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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, February 17, 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 shot Finicum? And why the public should know who did County and many others have been We’ve seen the aerial video of leveled online and across the country. Robert “LaVoy” Finicum speeding away from a police stop, then driving It has ended in murder before -erad and Amanda Miller were present at into a snowbanN to try to avoid a the protests at the Bundy’s Nevada roadblocN. ranch and in -une Finicum 2014 they Nilled ¿ve quicNly exits the people in Las Vegas, disabled vehicle, This shooting including two police gesticulating wildly. should be the of¿cers. After reaching we must toward his MacNet exception to the be Yet careful not to — where he had a gun — Finicum was rule. It should not overreact in the heat an emotional, shot and Nilled by make the rule. of dangerous episode. the FBI. Fear cannot be our 7hat video, guiding principle for recorded hundreds of feet above the incident, is as much legislation. It is concerning to many as we Nnow now about the fatal Mournalists the bill could be used shooting. 7he full investigation still is being to prevent public scrutiny of future police shootings, and maNe it more compiled by Deschutes County, dif¿cult to access the most basic the lead investigative agency. 7he facts of a fatal incident. 7hat lacN Malheur County district attorney of transparency could help stoNe will review the results of that investigation and determine if deadly the paranoia of antigovernment activists, degrade transparency and force was Musti¿ed. increase distrust of what could seem 7he public does not Nnow how liNe a nameless, faceless police force. many times Finicum was shot, nor 7he bill maNes it clear that do we Nnow who pulled the fatal resources and legal argument are trigger. needed to Neep the name out of And Oregon lawmaNers are public purview. But we’re not rushing to craft a bill that would allow the release of that information convinced the law should change because of this one, remarNably to be delayed even longer. House abnormal incident — the liNes of Bill 4087 would allow the police which Eastern Oregon has never to asN a Mudge to bar release of the seen before and hopefully will never shooter’s name for at least 90 days. And that gag order can be continued, see again. 7his shooting, if anything, should in 90 day increments, if a Mudge be the exception to the rule. It should agrees to it. not make the rule. And in realizing It’s understandable there are the circumstances are exceptional, legitimate safety concerns for those we expect exceptional protection involved in the arrest of the leaders provided to the of¿cers involved of the Malheur occupation and especially those who played a part in once their names are released. It is important that citizens Nnow Finicum’s death. the identity of the person who we 7he occupiers, and those who paid to pull the trigger, or people sympathize with them, have among liNe Finicum will become more their ranNs those who are both convinced they live in a tyrannical paranoid and armed — people with land, where the government does no respect for law enforcement. what it wants, in secrecy and without Local, state and federal agents repercussion. received plenty of threats in Harney 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 Four things Obama and Ryan must get done this year Wisconsin State Journal ven lame ducNs have been Nnown to Ày. 7eddy Roosevelt made the Grand Canyon a national monument in his ¿nal year as president. Ronald Reagan steered a historic reduction of nuclear weapons through the U.S. Senate while communism was collapsing. Bill Clinton oversaw a record budget surplus. Expectations are understandably low for the ¿nal year of BaracN Obama’s second term. A highly partisan presidential election will only encourage further gridlocN in Washington. Yet with help from House SpeaNer 3aul Ryan of Wisconsin, some big things can still get done. Obama, of course, is a Democrat, while Ryan is a Republican. 7he two were rivals in 2012, when Ryan ran as the GO3’s vice presidential nominee. But big differences on policy and politics shouldn’t stop progress for America. Where agreement does exist, legislation should move forward, with both leaders bene¿ting from accomplishment. Ryan has little interest in enhancing Obama’s legacy. But approving popular measures with bipartisan support will improve the GO3’s chances of holding swing seats — and maMority control — in the House this fall. Obama highlighted several promising goals for the coming year during a recent White House meeting with Republican leaders, followed by a private lunch with Ryan. Four of Obama’s priorities can and must be achieved, with the Democratic president staying open to GO3 suggestions for cooperation: E 1. Approve the free trade agreement Zith Paci¿c Rim countries. 