Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, April 15, 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 Altrusa’s challenging Hermiston water challenge, where residents are challenged to drink only tap water for two weeks and donate the money they save to help build a well in Africa. Did we mention it’s challenging? The goal is to drink nothing but fresh-out- of-the-tap water as a way to realize what a remarkable luxury that water is. And it’s also a way to remember how much we take that clean, fresh H2O for granted by substituting unnecessary bottled beverages (sometimes even water from someone else’s tap). That means skipping that morning stop at Starbucks for a cuppa joe. And that frosty after-work six pack on your way to a barbecue. Even the glass of iced tea that goes great with lunch. It’s a VDFUL¿FHQRGRXEW The goal is to keep that money you would have spent on those liquids, and donate it to a good cause at the end of the fortnight. If you’re not sure you can do it, we encourage you to swing by McKenzie Park from between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday for the kickoff event where you can learn more. Or if you want to pony up some dough without the pain, \RXFDQPDNHGRQDWLRQVDWWKHZDWHUSURMHFWRUJDQG¿QG$OWUXVD¶V+HUPLVWRQ project. Wouldn’t it be great to see Hermiston raise the $5,000 needed to bring clean water to a village in Africa? A kick in the pants to the Pendleton City Council, which is discussing ways to restrict who can talk with the public. Although it was not agreed upon at a recent meeting, councilors debated updating language in the city’s communications plan, which would prohibit councilors and city employees from responding to public criticism, in a letter to the editor for instance, without prior approval from the council. “I don’t understand how any company can just allow the media, a citizen, whatever, to pick up the phone, call a manager and say µ7HOOPHDERXWWKLV¶´DUJXHGFLW\FRXQFLORU Tom Young, who is clearly not interested in city government being helpful to the public. The council is considering hiring a IXOOWLPHSXEOLFLQIRUPDWLRQRI¿FHUIRUWKH cash-strapped city. Other local governments don’t have this kind of position. In fact, Umatilla County has recently moved the opposite direction, empowering their department heads to speak to the press and the public and removing a long-entrenched information bottleneck. It has helped improve customer service, morale of management, and has allowed good information to faster reach the media and the general populace. Certainly, the city of Pendleton has every right to promote its good work. And it has every right to respond to criticism, both called for and unconscionable. But we’re not sure a public relations professional is required to do so. There are plenty of smart, insightful communicators on city staff right now. At the very least, we hope the council holds off on adding a PR position until new councilors are elected in May and take their seats next year. +DYLQJVRPHÀH[LELOLW\LQWKHEXGJHWZLOOEHLPSRUWDQWIRUWKHQHZO\HOHFWHG to be able to make some of the changes they hope to institute. And when they make those changes, and deal with the assured pushback, WKH\VKRXOGEHDEOHWRUHVSRQGZLWKRXWKDYLQJWRDVNIRUSHUPLVVLRQ¿UVW 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 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. OTHER VIEWS The death of liberalism L iberalism is dead. Or at least it and martyrdom and heroic feats.” is on the ropes. Triumphant a No, but as the framers of the U.S. quarter-century ago, when liberal Constitution knew, machinery of such democracy appeared to have prevailed liberal inspiration is the best hope to GH¿QLWLYHO\RYHUWKHWRWDOLWDULDQXWRSLDV afford citizens a lasting defense against that exacted such a toll in blood, it is tyranny. now under siege from without and Liberty, however, requires certain within. things. Liberalism demands acceptance Nationalism and authoritarianism, of our human differences and the ability Roger reinforced by technology, have come to mediate them through democratic Cohen together to exercise new forms of institutions. It demands acceptance of Comment control and manipulation over human multiple, perhaps incompatible truths. beings whose susceptibility to greed, In an age of declamation and shouting, prejudice, ignorance, domination, subservience RISRODUL]DWLRQDQGYLOL¿FDWLRQRISROLWLFVIRU and fear was not, after all, swept away by the sale and the insidious submersion of politics in fall of the Berlin Wall. fact-lite entertainment, the emergence of Trump As communism fell, and closed societies is as unsurprising as it is