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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, April 8, 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 the roughly hundred people from all over the region who showed up Wednesday to discuss the Blue Mountains Forest Plan. An overÀow crowd packed a lecture hall at Blue Mountain Community College for nearly two hours on Wednesday, while the sun was still warm and high in the evening sky. The East Oregonian helped organize the panel discussion, which was moderated by Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Think Out Loud” program. People in the crowd were able to speak to a statewide audience about something they are passionate about. And dozens took the opportunity. You can listen to the show in its entirety by visiting opb.org and clicking on the “Think Out Loud” tab. Odds are you’ll hear someone you know. It’s always great to take part and speak up, but we hope people used the opportunity to listen as much as talk. The forest plan is an immensely complicated issue and competing interests will always keep it from being a perfect product. In our ears, the takeaway of the night was this People have speci¿c, narrow focuses that are in tune with their own self-interest. That’s the kind of thinking that brought human beings to the top of the food chain, so it’s no wonder that we’ve become attached to it. But the people in charge of the whole forest ² . million acres of beautiful Eastern Oregon ² have to take a much wider view. And that is what leads to friction. We humans aren’t good at thinking generations ahead, about thinking of land not within our line of sight, about repercussions of our actions that will be felt long after we’re gone. Yet that kind of thinking is necessary to make the forest plan a success ² it will allow us to do all the things we love on the forest (hike, drive, ride, camp) and all the things we need to do survive (log, mine, hunt, gather), while still making sure future generations will be able to do those things too. A tip of the hat to the Pendleton drone range’s plan to take a more active role in marketing themselves and attracting customers. It’s a necessary step to making the range a ¿nancial asset to the city, instead of an awesome possibility that never lived up to the potential. We think the city should kick in the $10,000 in order to collect a $150,000 grant and get the process started. In a not totally unrelated note, the change in tactics reminds us once again about how much damage the movie “Field of Dreams” has done to the economic development ¿eld across the world. “If you build it, they will come” might work in a Hollywood movie, but it doesn’t work in the shovel-and-dirt real world. Convincing “them” to come takes hard work, smart marketing, real material and ¿nancial advantages, social and cultural buy-in, good communication and relationship-building. And yes, built infrastructure is part of the equation. The Pendleton drone range is probably better positioned to succeed under the new plan than it ever was before. And it will de¿nitely be in the best position it has been since the FAA rela[ed rules that stripped the monopoly from of¿cial test ranges. The “future farm” brand is worth a shot, and $10,000 is a small price for the city pay to roll the dice, especially considering the money invested there in developments with considerably higher odds. 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. 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. Donald Trump won’t leave us alone I though that’s a popular complaint, n recent days I’ve read that Donald narrative and apologia of late. Trump is ¿nally done and I’ve read Journalists gave news consumers that these reports of his death are precisely what they demonstrated greatly e[aggerated. I’ve had smart that they wanted. This is too often people tell me con¿dently that a loss in omitted from critiques of Trump’s Wisconsin would almost surely prevent media dominance, which comes him from winning the Republican at a time when news organizations presidential nomination and I’ve had can more quickly monitor precisely equally smart people tell me with equal Frank which stories and interviews are being con¿dence that it wouldn’t. Bruni watched and read. Watchers and How and when does Trump end? Comment readers disproportionately favored In terms of politics, it’s a fascinating Trump, so they got more of him. Had question, all the more so after Ted they cast their gazes in another direction, news Cruz’s victory in the Badger State. organizations would have followed suit. In all other senses, it’s a foolish one. And news organizations Trump doesn’t end. didn’t set Trump up to Whether he’s the nominee soar in the polls and win or not, moves into the White primaries. From my seat, House or consoles himself at most of the Trump coverage Mar-a-Lago, he’ll never shut was negative the Me[ican up and never slink off ² not “rapists,” the Muslim ban, after the convention, not the blood coming out of after Election Day, no matter Megyn Kelly’s “wherever,” how resounding his defeat, the mocking of John no matter how grotesque his McCain’s imprisonment in path there. Vietnam, the boasts about He won’t follow his penis, the shrugging vanquished candidates of about the Ku Klu[ Klan. the past into grudging e[ile. These tempests could ² and You won’t spot him where someone saw Marco Rubio should ² have done as on Monday ² in Seat 1C much to quash Trump as to on an American Airlines elevate him, unless coverage Àight from Miami to itself equals votes, in which Washington with no aides in case there’s more cause for attendance and no reporters more teeth-gnashing about in pursuit, according to Mike American democracy than Allen and Daniel Lippman in Politico. about CNN programming. And that’s not Must because Trump has Should producers and editors have ignored private planes. It’s because he’s a showman, metrics in favor of their own Mudgment not a statesman, a point he copped to on and sense of mission? They routinely do Monday in one of his most revealing remarks this ² otherwise, there’d be wall-to-wall pet yet. stories ² but to play down Trump speci¿cally “I can be