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OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, April 22, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
TiS oI the hat
NicN in the Sants
A tiS oI the hat to the PendOeton and +eSSner chaPEers oI coPPerce
for hosting candidate forums this week.
In Pendleton it’s an unwieldy ¿eld, with more contenders for the ¿ve
open seats than we’ve seen in a long while.
Eleven of the 14 people listed on the ballot
spent the lunch hour brieÀy running through
their thoughts on the city, its government and
its future.
Although the format didn’t allow for much
more than broad strokes, it put the candidates
at one table and gave a crowd of business and
community leaders the chance to hear their
pitch directly.
Because Pendleton is divided into three
wards, most ballots sent out will only have a
voice in three of the races — mayor, at-large
councilor and whichever ward they live in. But knowing a little bit about all
of the candidates is a good ¿rst step into understanding what’s in store in the
next four years.
In Morrow County, with a less crowded ¿eld, the candidates had a little
more time to speak their minds. You can look for a story on that forum in
Saturday’s paper.
Photo illustration courtesy of Women on 20s
Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill.
A tiS oI the hat to the 86 Treasury 'eSartPent for ¿nally and
rightfully planning to update the $20 bill with a praise-worthy ¿gure from
U.S. history — Harriet Tubman — to replace a president who has had more
than enough time in our monetary limelight
— Andrew Jackson.
Tubman was an abolitionist who helped
rescue slaves through the Underground
Railroad, and later worked as a Union spy
during the Civil War.
Jackson was the seventh president of
the United States and the founder of the
Democratic Party. He was a wealthy slave
owner who made a name for himself during
his military career for success against the
British, Spanish and Creek. As president
he signed the Indian Removal Act that led to the forced removal of the
Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Cherokee Nations tribes from
their home in the southeast to reservations west of the Mississippi River.
He was a man of his time, celebrated for expanding control of rich, white
men into new corners of this country. But it is now time we expand our
celebration past that demographic.
Along with changing the face on the front, the new bills to be rolled out in
the next four years will be harder to counterfeit and include tactile features
that can be more easily identi¿ed by blind people.
Our only disappointment with the change is that Jackson won’t be retired
entirely, but instead will be moved to the back of the bill.
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
Obama in Saudi Arabia,
exporter of oil and bigotry
A college senior boarded a Àight
Muslims worldwide. Its approach to
and excitedly called his family to
Islam has special legitimacy, its clerics
recount a U.N. event he had attended,
have great reach, its media spread
but, unfortunately, he was speaking
its views worldwide, and it ¿nances
Arabic. Southwest Airlines kicked him
madrassas in poor countries to sow
off the plane, in the sixth case reported
hatred.
in the United States this year in which
From Pakistan to Mali, these
a Muslim was ejected from a Àight.
Saudi-¿nanced madrassas have popped
Such Islamophobia also ¿nds
Nichilas up and cultivate religious extremism
expression in the political system, with
Kristif — and, sometimes, terrorists. A State
Department cable released through
Donald Trump calling for a temporary
Comment
WikiLeaks reported that in Pakistan
ban on Muslims entering the country
these extremist madrassas offered
(“Welcome to the USA! Now, what’s
impoverished families a $6,500 bounty for
your religion?”) and Ted Cruz suggesting
turning over a son to be indoctrinated.
special patrols of Muslim neighborhoods
To be blunt, Saudi Arabia legitimizes
(in New York City, by the nearly 1,000
Islamic extremism and
police of¿cers who are
intolerance around the
Muslim?). Some 50 percent of
world. If you want to stop
Americans support a ban and
bombings in Brussels or San
special patrols.
Bernardino, then turn off the
Such attitudes contradict
spigots of incitement from
our values and make us
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf
look like a bastion of
countries.
intolerance. But for those
“Saudi Arabia is not an
of us who denounce these
enemy of the U.S., but it is an
prejudices, it’s also important
enemy of itself,” a Kuwaiti
to acknowledge that there
once told me.
truly are dangerous strains of
A new survey ¿nds that
intolerance and extremism
young Arabs in the Middle
within the Islamic world —
East and North Africa want
and for many of these, Saudi
to modernize, with 52
Arabia is the source.
percent saying that religion plays too big a
I’m glad that President Barack Obama is
role in the Middle East. That’s true of many,
visiting Saudi Arabia, for engagement usually
many Saudis as well, and some have tried
works better than isolation. But let’s not let
to start a desperately needed conversation
diplomatic niceties keep us from pointing
about tolerance. One of them, Raif Badawi, a
to the insidious role that Saudi Arabia plays
blogger, was arrested and sentenced to 1,000
in sowing instability and, for that matter, in
lashes.
tarnishing the image of Islam worldwide.
In the past I sometimes defended Saudi
The truth is that Saudi leaders do far more to
Arabia on the basis that it was at least moving
damage Islam than Trump or Cruz can do,
in the right direction.
and we should be as ready to denounce their
But in the past few years it has been
bigotry as Trump’s.
backtracking while also starting a brutal war
Americans are abuzz about the “missing
in Yemen. Obama’s biggest mistake with
28 pages” — unsupported leads suggesting
Saudi Arabia was providing arms for that war,
that Saudi of¿cials might have had a hand
implicating America in what Human Rights
in the 9/11 attacks. But as far as I can tell,
Watch says may be war crimes.
these tips, addressed in a still-secret section
In short, as a Saudi father named
of a congressional report, were investigated
Mohammed al-Nimr says, “Saudi Arabia
and discredited; Philip Zelikow of the 9/11
is now going in the wrong direction.” He
Commission tells me the 28 pages are
should know: His brother, a prominent Shiite
“misleading”; the commission found there
was “no evidence” of the Saudi government or religious ¿gure, was executed in January, and
his son, Ali al-Nimr, has been sentenced to
senior of¿cials ¿nancing the plot.
death for participating in protests when he was
The much better reason to be concerned
a minor.
with Saudi Arabia is that it has promoted
“Americans should care, because what
extremism, hatred, misogyny and the Sunni/
happens here can affect the world,” the
Shiite divide that is now playing out in a
Middle East civil war. Saudi Arabia should be father told me, and he cautioned that Saudi
repression destabilizes the entire Middle East.
renamed the Kingdom of Backwardness.
