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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.