presidential, but if I was once he’d emerged as the front-runner would presidential I would only have ² about 20 have been elitist and paternalistic e[actly percent of you would be here, because it those qualities that the news media has been would be boring as hell,” he told a crowd in derided for. Superior, Wisconsin. It’s because Mournalists remained Trump- Boredom? Not on your life. If he had the rapt and Trump-inquisitive that he said what de[terity, he’d Muggle bowling pins while he did about abortion and so many voters riding a unicycle to stave it off. That’d heard it in full. Same goes for Trump’s certainly be more digni¿ed than many of the troubling takes on violence at his rallies, stunts and screeds he’s ginned up so far. nuclear weapons in Asia, the future of NATO Those stunts and screeds will continue, and so much more. because Trump is an attention Munkie who There are legitimate questions of proportion has become accustomed to the highest doses in regard to Trump coverage, and perhaps he imaginable of his beloved drug. He’ll say what has been accorded additional acres of news he must and do what it takes for his ¿[. media real estate because he’s so easy to talk And while that’s nowhere near as terrifying and write about, a policy-free zone of quickly as a Trump presidency, it’s still plenty scary. digested, succinctly rendered struts and slurs. Imagine Trump in December, braying as But Americans took up residence on that loudly as he does now. Imagine Trump in terrain, and frolicked there, and if we want January, during someone else’s inauguration, the end of Trump, we have to set up camp braying even more loudly. elsewhere. He’ll resist it. He’s addicted to us. The only way to discourage this is to ignore Soon enough, we’ll have to confront and deal it We can stop feeding the habit. By “we” I with our addiction to him. mean the American people, not Must Mournalists, Ŷ because Mournalists didn’t determine, in a Frank Bruni has been an Op-Ed columnist vacuum, that Trump was the star of the show, for The New York Times since June 2011. The stunts and screeds will continue, because Trump is an attention junkie who has become accustomed to the highest doses imaginable. YOUR VIEWS Plute won’t be missed in Pendleton Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Mr. Plute now calls us village idiots. Before we were bullies. He is leaving town because he doesn’t get his way and relocates in city that has a ¿ve cent gas ta[ for infrastructure. Gee, that would be an incentive for me to move. He never fails to tell the citizens of Pendleton what a great human being he is and what prodigious and wonderful accomplishments he has done. I am sure that there are many who agree with him; however, there seem to be many who do not by the amount of signatures that have been gathered to date. He evidently doesn’t understand character. It takes a lot of character to admit defeat, or say, “I may have been wrong.” He cuts and runs. He claimed he invested $7 million. He failed to mention the grants from the city and any others he may have received. I believe that by having a recall, whether one is successful or not, it has brought a spotlight on the city council by the number of individuals who now want run for of¿ce. What has transpired is not personal, it has to do with his own self-interest under the guise of making Pendleton attractable. I personally have not seen one plan work. I have seen money thrown around but no bene¿ts. We are still stagnant. I wish him a virtuous fortune. Roesch Kishpaugh Pendleton Nothing sporting about endangered animals Living east of the Cascades, it is often easy to feel as though we are not represented in the political process. The very number of voters is destined to determine how many races are won or lost based on population base in different areas. Our congressional district is designed to represent our section of Oregon. Our elected of¿cial ² Congressman Greg Walden ² is up for re-election again and has appeared locally to support a bill that was mentioned in the news article of Tuesday’s paper. His support of this bill is one more reason to vote for his opponent. This is a form of negative voting, but he has taken a number of stands that lead me to this decision. The protection included in the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act for the importation of polar bear parts or elephant ivory in contradiction to the ban of importing ivory from elephants is deplorable. There is no reason whatsoever to kill either species and bring home body parts for mementos. This support of benign destruction by “sportsmen” in the name of “hunting” is no different than the two idiots who poached the bighorn sheep last week in the Columbia Gorge. When added to his actions against a woman’s reproductive rights, his opposition to healthcare for all Americans, his support for the illegal occupation of the Malheur Wildlife refuge, and his party line march against a Supreme Court Justice nomination all add up to a need to replace him in his position. Congressman Greg Walden does not represent me in any of his actions and I urge everyone to consider his record and think about what we e[pect an elected of¿cial to do to represent us. Armchair Books closure not due to wage hike published April 1st. Armchair Books is unfortunately closing. But not because locals prefer a cheaper- than-anybody big bo[ store, or because the ease of Amazon is pervasive. No, says the tongue-in- cheek writer. There is one simple e[planation a law Must passed and not yet in effect. That’s it Oregon’s unrealistic minimum wage law. Any previous local merchant that had to shutter their store had a similar reason. They knew such a law would one day be passed, so they closed forthwith. At the same time, the writer e[presses concern for the store’s owners and e[tends appreciation for the service they provided, their contribution to our local culture and the loss Armchair Books closure is. April 1st or not, I heartily agree. It was so subtle I almost missed it. Then I realized the letter was D.G. Reese Echo Colleen Blackwood Pendleton Be heard! Comment online at eastoregonian.com, or on our Facebook and Twitter accounts