7his won’t be easy because several Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are stoNing economic fears for electoral advantage. But free marNets are the most effective way to lift prosperity in America and abroad. 7he 7rans3aci¿c 3artnership will let the United States guide the rules for global trade, rather than China. 7hat will mean more protection and opportunity for innovators, labor and the environment with stronger growth. 2. Commit resources to ¿ghting cancer. 7he president called for a “moonshot” effort to cure cancer in his State of the Union address. 7he goal deserves more resources for research, including promising studies at UWMadison. If new dollars can’t be found, then existing federal spending should be reprioritized. 3. Confront heroin addiction. Bipartisan support for stopping this scourge is strong, as evidenced by several smart laws the Wisconsin Legislature has adopted in recent years. 7his includes stricter monitoring of pain medications, better data to improve deterrents, and wider availability of a drug that counteracts overdoses. 4. Overhaul the criminal justice system. Ryan seems especially interested in this goal as a way to reduce poverty. He and the president have expressed support for Àexibility on sentencing nonviolent drug offenders, and doing a better Mob of reintegrating inmates bacN into society, including federal help in ¿nding worN. Obama has less than a year remaining in the White House. But that’s enough time to get these four goals done. Big differences shouldn’t stop progress for America. OTHER VIEWS 7he Roosevelt approach 7hat is what FDR and INe were ear Hillary, -eb, Marco and able to do with their leadership styles. -ohn, With ¿reside chats and golf MoNes, they You all ¿nd yourselves were neighborly even in times of great running against a whirlwind. Hillary, for dif¿culty and stress. But they were you the whirlwind is Bernie Sanders. also able to set an emotional tone that For the rest of you it’s Donald 7rump. brought people together and changed Either way, you’re running against the nature of Americans’ relationships a candidate who generates passionate with one another. intensity. At some level those David During their presidencies, the bonds candidates’ followers must Nnow that Brooks of solidarity grew stronger and the there’s something wildly impractical Comment country more formidable. 7hey were about the candidacy they are fervently able to cultivate a deep sense of unity, supporting. 7rump has no actual policies, and Sanders has little chance of getting responsibility and sacri¿ce. 7hey didn’t call for sacri¿ce as something painful, his passed. but as what one did for one’s And yet the supporters friends. don’t care. Sanders and 7rump I’d love to see one of you maNe them feel Nnown. Finally, counter the 7rump and Sanders somebody is saying what emotional tones with a bold they feel. Finally, somebody is outraged by the things that shift in psychology. 7his would outrage them. 7here’s a deep be a shift toward the cheerful passion embedded in the 7rump resolve of an FDR or an and Sanders phenomena, Eisenhower. arousing energy, magical Let 7rump and Sanders thinNing and some suspension of shout, harangue and lecture. disbelief. You respond to dif¿culty And the rest of you are with warmth, con¿dence and basically asNing voters to optimism. snap out of it. All of you, but Let them deliver long, especially you, Hillary, are repetitive and uninterrupted asNing voters to calm down and lectures. You converse, interact, be pragmatic: Consider electability! Vote for chat and listen. the one who can get laws passed! Let them stand angry and solitary. You And it’s not worNing. In debates Sanders run as part of a team, a band of brothers, with is uninhibited by the constraints of reality, so diverse advisers and buddies Moining you his answers are always bolder. 7rump speaNs onstage at event after event. from the id, not from any policy paper, so his Let them assert that all our problems can answers are always more vivid. be solved if other people sacri¿ce — the 7he brute fact is you can’t beat passion immigrants or the top 1 percent. You call for with pragmatism. 