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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, January 6, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Clemency for the Hammonds, withdrawal for the protesters UHVLGHQWVDUHODUJHO\UHEXI¿QJWKHLU The case of Dwight and Stephen Hammond is a tragedy, both because militancy. So should the rest of rural of what they did and how they have America. been treated since. We struggle to understand what Ranchers in Oregon’s Harney they hope to accomplish. Their action County, father and son have a long does nothing for the Hammonds, history of disputes with the Bureau the ranchers they allegedly came to of Land Management over grazing town to support. Their stated goal allotments. Dwight Hammond was of holding their position until the convicted of one count related to a federal government returns the land ¿UHWKDQEXUQHGDFUHVRI%/0 to private ownership is at best a land in 2006. Stephen Hammond delusional hope, and does nothing was convicted of one count related to resolve the real WRWKH¿UHDQG issues. a separate count This desperate UHODWHGWRD¿UHLQ The Hammonds action allows 2001. received a fair critics to describe The Hammonds complaints received a fair trial trial and were these to urban America and were found found guilty ... as the farcical rants guilty. Many believe armed militia, they had just cause and the original of dubbed “yeehadists” WRVWDUWWKH¿UHV trial court by CNN. and deserved no The federal punishment even if handed down government holds they had technically broken the law. The fair, and lenient, title to massive parcels of public jury in a Pendleton sentences. lands throughout the courtroom found West. That’s been otherwise, and settled law for a the original trial hundred years. Many would like that court handed down fair, and lenient, land turned over to the states, as was sentences. the case with much of the federal In addition to lengthy probation, land east of the Rockies. Dwight Hammond received six The real question is how that land months in prison, his son one year. should be managed and how grazing The original prison sentences have and natural resource extraction been served. will remain viable and part of the But those sentences ignored multiple use doctrine that historically WKHPLQLPXPPDQGDWRU\¿YH\HDU governed public lands. sentence prescribed by the federal Government policy once arson statute. The government fostered the timber, livestock and appealed, the sentences were mining industries that became the overturned and the trial court economic lifeblood of rural Western ordered the Hammonds to serve communities. Current policy — the RXWWKHUHPDLQGHURIQHZ¿YH\HDU result of environmental lawsuits and sentences. regulatory and legislative changes We are not fans of mandatory — is largely responsible for draining sentencing guidelines that deny that lifeblood. judges discretion in considering We understand the protesters’ FLUFXPVWDQFHVZKHQ¿[LQJ frustration with the federal punishment. Resentencing the government. We recognize their right +DPPRQGVWRVHUYHWKH¿YH\HDU to peacefully protest and lawfully mandatory sentence, though exercise their Second Amendment unquestionably legal under statute, rights. was an injustice. But we disagree with their The Hammonds have reported to interpretations of the Constitution prison. They intend to ask President and these tactics. Obama for clemency. The remedy to these grievances We think they should receive it. will not come from armed In recent months the president confrontation, or other extralegal has moved to free federal prisoners PHDQVMXVWL¿HGE\VSHFLRXV convicted of drug charges and serving lengthy mandatory sentences constitutional theories. Instead, we trust the tools that he has deemed unjust and overly provided by the Founders — the punitive given the circumstances of ballot box, the legislative process, the their crimes. courts. That’s the same standard the The constraints on ranchers, original trial judge used in the case timbermen and miners are real. of the Hammonds. The punishment Any hope of getting a legislative GRHVQRW¿WWKHFULPH Mr. President, free the Hammonds. solution that accommodates both conservation goals and traditional *** livelihoods will require reasoned Meanwhile, back in Harney debate and the empathy of urban County, armed protesters who failed voters and legislators. to provoke a shooting war with The armed occupation of a lonely federal agents during a standoff at a federal wildlife refuge in the wilds of ranch in Nevada have brought their Oregon will only hurt that effort. show to Southern Oregon. Local 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 The world of small terrors O These liberal assumptions have n New Year’s Eve some friends been challenged from the top for and family members had a years — by dictators. But now they drink at a bar in Tel Aviv. The are challenged from the bottom, by next day a gunman shot up the place, SRSXOLVWDQWLOLEHUDOVZKRVXSSRUW killing two people and wounding at the National Front in France, UKIP OHDVW¿YH:KHQ,KHDUGDERXWWKH in Britain, Viktor Orban in Hungary, VKRRWLQJ,ZDVKRUUL¿HGRIFRXUVHEXW Vladimir Putin in Russia and, in some there was no special emotion caused guises, Donald Trump in the U.S. by the proximity 16 hours before. David 7KHVXUJHRIDQWLOLEHUDOLVPKDV These days, we all live at risk of Brooks meant