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OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, May 6, 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 kick in the pants to Wheeler County oficials, who have a mess
on their hands after asking for the resignation of a county judge without
presenting any evidence of wrongdoing.
We’ve written about the issue and will continue to follow it. In case you
need a primer: Two county commissioners
asked county judge Patrick Perry to resign
during a public meeting in Fossil. Yet in
their letters and public testimony, they did
not reveal why they were asking for his
resignation. They made subtle allusions to
improprieties, but no charges were leveled.
Members of the public were confused and
asked for further explanation, yet none was
proffered.
Maybe there is a good reason why Judge
Perry should resign. It’s quite possible. But the two commissioners, county
sheriff and other county oficials did not produce any evidence supporting
their opinion that Perry should resign.
They should have stated what they are privately alleging. By not doing
so, they have done nothing but smear a man’s reputation, allow the rumor
mill to churn on, and allow small Wheeler County to be divided and kept in
the dark about a possible serious problem within their local government.
The defeat of true conservatism
W
A tip of the hat to Pendleton City Council for a couple of wise
decisions out of Tuesday’s meeting.
First off, councilors decided to not damage the city’s longstanding
relationship with Blue Mountain
Community College by rewriting a lease
agreement for the baseball ield. The city
had discussed that it may need to kick the
college out on short notice if a business
came snifing around the property.
Then the council opted to wait until a
ire bond was fully formed before pitching
it to voters. The ire department is eager to
build a new ire station with more space
and updated equipment, but when a deal
for the St. Anthony property fell through
there was no immediate clear choice for
the next best spot.
Rather than agreeing to put a measure on the ballot and then inding out
what would be included, the council decided to wait until at least November,
if not later.
It’s nice to see the horse put before the cart.
A kick in the pants to two of the three Republican candidates for
President. Or former candidates. Ted Cruz
and John Kasich dropped out in between the
time ballots arrived on the doorstep of Oregon
voters and the time when those ballots need to
be returned.
These important late changes to elections
are when the vote by mail system is at its
weakest. It’s likely that some voters registered
Republican in this election solely to vote
for or against Donald Trump. Now that vote
is of no concern, and it is much too late to
unregister as a Republican or take part in
another party’s primary.
On the Democratic side, give Bernie Sanders credit for at least staying
in this long, to allow Oregon voters to have one say in a national race. It’s
almost assured that Oregon Democrats will reward him a signiicant number
of the state’s delegates.
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.
hen Donald Trump knocked
didn’t want True Conservatism any
irst Jeb Bush and then Marco
more than they wanted Bushism
Rubio out of the Republican
2.0. Maybe they would have wanted
primary campaign, he defeated not
it from a candidate with more
only the candidates themselves but
charisma and charm and less dogged
their common theory of what the GOP
unlikability. But the entire Trump
should be — the idea that the party
phenomenon suggests otherwise, and
could essentially re-create George W.
Trump as the presumptive nominee is
basically a long proof against the True
Bush’s political program with slightly
Ross
different domestic policy ideas and
Douthat Conservative theory of the Republican
Party.
re-create Bush’s political majority as
Comment
Trump proved that movement
well.
conservative ideas and litmus tests
Now, after knocking Ted Cruz
don’t really have any purchase on millions of
out of the race with a sweeping win in
Republican voters. Again and again, Cruz and
Indiana, Trump has beaten a second theory
the other GOP candidates stressed that Trump
of where the GOP needs to go from here: a
wasn’t really a conservative;
theory you might call True
they listed his heresies,
Conservatism.
cataloged his deviations,
True Conservatism likes
dug up his barely buried
to portray itself as part of an
liberal past. No doubt this
unbroken tradition running
case resonated with many
back through Ronald
Republicans. But not with
Reagan to Barry Goldwater
nearly enough of them to
and the Founding Fathers.
make Cruz the nominee.
It has roots in that past, but
Trump proved that
it’s also a much more recent
many evangelical voters,
phenomenon, conceived in
supposedly the heart of a
the same spirit as Bushism
True Conservative coalition,
2.0 but with the opposite
are actually not really
intent.