menacing. were forced open, and an age of rapid No wonder Putin admires him. Russian globalization dawned, and the United States authoritarianism is all about the muscular earned the moniker of “hyper-power,” it seemed trappings of power and popular adulation reasonable to believe, as Francis Fukuyama cultivated through fawning media for a czar-like argued in 1989, that, “The triumph of the West, ¿JXUH%HUOLQQRWHGWKHUHZDV³VRPHWUXWK´WR RIWKH:HVWHUQLGHDLVHYLGHQW¿UVWRIDOOLQWKH conservative writer Joseph de Maistre’s view total exhaustion of viable systematic that “the desire to immolate oneself, alternatives to Western liberalism.” to suffer, to prostrate oneself before Therefore, per Fukuyama, the end authority, indeed before superior point of history had been reached power, no matter whence it comes, with “the universalization of Western and the desire to dominate, to exert OLEHUDOGHPRFUDF\DVWKH¿QDOIRUPRI authority, to pursue power for its own human government.” sake” are forces that are “historically This was a rational argument. It at least as strong as desire for peace, made sense. Hundreds of millions prosperity, liberty, justice, happiness, of people enslaved within the Soviet equality.” imperium had just been freed. They And so history does not end. It knew — everyone knew — which eddies back and forth. system worked better. The problem is that The broad failure of the Arab Awakening the hold of reason in human affairs is always — the greatest liberation movement since tenuous. 1989, an attempt by Arab peoples to empower Looking back at human history, the themselves — had many causes, but a central liberal democratic experiment — with its one was the absence of any liberal constituency Enlightenment-derived belief in the capacity in societies from Egypt to Libya. Even a of individuals possessed of certain inalienable country with a large middle class like Egypt rights to shape their destinies in liberty through was not ready to accept the mediation of the exercise of their will — is but a brief multiple truths through democratic institutions. interlude. Far more lasting have been the So power went back to the generals, and the eras of infallible sovereignty, absolute power Islamists — even the moderates among them derived from God, domination and serfdom, — were condemned to prison or worse. and subjection to what Isaiah Berlin called “the In Russia, and now in countries from forces of anti-rational mystical bigotry.” Hungary to Poland, and in China, forms of Such anti-rational forces are everywhere authoritarianism are ascendant and liberalism these days — in Donald Trump’s America, in (or even modest liberalization) are in retreat. In Marine Le Pen’s France, in Vladimir Putin’s the Middle East, the Islamic State casts its long, Russia, throughout much of the Middle East, in digitized shadow. In Western societies beset North Korea. Representative government under by growing inequality (neo-liberal economics the rule of law has proved to be insipid fare for has also sapped the credentials of liberalism), DQDJHWKDWWUDI¿FVLQKHDG\LPDJHVRISRZHU political discourse, debate on college campuses and violence through solipsistic social media DQGUDQWLQJRQVRFLDOPHGLDDOOUHÀHFWD and online games. new impatience with multiple truths, a new %HUOLQZHOOEHIRUH)XNX\DPDLGHQWL¿HG intolerance and unwillingness to make the a potential weakness of liberalism. In “The compromises that permit liberal democracy to Crooked Timber of Humanity,” he wrote: “A work. liberal sermon which recommends machinery The threat for liberal Western societies is designed to prevent people from doing each within and without. Liberalism may be feeble other too much harm, giving each human group as a battle cry, but nothing is more important for VXI¿FLHQWURRPWRUHDOL]HLWVRZQLGLRV\QFUDWLF human dignity and decency. unique particular ends without too much Ŷ interference with the ends of others, is not a Roger Cohen joined The New York Times in SDVVLRQDWHEDWWOHFU\WRLQVSLUHPHQWRVDFUL¿FH 1990. No wonder Putin admires Trump. YOUR VIEWS Socialist supporters misinformed Think you want a socialist society where everybody is equal, and there is social justice for all? Think again! You have no idea what that means until you have lived in a true socialist country, and I mean spend time living like the locals, not in some tourist resort. <RX¶OO¿QGWKDWWKHZDLWUHVV and the doctor both make the same wage, the doctor might have a nicer apartment, but neither of them cares whether they go to work or not, although the waitress probably has more incentive as she may get some tips. The only thing you’ll ¿QGWKULYLQJLVWKHEODFNPDUNHW and voicing