Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Who wants to
be a billionaire?
Chances are good that you bought the lump sum payment, you’d
a ticket for tonight’s Powerball.
probably come away with close to
Chances are much better than you’re PLOOLRQ$OLIHFKDQJLQJKDXO
going to lose.
no doubt, but a mere slice of the
But that’s beside the point for
$1.5 billion advertised. In addition,
now, right? You’d be crazy not
according to the Associated Press,
to take the chance to become an
more than 75 percent of all number
overnight billionaire. Spending two
combinations will be purchased
bucks for a ticket is
for Wednesday’s
worth it, if only for
drawing. And
the pleasing brain
the number
The chances though
exercise of deciding
combinations are
of winning
what to do with all
not evenly split
that money.
numbers are
the Powerball (lower
With the winnings
covered with greater
you could buy the
jackpot are 1 regularity, because
Playboy Mansion,
like to pick
in 292 million. people
on the market right
their birthdays,
now for a cool $200
anniversaries, kids’
The payout
million. You could
etc.), that
could even be birthdays,
make Paul Allen a
means the chances
godfather offer for
high that the pot
less than that. are
the Trail Blazers.
will be split before
You could buy
taxes. If the jackpot is
Umatilla County — all the land and
divided even once, it would put the
everything built on top of it. You
¿QDOSD\RXWEHORZPLOOLRQ
could purchase your own Caribbean
But none of us play the lottery
island, a yacht roughly the same
as a sound investment. It’s mostly a
size, and enough margaritas to sink
chance to dream of a life of leisure
the whole ship.
and luxury, and we wouldn’t dare
Or, you could do some actual
dash that dream.
good with it: Blow minds at your
Yet tonight, right before the
favorite charity. Pay off all your
winning numbers are revealed,
friends’ mortgages. Pay the tuition
take a moment to remember about
for generations and generations of
the lottery you have already won:
your family. You could even stock
You’ve been born! On top of that,
up on a lifetime supply of monocles you’ve been born in the richest
— got to look the part when you
country in human history. You’ve
become a billionaire.
been born in a time of unfathomable
But it’s important to remember
wealth, entertainment opportunities
that you’re not going to win the
and absence from unnecessary pain
Powerball. You best not plan to win, and suffering. You’ve been born
nor risk any dollars you can’t afford in a world that includes sports,
to lose.
yachts, Playboy Magazine and
The chances of winning the
microwaveable popcorn. You will
jackpot are roughly one in 292
live longer and healthier, on average,
million. And while that may look
than almost all prior human beings.
like playing the lottery this week
And best of all: You’re alive right
is a decent gamble — the possible
here, right now. You have the ability
earnings outweigh the odds of
to do millions of different things
winning them — it really isn’t the
today, and do them differently
case.
tomorrow.
The $1.5 billion is cut roughly
The chances of being that lucky
in half if you take a lump sum
are much higher than 1 in 292
payment. Oregon would take their
million. You’ve already hit the
taxes, the feds would take theirs.
jackpot, and the winning ticket is
In the Beaver State, if you took
right there in your hand. Celebrate!
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.
YOUR VIEWS
issue within the communities of Pend-
leton, Mission and the surrounding area.
Despite adequate funding to more than
pay for the current batch of new statues,
,DP\HDUVROGDQGWKLVLVP\¿UVW
the Arts Commission has decided to
letter to a newspaper. Why do we have
fund only half the cost, and let the mayor
to start the New Year with the headlines
continue to beg for additional grants. It
of DUlls in 2015, when there was a
kind of reminds you of those panhan-
story like the Hermiston High School
band and all the awards that they won in dlers that are actually pulling down
$50,000 a year and pleading poverty.
San Diego that was on page three? Your
choice of a headline made a statement to Now that’s a very effective fundraising
technique. Evidently one unnamed
me of what was important in your eyes.
foundation has fallen for the ploy with a
That statement was that the noting of
pledge of $10,000.
DUII stats was more important than the
EOTEC: With its decision to partner
accomplishment of our youth.
up with city of Hermiston in this busi-
Please think about giving the
ness venture, the county commissioners
deserved credit and space to the band,
are now looking for a loophole in the
the school, the teachers and the parents
state law to put the rest of the county on
to encourage other to do well in their
school activities. The choice of headlines WKHKRRNIRUDORDQWRIXOO\¿QDQFHWKH
WKDWZHUHXVHGHVSHFLDOO\RQWKH¿UVWGD\ project, as the amount poured into it so
IDUE\FRXQW\WD[SD\HUVLVQRWVXI¿FLHQW
of a new year, should have been a more
to fund it. Loopholes? Must be some
positive and celebrated choice.
Mildred Baker political term.
Good news should have
headlined 2016 paper
Boardman
OTHER VIEWS
The brutalism of Ted Cruz
I
million new jobs have been created in
n 1997, Michael Wayne Haley
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was arrested after stealing a
President Barack Obama has
calculator from Wal-Mart. This
championed a liberal agenda,
was a crime that merited a maximum
but he hasn’t made the country
two-year prison term. But prosecutors
unrecognizable. In 2008, federal
incorrectly applied a habitual offender
spending accounted for about 20.3
law. Neither the judge nor the defense
percent of gross domestic product.
lawyer caught the error and Haley was
In 2015, it accounted for about 20.9
sentenced to 16 years.
David
percent.
Eventually, the mistake came to
Brooks
But Cruz manufactures an
OLJKWDQG+DOH\WULHGWR¿[LW7HG
Comment
atmosphere of menace in which
Cruz was solicitor general of Texas at
there is no room for compassion, for
the time. Instead of just letting Haley
moderation, for anything but dismantling
go for time served, Cruz took the case to the
Supreme Court to keep Haley in prison for the and counterattack. And that is what he offers.
