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OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, February 12, 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
Tip of the hat;
kick in the pants
A tip of the hat to everyone who helped the Malheur Wildlife Refuge
occupation end safely on Thursday.
There is a lot to say now — you can read
today’s front page for how it went down.
And plenty to say in the future — about the
underlying issues, the blatant disregard for the
law, and the near-constant threat of violence
for 41 days in Harney County and other
counties surrounding it.
But for now, let’s exhale and sleep soundly.
Let’s thank our lucky stars that the four
occupiers — obviously stressed both mentally
and physically — are alive. Let’s be thankful
that the tattered remains of the refuge are
clear of those who do not belong there. Let’s get back to rebuilding the
refuge and the communities that surround it.
The GOP created Donald Trump
T
A tip of the hat to Elizabeth Doherty, the 10-year-old Rocky Heights
Elementary student who returned a large
amount of money that she found on the
ground in Hermiston.
Doherty received a visit and a thank you
from Hermiston Police chief -ason Edmiston,
who seemed to relish the ability to connect
with young people and support a good deed.
Elizabeth’s dad said she never wavered in
her decision to return the stack of the bills
and a unique money clip.
Doherty deserves all the kudos she’s
received — thousands of atta girls both online
and in person — and we’re happy to add
another one here.
A tip of the hat to Greg Smith and Bill Hansell, who are not only
valuable representatives of Eastern Oregon in Salem but gracious hosts to
their constituents.
This is not a political or policy endorsement, but a thank you on behalf of
the Leadership Hermiston class that got the
red carpet treatment at the Capitol this week.
Even with all the action packed into the
35-day short session, Smith and his wife
opened their Salem home to the class of 18
and invited some of their legislative friends
over to mingle. Then he and Hansell took the
time to show the class the House and Senate
Àoors between committee meetings and
general session.
As both men preached the message that
good legislation comes through strong
interpersonal relationships, they showed through their actions that it’s not
just a talking point.
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.
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.
Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of resi-
dence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published.
Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to 211 S.E. Byers Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
he betting markets now say
by nearly 3-to-1 that Obama was born
that the most likely Republican
overseas.
nominee for president is a man
The Republican establishment
who mocks women, insults Latinos,
pro¿ted from the insinuations
endorses war crimes like torture,
that Obama is a Muslim, that he’s
denounces party icons and favors
anti-American, that his health care
barring people from the United States
plan would lead to “death panels.”
based on their religion.
Rick Perry has described Trump as
He’s less a true-believer
Nicholas a “cancer on conservatism” and said
conservative than an opportunist,
Kristof his movement is “a toxic mix of
though, for he has supported single-
demagoguery and meanspiritedness and
Comment
nonsense that will lead the Republican
payer health insurance, abortion rights
Party to perdition” — indeed, but it
and tighter gun measures. Lindsey
was a mix that too many Republican leaders
Graham says he’s “crazy,” -eb Bush says
accepted as long as it worked for them.
he would be worse than President Barack
This echo chamber deluded its believers to
Obama, and the conservative National Review
the point that it sometimes apparently killed
warned that he is a “menace to American
them. During the 2009-10
conservatism.”
Àu pandemic, right-wing
It’s Donald Trump,
broadcasters like Limbaugh
of course. He’s smarter
and Glenn Beck denounced
than critics believe — he
the call for Àu shots,
understood the political
apparently seeing it as a
mood better than we pundits
nefarious Obama plot.
did — but I can’t think of
The upshot was that
any national politician I’ve
Democrats were 50 percent
met over the decades who
more likely than Republicans
was so ill-informed on the
to say that they would get
issues, or so evasive, or who
Àu shots, according to a
so elegantly and dangerously
peer-reviewed article in The
melded bombast and
-ournal of Health Politics,
vapidity.
Policy and Law. So when the
So how did we get to
pandemic killed up to 18,000
this stage where the leading
Americans, they presumably
Republican candidate is
were disproportionately
loathed by the Republican
conservatives.
establishment"
The Republican strategy
In part, I think,
also nurtured expectations at
Republican leaders brought
this on themselves. Over the decades they pried the grass roots that could never be met. “The
Republican Party created Donald Trump,” said
open a Pandora’s box, a toxic politics of fear
and resentment, sometimes brewed with a tinge Erick Erickson, the conservative radio host,
“because they made a lot of promises to their
of racial animus, and they could never satisfy
base and never kept them.”
the unrealistic expectations that they nurtured
This is a theme of a smart new book
among supporters.
by E.-. Dionne -r., “:hy the Right :ent
Perhaps it started in 1968 with Nixon’s
:rong,” who argues that Republican leaders
“Southern strategy,” recruiting white
repeatedly made unrealistic pledges — of
segregationists infuriated by the civil rights
smaller government, preservation of bygone
movement. It then expanded to encompass
values and an end to demographic change.
immigration and the three G’s — God, guns
“The history of contemporary American
and gays.
conservatism is a story of disappointment and
Of course, Democrats also sometimes
betrayal,” he writes, and that helps explain
campaigned outrageously, and some
the disenchantment with the Republican
Republicans scorned the politics of hate.
establishment.
