anything, overdue 1o, the sobering thing about Brown’s Puch earOier than usuaO, when every ¿re season seePs to be hotter and bigger order on 7uesday was the sense that this than the one before ² is another sign of what these aOO are signaOs that the future Pay weOO Oook a “new norPaO´ Pay be Oike for aOO of Oregon settOing in, even here ,n her executive Brown’s order aOso order, Brown noted directed state agencies to that the goaO of the uSdate the state’s overaOO state efforts is to reduce SOanning for drought, water consuPStion incOuding SotentiaO by 15 Sercent or Pore new tooOs to heOS on average across aOO coPPunities deaO with state-owned faciOities by the iPSacts of water the end of 2020 6he aOso shortages And, indeed, asked her state agencies this is an area in which to reSort their Srogress the state couOd heOS back to her by 1ov 1 of this year and annuaOOy — Kate Brown, coPPunities with new aSSroaches thereafter Governor of Oregon ,t’s aOso an area in “Water is the which Brown ² who is foundation for our wideOy exSected to run for governor in econoPies, coPPunities, ecosystePs 201 ² couOd reach out to ruraO Oregon, and TuaOity of Oife,´ Brown said in where voters stiOO are taking the Peasure her order “6tate governPent’s efforts of the new governor to address cOiPate change Pust But it wouOd be a Pistake to view incOude reduced consuPStion and this issue soOeOy through a SoOiticaO other conservation Peasures as water SrisP, aOthough water is at the core of so shortages becoPe the new norPaO Pany SoOiticaO issues in the West Water, 7hat Shrase ² “the new norPaO´ of course, runs deeSer than that As ² caught us uS short, but it’s worth Brown herseOf noted in her order, it’s the thinking about in soPe detaiO foundation for our TuaOity of Oife We’ve “7he new norPaO´ in 6outhern been fortunate here to be abOe to count Oregon is drought, as that region coSes on a ready suSSOy of water with its fourth straight year of drought 1ow, it Oooks as if the foundation ,t’s the saPe story in Eastern Oregon is shifting underneath us 6uch a 7his new norPaO has been in SOace in fundaPentaO shift reTuires Pore than &aOifornia for years Must hoSing that the drought ¿naOOy /iving in the reOativeOy Oush wiOO break next year ,t reTuires serious WiOOaPette 9aOOey has shieOded us froP thought ² and, Pore than OikeOy, soPe having to think too hard about the serious change drought that has affected our neighbors The (Corvallis) Gazette-Times 7 “Water is the foundation for our economies, communities, ecosystems and quality of life.” 7ruPS’s aOOure ego as ideoOogy W in the back row « +e knows he is hen APerica is growing and soPehow affected by what is going on haSSy, the country is sort « >%ut@ these SubOic affairs are in no of Oike a sSrinter’s track As convincing way his affairs 7hey are 5obert + Wiebe Sut it in his cOassic for the Post Sart invisibOe 7hey are book ³7he 6egPented 6ociety,´ when Panaged, if they are Panaged at aOO, at things were going weOO the diverse distant centers, froP behind the scenes country coPSrised ³countOess isoOated by unnaPed Sowers « ,n the coOd Oanes where APericans, singOy or in Oight of exSerience, he knows that his grouSs, dashed Oike rows of racers David toward their goaOs´ Brooks sovereignty is a ¿ction +e reigns in theory, but in fact he does not govern´ ,n tiPes of scarcity and aOienation, Comment When 7ruPS is striking SoSuOist it’s Pore Oike buPSer cars Different grouSs feeO their Oanes are bOocked, chords, he aSSeaOs to SeoSOe who so they start crashing into one another 7he exSerience this invisibiOity +e aSSeaOs to cuOturaO eOites start feuding with the ¿nanciaO PePbers of the aOienated PiddOe cOass Oike eOites 7he Oower PiddOe cOass starts feuding those foOks in &anarsie who beOieve that with the Soor neither the rich nor the Soor have to SOay by A few decades ago the socioOogist -onathan the saPe ruOes they do +e aSSeaOs to SeoSOe 5ieder studied what was then the white who are resentfuO of iPPigrants who get working-cOass neighborhood what they, aOOegedOy, don’t of &anarsie, %rookOyn deserve 3eoSOe there were hostiOe %ut 7ruPS’s suSSort base both to their Soorer bOack is weird ,t skews sOightOy neighbors, who they feOt Pore secuOar and Oess threatened their coPPunity, educated than the average and to the Manhattan eOites, 5eSubOican, but he doesn’t who they feOt soOd theP out draw froP any distinctive froP above bOocs 8nOike Sast SoSuOisPs We are now Oiving in a he’s not esSeciaOOy ruraO or tiPe of econoPic anxiety urban, ethnic based or cOass and SoOiticaO aOienation based +e draws SeoSOe as -ust three in 10 APericans individuaOs, not grouSs beOieve that their views are 8nOike Sast SoSuOisPs, reSresented in Washington, his Pain arguPent is not according to a &11O5& that the eOites are corruSt SoOO &on¿dence in SubOic or out of touch ,t is that institutions Oike schooOs, they are