one of the most important random terror, whether we are in Comment SROLWLFDO¿VVXUHVLVQRZEHWZHHQWKRVH Paris, San Bernardino, Boston or Fort who support an open society Hood. Many of us have and those who support a had brushes with these closed society. Back in the sorts of attacks. It’s partly VRSHQQHVVDQGWKH randomness that determines withering of borders was all whether you happen to be in the rage, but now parts of the wrong spot at the wrong the left embrace closed trade time. policies and parts of the But there is something right embrace closed cultural important about the and migration policies. accumulation of these $QWLOLEHUDOLVPKDV random killing sprees — the been most noticeable way it affects the social on the right. Classically psychology and the culture liberal conservatives are in we all inhabit. We are living retreat, as voters look for in the age of small terror. strongmen who will close In Israel, there’s the borders and stultify the wave of stabbings. In this demographic and social country we have shooting sprees in schools and in theaters. In cities there fabric. It’s too soon to tell if the Republican Party will have fewer evangelical voters this are police killings. In other places there are year, but the tenor of debate has certainly suicide bombings. This violence is the daily been less Christian — less charitable, less diet of the global news channels. hospitable to the stranger. Many of the attacks have religious or It’s up to us who believe in open society to political overtones. But there’s always a wage an intellectual counterattack. This can’t psychological element, too. Some young EHGRQHEHUHSHDWLQJVEURPLGHVDERXW adults have separated from their parents but free choice and the natural harmony among they have not developed an independent self peoples. You can’t beat moral fanaticism with of their own. In order to escape the terror of weak tea moral relativism. WKHLURZQIRUPOHVVQHVVRULQVLJQL¿FDQFHD You can only beat it with commitment few commit to some fanatical belief system. SOXUDOLVP3HRSOHDUHRQO\IXO¿OOHGZKHQ 7KH\SHUIRUPVRPHKRUUL¿FDFWWKH\EHOLHYH they make deep moral commitments. The will give their life shape, meaning and glory. Creeds like radical Islam offer the illusion that danger comes when they are fanatically and monopolistically committed to only one thing. PXUGHUDQGVHOIDQQLKLODWLRQLVWKHQREOHVW The pluralist is committed to a philosophy IRUPRIVDFUL¿FH 7KHVHVHOIPRWLYDWHGDWWDFNVKDYHEHFRPH or faith, but also to an ethnicity and also to a city, and also to a job and also to diverse a worldwide social contagion. These diverse interests and fascinating foreign cultures. acts of small terror have combined to create a These different commitments balance and general state of anxiety. moderate one another. A life in diverse worlds )HDULVDQHPRWLRQGLUHFWHGDWDVSHFL¿F with diverse people weaves together into one threat, but anxiety is an unfocused corrosive humane, multifaceted existence. The rigidity uneasiness. In the age of small terror this of one belief system is forced to confront anxiety induces a sense that the basic systems the messiness of work relationships or a of authority are not working, that those in neighborhood association. charge are not keeping people safe. The anxiety caused by small terror can People are more likely to have a produce nasty mental habits. Mental resilience background sense that life is nastier and more becomes as important as physical resilience. precarious — red in tooth and claw. They pull in the tribal walls and distrust the outsider. This That means remaking the case for open society, open cultures and a basic commitment anxiety makes everybody a little less humane. to moral pluralism. Openness is worth the In country after country this anxiety occasional horror fanatics cause. is challenging the liberal order. I mean Ŷ philosophic Enlightenment liberalism, not David Brooks’s column on the Op-Ed page partisan liberalism. It’s the basic belief in of The New York Times started in September open society, free speech, egalitarianism and meliorism (gradual progress). It’s a belief 2003. He has been a senior editor at The that through reasoned conversation values Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at cohere and fanaticism recedes. It’s the belief Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly, and he is that people of all creeds merit tolerance and currently a commentator on “The Newshour respect. with Jim Lehrer.” Fear is an emotion directed at a specific threat, but anxiety is an unfocused corrosive uneasiness. CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES U.S. Senators U.S. Representative Ron Wyden Greg Walden Washington office: 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 Washington office: 185 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6730 La Grande office: 541-624-2400 Jeff Merkley Washington office: 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 Senator Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us Representatives Greg Barreto, District 58 900 Court St. NE, H-38 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us Greg Smith, District 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1457 Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us 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 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.
