Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Thursday, January 28, 2016
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Dark days
Does Sarah Palin still matter
in presidential politics?
January 26, 2016, will rank among
the darkest days in modern Eastern
Oregon history. And that darkness is
far from over.
One man was killed, eight others
were arrested, and tension has
been ratcheted up once again at the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
near Burns. What for 24 days was an
occupation and protest can now only
be described as a standoff between
insurrectionists and the government.
Our ability to navigate this tense
situation without further bloodshed
will be put to the test.
The chances are not good. Armed
protesters have sworn to die before
they surrender. And federal authorities
have brought in concrete barriers
and Àood lights, and have cut off
reinforcements and physical contact
with the outside world.
Bloodshed is what everyone
has been trying to avoid from the
beginning of this protest, but on
Tuesday night they were unable to
do so. Robert “Lavoy” Finicum was
killed while en route to a community
meeting at John Day. The details of
that event are not yet known, though
it hasn’t stopped thousands from
speculating on it.
We live in a snap judgment world,
and the Internet doesn’t have time
for facts. They can be made up to ¿t
a narrative, and then passed along
and shared enough times that they
begin to carry an air of truth. It’s the
telephone game on steroids, and few
will stick around (and then trust)
what is eventually released by law
enforcement through the slow-moving
wheels of the justice department.
It’s terrible that a man died. He
shouldn’t have. However, we will
hold off on assigning blame.
The last three weeks have been hell
on Harney County, and the highways
that surround Burns look more like
Baghdad. Few Oregonians are among
those remaining in the national wildlife
refuge. With the loss of their leaders,
who knows how this will play out and
what damage to life and property and
environment will be done.
A
America must support the right to
protest. It’s the First Amendment for
a reason.
No one should be injured or killed
or threatened or jailed because of
something they believe.
But, as was said by the FBI in
Burns on Wednesday, actions have
consequences. The occupiers are
the reason why Burns looks more
like a war zone. They stole and used
vehicles that did not belong to them.
They took property that was not
theirs. They destroyed fences without
permission. They built roads unbidden
and rummaged through countless
Native artifacts that they had no right
to. This vandalism needed ending.
We can argue — and we should
argue — about the ¿ner points of the
Hammonds case, the Bundys case,
about the BLM’s grazing policy,
the decline of rural economies, the
importance of peaceful protest and
armed demonstration. We need to
have those discussions.
But this is America, and we make
those changes through a democratic
system.
We all have our problems with this
country, and everyone has a list a mile
long of things they would change.
So we vote for people we like and
we think will make things better. We
convince our friends and neighbors
to do the same. And if we’re being
mistreated or not being heard, we
have the courts and we have marches
down Main Street.
We do not arm ourselves to the
teeth, take things that are not ours,
intimidate and harass those we
disagree with. We especially cannot
allow that to be the status quo for
the dif¿cult slog of public lands
management, which will forever be a
contentious issue.
Tuesday’s events have a chance to
spiral out of control and leave Eastern
Oregon a more desolate, bitter, angry
and violent place than before.
It will take the strength of our
communities, our love of country, and
our trust in one another to rise above
it. We must do it.
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.
“Probably 15 to 20 percent of the
MES, Iowa — In September,
people who caucus. I’d say 15 to 20
when Donald Trump appeared
percent would identify themselves as
before a giant rally in Dallas, a
tea partiers more than anything else,
person in the Trump circle described
such as born-again evangelicals.”
the coming months of the campaign.
“And you would expect that some
Sure, a big event like Dallas got
of them are caught on the fence now
headlines, but Trump knew he couldn’t
between Trump and Cruz?”
do the same rally, rally, rally for the
“I know for a fact that they are,”
next several months and expect the
Byron
Johnson replied. “I’ve talked to several
public to remain interested. Even then,
York
people in the last two months who
TrumpWorld was planning a varied
Comment
have been on the fence
(and secret) schedule of
between Trump and Cruz.
special events, bold policy
So if they’re on the fence,
rollouts and other attention-
this might be just enough to
getting gestures to keep
push them over.”
the voters’ and the media’s
Indeed, at Trump and
attention over the course of a
Cruz events in the last two
long campaign.
weeks, I have met plenty
A recent night in Ames
of people who were for
was a prime example
Trump, with Cruz as their
of Trump’s timing and
second choice, or were
showmanship. Bringing
for Cruz, with Trump as
Sarah Palin to Iowa grabbed
their second choice. For
all eyes in the Republican
some of them, Palin’s seal
caucus race. And it seriously
of approval might make
undercut the notion, growing
some difference. Before
in some political circles,
she spoke, I asked several
that GOP rival Ted Cruz has
people at the Ames rally
nailed down the support of
whether Palin had worn out
all of Iowa’s conservatives.
her welcome; none thought
Palin, whose last highly
she had.
publicized visit to Iowa was
“It’s a valuable
a poorly received speech at
endorsement because people
Rep. Steve King’s candidate
still view her as an anti-
summit in January 2015,
establishment outsider who
was her most Palinesque
they can also relate to,” said
self.
Craig Robinson, a former
Discussing who is and
Iowa state GOP political
who is not a conservative,
director who founded the Iowa Republican
for example, she said, “How about the rest
blog. “And if there is any strategy to the
of us? Right-winging bitter clinging, proud
Trump campaign, it is to dominate the media
clingers of our guns, our God, our religions
coverage of the race, and Palin’s endorsement
and our Constitution ...” That’s classic Sarah.
will certainly help with that.”
