Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, April 1, 2016 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 Tip of the hat to Oregon Potato Company, which is training all of its HPSOR\HHVWREHSUR¿FLHQWLQ&35DQG¿UVW aid. 2UHJRQ3RWDWR&RPSDQ\PDGHWKH decision to have their employees brush up RQWKHLU&35VNLOOVDIWHUDQHPSOR\HHDWWKH Boardman-based business had a heart attack on the job and was saved by a coworker. The training sessions, led by Good 6KHSKHUG+HDOWK&DUH6\VWHPVKDYH taught more than 1,000 people a year. With thousands of potential life-savers out and about in our communities, it means they are safer places. And for Oregon Potato and other companies who have taken part, their workplaces are safer too. Kudos to everyone for taking on the responsibility and making a difference. Tip of the hat to Steve Myren, who is ULGLQJRIILQWRWKHVXQVHWDV0RUURZ&RXQW\ undersheriff. Myren is retiring after nearly 36 years of experience in law enforcement. You can read about him on page 3A in today’s paper. +HLVDORQJWLPHFRPPXQLW\¿[WXUHLQWKH Boardman area, and it’s good to know he will keep his roots planted in the county. Those lottery winnings might make that sunset ride a little bit more comfortable too. Instead of a packhorse, maybe Myren will be ULGLQJRIILQD&DGLOODF A tip of the hat to everyone who appreciated our April Fools joke in today’s paper. We hope you took advantage of the ability to pull off the upside-down newspaper sight gag when your spouse or child came down the stairs for breakfast this morning. The possibility of the joke, in our opinion, is worth the relatively small annoyance of WXUQLQJWKHSDSHUDURXQGDQGÀLSSLQJWKURXJK it backwards for just one day. We hope you found the humor in it, and promise to be right-side-up again tomorrow. 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 GMO labeling debate rolls on The (Bend) Bulletin O regonians narrowly — by fewer than 1,000 votes — defeated a ballot measure in 2014 that would have required food manufacturers and retailers to label products that included genetically engineered ingredients. In the end, however, the measure’s supporters appear on their way to getting what they want, thanks to lawmakers in one of the smallest states in the union. Major food manufacturers, including &DPSEHOO6RXSVRXS3HSSHULGJH )DUP&RQ$JUD+XQWV3HWHU3DQ DQG*HQHUDO0LOOVFHUHDO2OG(O3DVR <RSODLWDOOKDYHDQQRXQFHGUHFHQWO\ that they have or will soon begin to include genetic engineering information on product labels. They’re not doing so because genetic engineering somehow makes their products unsafe, however. It doesn’t, and there’s more than enough science to prove that point. Some are doing so because lawmakers in Vermont, which has well under 1 million residents, approved a measure to require the labels in that state. It’s cheaper, the companies say, to make the labels universal for products sold in this country than to create and apply special labels for use in Vermont. And, clearly, they KRSH&RQJUHVVZLOO step in and either ban state labeling laws or require them across the country. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Portland, thinks that the latter is a great idea. He and three other Senate Democrats recently introduced a bill that would require labeling nationwide. 5HDOLVWLFDOO\WKHELOOGRHVQ¶WVWDQG much chance. The U.S. House did approve a ban on such labeling last summer. We don’t believe a law requiring *02ODEHOLQJLVVFLHQWL¿FDOO\QHFHVVDU\ %XWLWZRXOGEHEHWWHUIRU&RQJUHVV to have a national law rather than requirements that only apply in some states. A national law on GMO labeling is better than laws on a state-by-state basis. OTHER VIEWS 5HSXEOLFDQV¶JXQIUHH]RQH L atest in the long, long line of No one took him literally, possibly &RQWURYHUVLHV:H:HUHQ¶W because no one believed that Trump 5HDOO\([SHFWLQJWKHULJKWWR could stand in the middle of Fifth EHDUDUPVDWWKH5HSXEOLFDQ1DWLRQDO Avenue and actually hit anything. &RQYHQWLRQ While he says he owns a gun, when A petition calling on the asked if he ever uses it, he replied, 5HSXEOLFDQVWRDOORZSHRSOHWRFDUU\ “none of your business.” Mainly, he their pistols when they assemble brags that his sons are crack hunters, this July collected more than 50,000 and you can see the proof of that if you Gail signatures rather speedily this week. Collins Google Donald Trump Jr. and “dead The Secret Service instantly turned elephant tail.” Comment thumbs down. The presidential 'R\RXWKLQN+LOODU\&OLQWRQFRXOG candidates, who are normally so EHDW7UXPSDWD¿ULQJUDQJH"&OLQWRQ rapturous about all things gun-related, refused actually meets the basic political standard to get involved. for marksmanship, which involves being 7KHDXWKRURIWKHSHWLWLRQODWHUWROG&%6 in possession of one anecdote about having that he was just trying to gone hunting and shot a bird. SRLQWRXWWKDW5HSXEOLFDQV¶ Hers goes back to her days in enthusiasm for weaponry Arkansas when she was with does not necessarily extend a group of friends who didn’t to large, potentially rancorous believe she knew how to gatherings at