There was a marvelous scene in 2008 when
Maybe Trump’s campaign will fall apart,
-ohn McCain was running against Obama,
but he has a huge lead in the polls in the South
and a woman at a McCain rally suggested that
Carolina primary coming up, and he has
Obama was an Arab who couldn’t be trusted.
already done enormous damage to the GOP
McCain corrected her and then praised his
rival: “No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man, a establishment.
So today the leading candidate for president
citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements
in the party of Lincoln is an ill-informed,
with on fundamental issues.”
inexperienced, bigoted, sexist xenophobe.
Political nastiness and conspiracy theories
And he’s not a conservative at heart, just a
were ampli¿ed by right-wing talk radio,
pandering opportunist.
television and websites — and, yes, there
Donald Trump is the consequence of
are left-wing versions as well, but they are
irresponsible politicking by Republican
much less inÀuential. Democrats often felt
leaders, the culmination of decades of
disadvantaged by the rise of Rush Limbaugh
cultivating unrealistic expectations within the
and Fox News, but in retrospect Limbaugh
politics of resentment. It’s good to see leading
and Fox created a conservative echo chamber
Republicans standing up to him today, but the
that hurt the Republican Party by tugging it
situation recalls the Chinese saying, qi hu nan
to the right and sometimes breeding a myopic
xia — when you’re riding a tiger, the hard part
extremism in which reality is irrelevant.
is getting off.
A poll released in September found that
Ŷ
Republicans were more likely to think that
Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and
Obama was born abroad than Ted Cruz was.
That poll found that Trump supporters believed cherry farm in Yamhill, Oregon.
So today
the leading
candidate for
president in
the party of
Lincoln is not
a conservative
at heart, just
a pandering
opportunist.
YOUR VIEWS
Confusing campaign season
up for grabs
In this unpredictable election season, it
is probably the most confusing voters have
ever faced. Some of the presidential hopefuls
are thinning out but the front runners are still
pitching manure.
Let’s look at the Democrats.
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are
running close and both have ethical problems
but they are not bashing each other as are the
Republicans.
Sanders would represent the left wing of
his party as a self-described socialist but his
proposals and pursuit of greater economic
equality and universal health care would fare
no better in achieving them as president than
he has as a senator.
Clinton is ¿ghting an email problem, :all
Street activity and the possibility that men
do not want a woman president. The facts
are, she is the most quali¿ed presidential
candidate running in this race including
those in the GOP stable. As the New
Hampshire Concord Monitor noted in an
East Oregonian opinion February 9, “No one
has her experience, not in foreign policy but
in putting the wheels of :ashington in gear
again “
:hat about the Republicans"
Donald Trump is in the lead but Ted Cruz
is still pulling his “dirty tricks,” including
his trick on Ben Carson. He is the most
disliked man in Congress and not one of
his colleagues support him. He is a mean-
spirited zealot who has earned the enmity
of fellow Republicans. The religious right
adores him but he is uncompromising and so
intractable against the Affordable Care Act
and other issues facing the nation, one cannot
depend on where he stands.
His honesty is questionable after he failed
to report his ¿nancial status to the Senate,
stating it was a “paperwork error.” :ho
believes that"
Trump is a puzzle. :hat are we going to
do with him" Ohio Gov. -ohn .asich surged
in New Hampshire and looks better all the
time. Then there is Marco (Polo) Rubio still
traveling the silk route. Former Florida Gov.
-eb Bush says Rubio is not a leader, an ironic
comment by a candidate who appears to be
of the same caliber. :e may be seeing the
last of the Bushes. Former President George
H. :. Bush was a pretty good president but
his swaggering, arrogant son, George :. will
not be a help to the present Bush.
:ith the nation’s present global and
domestic situation, this is not the time to put
an amateur in the :hite House. 9oters need
to face this reality and seriously consider
their candidate.
It’s still a good horse race. :here’s your
bet"
Dorys C. Grover
Pendleton
Turner a good choice for
Pendleton mayor
-ohn Turner is a man of courage, integrity,
intelligence.
Having worked with him as president of
Blue Mountain Community College and now
president of the Board of Commissioners
of the Port of Umatilla, I can attest to his
character, work ethic, and ability to bring
people together in collaborative ways for
successful outcomes.
He has served the public as a warrior,
mentor, educator, administrator and visionary
economic developer for all of his adult
life. He is a defender of freedom and an
advocate of life-long learning. I endorse him
unequivocally in his bid to be the next mayor
of Pendleton.
Kim B. Puzey
Board member, BMCC
General manager, Port of Umatilla
Death penalty should
be abolished
:hile seemingly insigni¿cant to most
people, I just read a story that is very
important. Charles Sebesta, the District
Attorney for Burleson County, Texas, was
just disbarred for using false testimony and
withholding evidence in the case of Anthony
Graves, who was convicted of the murder
of six people in 1994 and spent 18 years in
prison, 12 on death row (in Texas where they
are serious about the death penalty). Graves
was exonerated in 2006.
As a career prosecutor, it is gratifying to
see one of my brethren get what’s coming
to him. People like Sebesta are what give
my profession a bad name. But more
importantly, the case shines a light on the
fatal Àaw in capital punishment.It’s an
absolute certainty that we have executed
innocent people and will continue to do so
as long as we have this barbaric form of
punishment.
Put aside the cost or the fact it’s
ineffective; the death penalty must be
abolished in the United States to insure we
don’t kill innocent people.
Patrick J. Delaney
Hermiston