7he human heart is not built shared sacri¿ce. 7he rich can give more in that way. You can’t beat angry passion with taxes, but the rich, the middle class and the poor bloodless calculation. If you’re going to have can all give more in civic engagement. any chance against these hotheads, you have Let them emphasize the cold relations of to set a rival and stronger emotional tone. business 7rump or of the state Sanders. You I’d asN you to thinN of the ancient ideal of emphasize the warm bonds of neighbor helping comradeship. neighbor. While they dwell in the land of Many Americans feel liNe they are the impersonal bureaucracies, you point out that the victims of a slowmoving natural disaster. primary tasN before us to repair the social fabric Sanders and 7rump try to put the blame for this — the basic respect that diverse Americans disaster on discrete groups of people — Wall have for one another. Street or immigrants. But in reality it’s a Let them preach pessimism. You emphasize natural disaster caused by structural forces a warm nationalism — a basic con¿dence that — globalization, technological change, the America is not going down in decline, that it is dissolution of the family, racism. still the nation best positioned to dominate the A great nation doesn’t divide in times of 21st century, that con¿dence is a better guide natural disaster. It doesn’t choose leaders than anger or fear. who angrily tear it apart. Instead, it chooses Sanders and 7rump have adopted emotional leaders liNe FranNlin Roosevelt and Dwight tones that are going to offend and exhaust Eisenhower, leaders who radiate sunny people over time. Watching the *O3 South con¿dence, Moy and neighborliness. Carolina debate I got the impression that You may thinN of neighborliness as a 7rump’s exhaustion moment is at hand. sentimental, soft virtue. And I suppose in times 7he candidate who has the audacity to of peace, prosperity and ease it is a sweet and change the emotional tone of this whole tender thing. election will win the White House and have a But looN at what happens to neighbors when shot at rebinding the civic fabric of this nation. one friend is threatened or when times are hard. Ŷ 7hen neighborliness taNes on a different hue. David Brooks became a New York Times Friends become comrades in arms. Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. D Let Trump and Sanders shout, harangue and lecture. You respond to dificulty with warmth, conidence and optimism. YOUR VIEWS Pendleton shouldn’t put money into pet projects Don’t get me wrong, I am not a dog hater. But why does the city leadership insist that the taxpayers should be required to provide a place for dog owners to let their dogs run wild? As always, they say there will be no added expense to the public since city land — land that belongs to all taxpayers, I might add — would be used and maintained by volunteers. What happens when dogs get into ¿ghts or someone is attacNed by a loose dog? As a former volunteer for the city, I found out ¿rsthand that nothing comes free. 7he city requires volunteers to Neep tracN of their time so they are covered by worNers’ compensation insurance, and then there are the paid supervisors of the volunteer program. Evidently, department managers aren’t able to monitor their own volunteers. Although I no longer worN directly for the city, I continue to use and clean a portion of the walNway assigned to a community organization and witness irresponsible dog owners that fail to clean up after their pets, expecting the volunteers that have adopted portions of the walNway to do so and then complain that the city is not providing enough free poop recovery bags. If you want a dog, taNe care of it. When I ¿rst started attending city council meetings I pointed out the dismal condition and offered to purchase additional garbage cans, as some areas were conspicuously lacNing containers. 7he lacN of any followup action was blamed on the retiring parNs department manager as at the time; he was evidently running the city. Incidents liNe this, the proposed biNe trails, and the dog run idea are symptomatic of what’s the matter with city hall. 7he basic infrastructure maintenance and upNeep of the city taNes a bacN seat to pet proMects that bene¿t a small minority. 3roMects are started and never completed. 7ime is money and we continue to waste both, and that’s precisely why I’m running for city council in the May election. Charles “Rick” Rohde Pendleton Turner good for Pendleton 7hanN you to -ohn 7urner for ¿ling to become the next mayor of 3endleton. As a former city council member I Nnow how important it is to have a mayor with good leadership sNills. -ohn has shown he has the administrative and communication sNills our mayor needs. +e worNs effectively to build trust and respect to get tasNs accomplished. I Nnow that -ohn can lead 3endleton and will be a good spoNesman for our city. Steven Bjerke Pendleton 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 residence and a phone number. Send letters to 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@ eastoregonian.com.