But Trump was happy to have Palin for
That’s an understatement. Palin’s
more reasons than her ability to entertain a
appearance with Trump immediately
crowd. Even though she is much diminished
captured nearly all the media’s attention. In
from her heyday a few years ago, Palin still
the hours and days that followed, it inspired
has inÀuence among some conservatives.
impassioned debate, made talking heads
Trump now has that on his side, and just as
explode, and caused fevered speculation
important, Cruz doesn’t.
across cable TV.
At the rally I talked with Jamie Johnson,
And for Cruz, there is one ¿nal, indirect
a veteran Iowa politico who supported Rick
effect of Palin’s Trump endorsement. In the
Santorum in 2012 and Rick Perry earlier in
this race, but is now unaf¿liated. Johnson saw days ahead, the Cruz camp is left to wonder
the Palin move entirely in terms of persuading what Trump has coming up next.
“He has to have another couple of tricks up
voters at the margins of the Trump vs. Cruz
his sleeve before the caucuses,” said one Cruz
contest.
“I think the Palin endorsement is important supporter recently.
The problem is that Team Cruz doesn’t
for all of the tea partiers who were deciding
which of the two they were going to vote for,” know what those tricks are. They’ll ¿nd out
when Trump wants them to.
Johnson said.
Ŷ
Does Palin still have clout in Iowa?
Byron York is chief political correspondent
“To tea partiers, she does.”
for The Washington Examiner.
“How big a part of the electorate is that?”
Bringing Sarah
Palin to Iowa
grabbed all
eyes in the
Republican
caucus race
and seriously
undercut the
notion that
GOP rival
Ted Cruz had
nailed down the
support of Iowa
conservatives.
YOUR VIEWS
Refuge needs support,
occupiers need to leave
I’m writing to express my
support for national wildlife
refuges. I am one of many
volunteers that help maintain
our local wildlife facility at
the McNary National Wildlife
Refuge education center located
at Burbank, Wash. We volunteer
our time to help with cleanup,
maintenance, research and assist
daily visitors including parents,
teachers and numerous school
children.
With the armed occupation of
the Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge in southeastern Oregon,
our nation’s wildlife refuges have
been thrust into the spotlight. It’s
apparent that few are aware of the
incredible bene¿ts wildlife refuges
provide to communities and the
local economy.
For every $1 Congress
appropriates to run the refuge
system, nearly $5 is returned to
local economies in jobs, sales,
income and tax revenue. And that’s
on average. In many areas, wildlife
refuges provide an even greater
boost to the economy. Malheur
is one such economic engine,
returning more than $7 for every
$1 appropriated by Congress.
National wildlife refuges are
special places. These lands consist
of the rivers where veterans Ày
¿sh to assist in the healing process
from PTSD, marshes where a
parent takes their child hunting for
the ¿rst time, open grasslands that
become a child’s ¿rst memory of
an outdoor classroom and the lands
where ranchers teach their children
about the history of responsible
land stewardship.
The illegal occupation of
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
has stripped us of our rights
as American citizens to make
memories at this wildlife refuge.
This needs to stop. National
wildlife refuges belong to all
Americans and we want Malheur
back.
George Stotz
Pasco, Wash.
Protesters have gotten
out of hand, put gun
rights at risk
The whole wildlife refuge
occupation drama has been blown
out of perspective. Land owners
are under attack from big business
and dubious relationships between
government of¿cials or their
children to take away land and land
rights for kickbacks.
The occupants of the wildlife
refuge could have been starved
out. They could all be handed
summons for trespassing with daily
escalating ¿nes. They could have
been given a deadline to leave
peacefully and then been told that
the roads would be severed to and
from the location and that any cost
to deal with them would be their
responsibility. The media could
be banned from giving them a
platform to grandstand.
As much as I feel for these
people, unless they wanted to be
martyrs, which is their right, they
are acting stupid.
If this gets out of hand, their
actions could effect the gun rights
of all of us. They will become
the image our government wants
all of us supporters of the U.S.
Constitution to have. Give it up,
guys, before you make it worse for
everyone.
Joseph DuPont
Towanda, Pa.
Anthropological
Association supports
Burns Paiute Tribe
The American Anthropological
Association supports the Burns
Paiute Tribe and our professional
colleagues in expressing a deep
concern for the protection of
thousands of archaeological
artifacts — and records detailing
where more can be found —
curated at the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge, which, despite its
leaders being arrested, is still being
occupied illegally by an armed
group of protesters angry over
federal land policy.
More than 300 recorded
prehistoric sites are within the
refuge, including burial grounds,
ancient villages and petroglyphs.
Some of the artifacts — including
spears, stone tools, woven baskets
and beads — date back 9,800
years.
The artifacts and remains are
claimed as ancestral by the Burns
Paiute and are priceless to science
and the tribe, which collaborates
closely with archaeologists
protecting its heritage. The
problems with these artifacts
being held hostage are numerous,
and our fear is that they may be
altered, destroyed, or sold illegally,
despite their cultural and historical
importance, and despite the legal
protections they enjoy.
In an ironic twist, the
protesters’ actions are effectively
undercutting the positions they
claim to champion, and the
public and private interests they
claim to defend. We regard this
illegal protest as a misguided and
ill-informed action that disavows
the federal government-to-
government relationship with the
Burns Paiute Tribe and threatens
the legitimate public interest in
understanding and preserving our
shared human past.
These historical treasures help
tell the story of all the peoples
of the region and throughout the
West who came before. We are
hoping for a peaceful resolution
with no further loss of life, and
strongly urge you to protect these
artifacts and prosecute the Malheur
protesters if any artifacts or maps
are damaged or missing.
American Anthropological
Association
Arlington, Va.
LETTERS POLICY
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on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper
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Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.