which they are handle a gun, then watched as personally present. This gives VKHGRZQHGDGXFNRQWKH¿UVW us an excellent opportunity to try. The dead-fowl tradition is talk about guns and politics. sort of silly, but it does hark There was a time when back to the good old days Americans seemed OK with a when people thought about middle-of-the-road approach shooting in terms of sport and to guns. The public tended scaring off burglars. to regard them as things you &OLQWRQKDVEHHQWDONLQJD used for hunting or household lot about gun regulation lately, defense, and favored laws that because it’s one of the very regulated them accordingly. few issues on which she can But no more. The National attack Bernie Sanders from 5LÀH$VVRFLDWLRQLVEHJLQQLQJ the left. Sanders, who appears to run out of places to demand to have no personal interest that people be allowed to bring their pistols, in guns whatsoever, has been historically having already thrown down the gauntlet weak when it comes to voting on things like on bars, kindergartens, airports and college background checks. Their debate would be campuses. much more useful if it carried on into the The theory is that once everybody is armed general election. But it won’t. The sad truth 24/7, no matter what bad thing occurs, there is that Democrats don’t believe gun control is will always be good guys on hand to shoot the DZLQQLQJLVVXH$QGWKH5HSXEOLFDQVDUHVR evildoer. In the real world, very few people — FRPSOHWHO\LQEHGZLWKWKH15$WKHPDWWUHVV LQFOXGLQJSROLFHRI¿FHUV²DUHVNLOOHGHQRXJK is buckling. to aim accurately during a scary emergency. The one candidate in this year’s race %XWLI\RXZDQWWRZLQWKH5HSXEOLFDQ who actually has some skill as a marksman presidential nomination, it’s important to LV7HG&UX]+HVKRWWZRSKHDVDQWVZKLOH pretend otherwise. After the terrorist mass campaigning in Iowa, which is perfectly murders in France, Donald Trump argued that reasonable. He also carried out the tradition if only Parisian concertgoers had been packing that calls for ambitious right-wing politicians heat, the outcome would have been much WRSXWRQFDPRXÀDJHDQGIDFHSDLQWDQGJR different. hunting with someone from “Duck Dynasty,” “You know what? If I’m in that room and which is really embarrassing. OHW¶VVD\ZHKDYHWZRRU¿YHRUSHRSOHZLWK %XWLI\RXZDQWWRNQRZZKHUH&UX] guns, we’re going to do a lot better because stands on a reasoned approach to handling there’s going to be a shootout,” he said. weapons, I suggest you take a look at the 7ZRLPSRUWDQWSRLQWVKHUH(YHQLQWKH video in which he demonstrates how to cook FRQ¿QHVRI6HFRQG$PHQGPHQWD¿FLRQDGRV bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of an you don’t normally hear the term “we’re going DVVDXOWULÀH³0PPPPDFKLQHJXQEDFRQ´ to do a lot better because there’s going to be The mantra is pretty straightforward. Nobody a shootout.” Plus, note the suggestion that wants to think about armed convention people would be safer with an armed Donald delegates. But otherwise guns belong Trump in the building. everywhere. Tomorrow morning, brew the Trump does not appear to know anything coffee and shoot the breakfast. PXFKDERXW¿UHDUPV'R\RXUHPHPEHUEDFN Ŷ in January, when he boasted that he “could Gail Collins joined The New York Times in stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and 1995 as a member of the editorial board and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters”? later as an Op-Ed columnist. The National Rifle Association is running out of places to demand that people be allowed to bring their guns. YOUR VIEWS 3HQGOHWRQERRNVWRUH¿UVW casualty of wage hike Over the years, special bookstores have been immortalized in both stories and movies. Pendleton has been fortunate in its own right to have several independently owned bookstores that cater to a devoted audience. Not only are they special places that address the needs of their followers, they serve as a reminder of the critical importance of literacy. With that in mind, I was saddened to read that Armchair Books is closing — a victim of technology and Oregon’s decision to initiate an unrealistic minimum wage law. Armchair Books was the epitome of customer service. It was possible to VKDUHZLWKWKHPWKHQDPHVRIVSHFL¿F authors and series and know that whenever something new was published, I would receive a call indicating the book was available and should they order it. In my case, because I am on the road a great deal, my book purchases are all ones I can listen to in my car. This actually serves a dual purpose — it makes the trip more enjoyable, and once I’ve listened to the book, I can donate it to the Pendleton Public Library. As Armchair Books begins the process of closing, I for one would like to applaud them for their contributions to Pendleton and add my name to the list of those who are sad to see them go. Transitions like this erode the fabric that makes rural America and local neighborhoods special places. George Murdock 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. 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.