Porons +is banks and churches is near announcePent sSeech historic Oows, according to was fascinating and *aOOuS OnOy 2 Sercent coPSeOOing ³+ow stuSid of APericans think the are our Oeaders"´ he asked nation is on the right track, rhetoricaOOy ³Our Sresident according to 5asPussen doesn’t have a cOue,´ he 7his cOiPate Pakes it continued ³We have SeoSOe hard for the estabOishPent candidates who that are stuSid,´ he observed of the OeadershiS norPaOOy doPinate our SoOitics -eb %ush is cOass swiPPing uSstreaP +iOOary &Ointon Pay ,n other words, it’s not that our SrobOePs win through sheer deterPination, but she’s are unsoOvabOe or even hard ,t’s not that we’re not a naturaO ¿t for this PoPent A career SotentiaOOy a nation in decOine 7he SrobOeP is estabOishPent ¿gure Oike -oe %iden doesn’t that we don’t have a OeadershiS cOass as sPart, stand a chance +e’s a wonderfuO Pan and a coPSetent, tough and successfuO as DonaOd great SubOic servant, but he shouOd not run for 7ruPS Sresident this year, for the sake of his Oong- Measured in standard SoOiticaO terPs he is terP reSutation not ideoOogicaOOy consistent As 3eter Wehner On the other hand, buPSer-car SoOiticians Sointed out, he’s taken so Pany OiberaO thrive %ernie 6anders is swiPPing with the Sositions he Pakes 6usan &oOOins Oook Oike tide +e’s a conviction SoOitician coPfortabOe %arry *oOdwater %ut ego is his ideoOogy, with cOass conÀict Many SeoSOe on the and in this he is absoOuteOy consistent ,n the Oeft have a generaOi]ed, vague hunger for 7ruPS Pind the worOd is not divided into fundaPentaO systePic change or at Oeast the right and Oeft ,nstead there are winners and atPosSherics of radicaO change Oosers 6ociety is Oed by Oosers, who scorn and 7he tiPes are Serfect for DonaOd 7ruPS disresSect the SeoSOe who are actuaOOy the winners +e’s an outsider, which aSSeaOs to the aOienated +e’s confrontationaO, which aSSeaOs 1ever before have we exSerienced a to the frustrated And, in a uniTue 21st-century PoPent with so Puch SubOic aOienation and wrinkOe, he’s a narcissist who thinks he can so Puch Srivate, assertive and fragiOe seOf- soOve every SrobOeP, which aSSeaOs to SeoSOe esteeP 7ruPS is the Serfect conÀuence of who in chaOOenging tiPes don’t feeO con¿dent these trends +e won’t be Sresident, but he’s in their understanding of their surroundings not an aberration +e is deeSOy rooted in the and who crave Oeaders who seeP to be currents of our tiPe 7ruPS’s SoSuOisP is Sretty standard +e Ŷ aSSeaOs to SeoSOe who, as WaOter /iSSPann David Brooks became a New York Times once Sut it, ³feeO rather Oike a deaf sSectator Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. It’s not that we’re potentially a nation in decline. The problem is that we don’t have a leadership class as smart, competent, tough and successful as Donald Trump. YOUR VIEWS U.S. prescription drug companies act like cartels You don’t have to took so far as Mexico to ¿nd a huge drug carteO ,t is right here in our oZn Eack yard ,n 2012, the toS 11 gOoEaO drug coPSanies Pade aEout 5 EiOOion in net Sro¿ts 3¿]er is uS at the toS of this Oist ,ts &EO, ,an 5ead, had a Say Sackage in 201 that totaOed 2 PiOOion WhiOe Mr 5ead sZiPs in Ouxury, thousands of cancer Satients are dying Eecause they can’t afford their Pedications ,t is coPPon for cancer Satients to Ee forced to Say Pore than 100,000 a year to stay aOive 7here is another exaPSOe in the neZs noZ of a Pan in stage cancer Zho is faced Zith either seOOing his hoPe or dying ² aOO ZhiOe Mr 5ead and other drug &EOs can’t dreaP uS enough Zays to sSend their Poney ,n 2012, 11 of the 12 neZ drugs aSSroved Ey the )ood 'rug AdPinistration Zere Sriced at over 100,000 Ser Satient Ser year 7ake a Oook at 1exiuP ,n 6Sain a SrescriStion is aEout 1 ,n )rance it is 0 ,n the good oOd 86A ² 1 LETTERS POLICY +oZ aEout another coPPon drug here /iSitor ,n 1eZ =eaOand, a SrescriStion is ,n 6Sain, 1 ,n the 86A, aEout 100 7he oEvious Soint is, it can Ee done if drug coPSanies Zanted to Ead enough 7hey ZouOd rather raise stock vaOues and dividends than save SeoSOe’s Oives 'rug coPSanies sSend one third of aOO saOes revenue on Parketing 7hat is aEout tZice as Puch as research and deveOoSPent 'oesn’t it Pake a Serson Zonder if a cure for cancer couOd have Eeen found Pany years ago" After aOO, OiteraOOy EiOOions and EiOOions have Eeen invested in the search for a cure to cancer ActuaOOy ¿nding a cure, of course, ZouOd stoS need for the EiOOions sSent on research and grants 7he sad truth is that drug coPSanies and research institutes Pake a Oot of Poney not ¿nding a cure And this corruStion continues as so Pany SeoSOe are faced with these heart-breaking decisions of bankruSting their faPiOies or Must dying 6o then, what reaOOy is the difference between EO &haSo and ,an 5ead" Mr 5ead wears a suit and tie David Burns Pendleton 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.
