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.