He’s right.
It’s not just that Saudi women are barred
Bill O’Reilly has denounced me as a “chief
from driving, or that when in cars they are
discouraged from wearing seat belts for fear of apologist” for Islam, and I’ll continue to decry
what I see as Islamophobia in the West. But at
showing their contours, or that a 19-year-old
woman who was gang-raped was sentenced to the same time, let’s acknowledge that Saudi
Arabia is more than our gas station; it is also a
200 lashes (after protests, the king pardoned
wellspring of poison in the Islamic world, and
her). It’s not just that public churches are
banned, or that there is brutal repression of the its bigotry fuels our bigotry.
Ŷ
Shiite minority.
Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and
As the land where Islam began, Saudi
cherry farm in Yamhill.
Arabia has enormous inÀuence among
Saudi Arabia
legitimizes
Islamic
extremism and
intolerance
around the
world.
YOUR VIEWS
Two yes votes needed
to create new district
Just a reminder to everyone that
will be voting for the formation
of the Umatilla Fire District #1:
You will need to vote yes for the
dissolution of the old districts and
yes for the formation of the new in
order for it to pass.
If you are still undecided, check
www.hermiston¿re.com for more
information. Or you can call Chief
Scott Stanton or visit with him.
He has been having coffee hour at
different locations around town.
You can also check gohermiston.
com to ¿nd out where he will be
next.
Bruce Naugher
6tan¿eOd )ire 'eSartPent
Eoard PePEer
)airOey a SroIessionaO
and a Sroven Oeader
This letter is in reference to the
Ward 2 race for Pendleton City
Council and my support of Scott
Fairley.
I have had the opportunity
to know Scott since he was
very young. His professional
background and community
involvement provides him with the
skills and experience to advance
the interest of Pendleton in a very
positive way.
Scott has been working at
a regional level in the area of
economic development for
nine years, providing excellent
leadership for the communities
of Eastern Oregon. He is the
chair of the Pendleton Planning
Commission and member of the
Airport Commission. Scott is also
a past president of the Farmers
Market. His communication
skills and connections at the
local, state and federal level will
be very helpful to the Pendleton
community.
Please support Scott Fairley for
Ward 2.
3hiOOiS : +ouN Payor
3endOeton
9oters shouOd suSSort
goOden schooOs Eond
We urge all of our Milton-
Freewater community members to
vote yes for the upcoming school
bond. As has been stated in many
previous letters, this truly is a
“once in a lifetime” opportunity
to support our school system, our
community and all of the residents
within the school district.
I grew up in this community
and graduated from Mac-Hi in
1962, the year Milton-Freewater
was named an “All American
Community.” We were all very
proud of our community and
all that had been achieved. We
must recapture that pride in our
community and this is the golden
opportunity to do so.
A strong school system is the
core of a vibrant community. If we
don’t make this move for a new
school, and the upgrading needed
for those that are structurally
acceptable, we will be required to
make these changes in the not-too-
distant future. And the cost will
never go down; as the old Fram
Filter advertisement used to say:
“You can pay me now, or pay me
more later.”
If we do not pass this bond,
we will have to pay the full $31.5
million, or in that proximity,
before too many years pass. If
that happens, then we will all be
extremely unhappy with the taxes
we will have to pay to upgrade
our schools. We can avoid that
unpleasant experience by voting
yes now.
I was a partner at Key
Technology when we decided
to move our operations to Walla
Walla in the mid-1980s. It was
not an easy decision for us; many
factors were involved.
However, one of the continual
challenges we faced was recruiting
top technical and management
talent to Key. We had numerous
strong candidates apply, but many
turned us down because they did
not think that Milton-Freewater
was a healthy community and our
schools were sub-par. Nearly all
of those who did join Key lived in
Walla Walla. That’s history, but the
core issue is much the same as it
was 30 years ago.
No, none of us want to pay
more taxes, but this opportunity
will be one of the wisest
investments we will ever be able
to make. This bond will actually
replace the current bond that
was approved three years ago. It
will provide the impetus for our
community to become relevant
again, and will increase the value
of our community by substantial
amounts.
There is a great deal of truth
in the statement: If you aren’t
progressing and moving forward
as a community, then your
community is dying.
-iP and BarEara 6tanton
0iOton)reewater
)airOey a good addition
to 3endOeton counciO
We have known Scott Fairley
for nearly 40 years and have
watched him grow up to become an
involved and productive member
of his community, region and state.
He has acquired vast experience
in community and economic
development while working with
local and state leaders.
He is forward thinking
and believes in transparency,
mutual respect and trust in local
government and community
relations. He is positive about
our city’s future and is willing to
contribute in a proactive way.
We encourage Ward 2 voters
to elect Scott Fairley to our city
council.
-aNe and &athy &aPEier
3endOeton