Cruz’s programmatic agenda, to the extent that
full 16 years.
it exists in his speeches, is to destroy things:
Some justices were skeptical. “Is there
destroy the IRS, crush the “jackals” of the
some rule that you can’t confess error in
EPA, end funding for Planned Parenthood,
your state?” Justice Anthony Kennedy asked.
reverse Obama’s executive orders, make the
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desert glow in Syria, destroy the Iran nuclear
prison, after six years.
accord.
The case reveals something interesting
Some of these positions I agree with, but
about Cruz’s character. He is now running
the lack of any positive emphasis, any hint
strongly among evangelical voters, especially
of reform conservatism,
in Iowa. But in his career
any aid for the working
and public presentation
class, or even any
Cruz is a stranger to most
humane gesture toward
of what would generally
cooperation is striking.
be considered the Christian
Cruz didn’t come up
virtues: humility, mercy,
with this hard, combative
compassion and grace.
and gladiatorial campaign
Cruz’s behavior in the
approach in isolation.
Haley case is almost the
He’s always demonstrated
GLFWLRQDU\GH¿QLWLRQRI
a tendency to bend his
pharisaism: an overzealous
position — whether
application of the letter
immigration or trade — to
of the law in a way that
what suits him politically.
violates the spirit of the
This approach works
law, as well as fairness and
because in the wake
mercy.
of the Obergefell v.
Traditionally, candidates
Hodges court decision on
who have attracted strong
same-sex marriage, many
evangelical support have
evangelicals feel they are being turned into
in part emphasized the need to lend a helping
hand to the economically stressed and the least pariahs in their own nation.
Cruz exploits and exaggerates that fear.
fortunate among us. Such candidates include
But he reacts to Obergefell in exactly the
George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee and Rick
alienating and combative manner that is
Santorum.
destined to further marginalize evangelicals,
But Cruz’s speeches are marked by what
that is guaranteed to bring out fear-driven
you might call pagan brutalism. There is not
reactions and not the movement’s highest
a hint of compassion, gentleness and mercy.
ideals.
Instead, his speeches are marked by a long
The best conservatism balances support
list of enemies, and vows to crush, shred,
destroy, bomb them. When he is speaking in a for free markets with a Judeo-Christian spirit
church the contrast between the setting and the of charity, compassion and solidarity. Cruz
emotional tone he sets is jarring.
replaces this spirit with spartan belligerence.
Cruz lays down an atmosphere of
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apocalyptic fear. America is heading off “the
lose all sense of proportion and teaches them
cliff to oblivion.” After one Democratic debate to answer hate with hate. This Trump-Cruz
he said, “We’re seeing our freedoms taken
conservatism looks more like tribal, blood and
away every day, and last night was an audition soil European conservatism than the pluralistic
for who would wear the jackboot most
American kind.
vigorously.”
Evangelicals and other conservatives
As Republican strategist Curt Anderson
KDYHKDGWKHLUEHVWLQÀXHQFHRQ$PHULFDQ
observed in Politico, there’s no variation
politics when they have proceeded in a spirit
in Cruz’s rhetorical tone. As is the wont of
of personalism — when they have answered
inauthentic speakers, everything is described
hostility with service and emphasized the
as a maximum existential threat.
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The fact is this apocalyptic diagnosis is
won elections as happy and hopeful warriors.
ridiculous. The Obama administration has
Cruz’s brutal, fear-driven, apocalypse-based
done things people like me strongly disagree
approach is the antithesis of that.
with. But America is in better economic shape
Ŷ
than any other major nation on earth. Crime
David Brooks became a New York Times
is down. Abortion rates are down. Fourteen
Op-Ed columnist in 2003.
Cruz sows
bitterness,
inluences his
followers to
lose all sense of
proportion, and
teaches them to
answer hate with
hate.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
Lack of returned ballots
show lack of statue interest EOTEC has gone ahead,
left fair and rodeo behind
Local newsworthy news: The CTUIR
continues to lead the way in energy
development. The Tribes’ wind power
effort is being followed up with a new
solar energy project partially funded by
the Blue Sky contributions of the city of
Pendleton.
Meanwhile our expert planner, Evan
MacKenzie, is suggesting a reduction in
our use of clean burning natural gas as
a way of reducing our reliance on fossil
fuels. As a result, no natural gas will be
made available to the new Sargent City
housing development near Olney. An
alternative source of electrical power, a
bicycle-powered generator in every back
yard, is a possible solution.
Statue update: The selection of the
new statues and their location have been
determined with the massive turnout
at the ballot box. Approximately 250
EDOORWVZHUHFRXQWHGZKLFKFRQ¿UPVWKH
intense interest placed on this important
Initially, the Umatilla County Fair/
rodeo grounds were job number one for
relocation and I understand the reasons.
Then, the “grand scheme” became
EOTEC. Now the millions of dollars are
gone and the fair/rodeo facilities are with
“tin cup” in hand wanting to build the
required structures for fair/rodeo.
One example stands out. Vice
chairman Dan Dorran stated Oct. 26,
2015, he “thought the barns were just
that, barns.” Well, once codes and
UHTXLUHPHQWVZHUH¿JXUHGLQWKH
square foot construction cost became
DVTXDUHIRRW$QGWKDW¶VMXVWWKH
roof, no walls.
However, the “trade center” is close
to completion. I could expound from
here, but just ponder the competency of
our local leadership.
Rod Triplett
Hermiston
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.