an opinion that could be construed as against the ruling party, or collective, would not be tolerated. Socialist/communist rhetoric has been with us for years, only today it’s called by the euphemism of “Progressive” or “Social Democrat.” History tells us that Lenin coined the term “Social Democrat” so that people would not be scared by the term communist. Candidates from both sides of the aisle are promising free schooling, free health care, free housing, etc. As wonderful as that sounds, in the end your freedom is replaced by your ever-vigilant commitment to the collective. This country was founded on very sound principles, and has thrived under them. Our progressives rely heavily on emotion to advance their cause, because emotion overrides reason leading us into a delusional path to a utopia that doesn’t exit. We need to get back to basics, and the Constitution, clean up all the corruption in government and let the people get back to running their own lives. Robert Moore Pendleton Cimiyotti should be supported for council When I read in the East Oregonian that Cody Cimmiyotti was a candidate for a position on the Pendleton City Council, I knew ,ZDQWHGWRFRQ¿UPKLVFDQGLGDF\ to those that do not know him personally. Cody works for Seaport Airlines as a customer service agent and has a part-time job at Red Lion as a server/bartender. He is a very reliable worker and has already, at an early age, been able to purchase his own home. He is very appreciative of the opportunities Pendleton offers its residents, young and old, and is ready to give back by being on the city council. He will give thoughtful and unbiased study to each issue, ready to share SRVLWLYHVROXWLRQVWKDWEHQH¿WWKH community. I urge you to consider voting for Cody Cimmiyotti in May. Pat Edmundson Heppner Whitman College will soon become PCU :KLWPDQ&ROOHJHRI¿FLDOVKDYH dropped Missionary, the cause and vocation of their namesake Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. The campus newspaper, The Pioneer, will change its name ³EHFDXVHLWUHÀHFWVWKHµUDFLVP¶ of settlers who warred with local tribes and took their ancestral lands.” The mascot working group study report found the Missionary name to be “divisive and doesn’t represent Whitman’s commitment to inclusion.” I suggest Whitman College RI¿FLDOVGURSWKHQDPHRI the Whitman, the Protestant missionaries they are so ashamed of. Since the purpose of modern higher education is “inclusion” instead of historical integrity and truth, I suggest Politically Correct University. The pioneer settlers that Whitman College now deems “racist” won the West. These courageous pioneers took no land that belonged to the Indians. 7KH,QGLDQVRIWKH3DFL¿F Northwest were semi-nomadic and proclaimed no ownership of land only the “Creator” could own. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman VDFUL¿FHGDOOWKH\KDGIRUWKH Indians, including their lives, to VHFXUHWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVWWRWKH American Republic. Does Whitman College no longer teach history? Does Whitman College have any history classes that teach the “Treaty of Joint Occupancy” between Great Britain and the United States? Had the Whitmans and the pioneers that Whitman brought to “Old Oregon” QRWRFFXSLHGWKHJUHDW3DFL¿F Northwest our precious land would belong to Great Britain, not the American Republic. Stuart Dick Irrigon Primmer a capable addition to city council Although I do not live in Pendleton and cannot vote for him, I am writing to express my support for Dale Primmer in his run for election to the Pendleton City Council. I have come to know Dale very well in the past three years in my Umatilla County government work. In fact, I am the county commissioner with oversight responsibility for the Community Justice Department for which Dale so capably serves as departmental manager. So, I know his TXDOL¿FDWLRQVYHU\ZHOO Dale is a pleasant, well-educated man who takes his responsibilities very seriously. Sometimes, in his position, directives arrive that are not always clear for intent and purpose. He pursues them until he is clear on their value and intent then charts the best possible course to effectively apply them to his department. He is not afraid to ask questions and confront issues. His reasoning ability is excellent and he is effective in his actions. Working with offenders in his Community Justice function, KHLVQRVWUDQJHUWRFRQÀLFWDQG confrontation. He handles both very well and has always been able to resolve such situations to a fruitful outcome in a professional manner. Dale Primmer will be a very capable addition to the Pendleton City Council. Bill Elfering Hermiston