If Bushism 2.0 looked at George W. Bush’s values voters or religious conservatives after
all, and that the less frequently evangelicals
peaks — his post-Sept. 11 popularity, his
go to church, the more likely they are to
2004 majority — and saw a model worth
vote for a philandering sybarite instead of a
recovering, True Conservatism looked at his
pastor’s son. Cruz would probably be on his
administration’s collapse and argued that it
proved that he had been far too liberal and that way to the Republican nomination if he had
simply carried the Deep South. But unless
all his “compassionate conservative” heresies
voters were in church every Sunday, Trump’s
had led the Republican Party into a ditch.
identity politics had more appeal than Cruz’s
Thus True Conservatism’s determination
theological-political correctness.
to avoid both anything that savored of big
Trump proved that many of the party’s
government and anything that smacked
moderates and establishmentarians hate the
of compromise. Where Bush had been
thought of a True Conservative nominee even
softhearted, True Conservatism would be
more than they fear handing the nomination
sternly Ayn Randian; where Bush had been
to a proto-fascist grotesque with zero political
free-spending, True Conservatism would
experience and poor impulse control. That
be austere; where Bush had taken working-
goes for the prominent politicians who refused
class Americans off the tax rolls, True
to endorse Cruz, the prominent donors who sat
Conservatism would put them back on — for
on their hands once the ield narrowed and all
their own good. And above all, where Bush
the moderate-Republican voters in blue states
had sometimes reached for the center, True
who turned out to be #NeverCruz irst and
Conservatism would stand on principle, ight
#NeverTrump less so or even not at all.
hard, and win.
Finally, Trump proved that many
This philosophy found champions on
professional True Conservatives, many of
talk radio, it shaped the Tea Party’s zeal, it
inluenced Paul Ryan’s budgets, it infused Mitt the same people who layed RINOs and
Romney’s “You built that” rhetoric. But it was demanded purity throughout the Obama
only in the government shutdown of 2013 that era, were actually just playing a convenient
part. From Fox News’ 10 p.m. hour to talk
it found its real standard-bearer: Ted Cruz.
radio to the ranks of lesser pundits, a long
And Cruz ended up running with it further
list of people who should have been all-in
than most people thought possible. His 2016
for Cruz on ideological grounds either lirted
campaign strategy was simple: Wherever the
with Trump, affected neutrality or threw
party’s most ideological voters were, there he
down their cloaks for the Donald to stomp
would be. If Obama was for it, he would be
against it. Where conservatives were angry, he over the nomination. Cruz thought he would
would channel their anger. Where they wanted have a movement behind him, but part of
that movement was actually a racket, and
a ighter; he would be a ighter. Wherever the
Trumpistas were simply better marks.
party’s activists were gathered, on whatever
Cruz will be back, no doubt. He’s young,
issue — social or economic, immigration
he’s indefatigable, and he can claim — and
or the lat tax — he would be standing by
will claim, on the 2020 hustings — that True
their side. He would win Iowa, the South,
Conservatism has as yet been left untried. But
his native Texas, the Mountain West. They
wanted Reagan, or at least a fantasy version of that will be a half-truth; it isn’t being tried this
year because the Republican Party’s voters
Reagan? He would give it to them.
have rejected him and it, as they rejected
It didn’t work — but the truth is it almost
did. In the days before and after the Wisconsin another tour for Bushism when they declined
to back Rubio and Jeb.
primary, with delegate accumulation going
What remains, then, is Trumpism. Which
his way and the polling looking plausible
is also, in its lurching, sometimes insightful,
once the Northeastern primaries were over, it
often wicked way, a theory of what kind of
seemed like Cruz could reasonably hope for a
party the Republicans should become, and
nomination on the second or third ballot.
one that a plurality of Republicans have now
So give the Texas senator some credit. He
actually voted to embrace.
took evangelical votes from Mike Huckabee,
Whatever reckoning awaits the GOP and
Ben Carson and Rick Santorum; he took
libertarian votes from Rand Paul; he outlasted conservatism after 2016 will have to begin
with that brute fact. Where the reckoning goes
and outplayed Marco Rubio; he earned
from there — well, now is a time for pundit
support from Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and
humility, so your guess is probably as good as
Lindsey Graham, who once joked about his
mine.
murder. Nobody worked harder; no campaign
■
ran a tighter ship; no candidate was more
Ross Douthat joined The New York
disciplined.
Times as an Op-Ed columnist in April 2009.
But it turned out that Republican voters
Trump proved
that many True
Conservatives
were just
playing a
convenient part.
YOUR VIEWS
Bailor for county
commissioner
Please join me in supporting
Tom Bailor for county
commissioner. Tom is a small
business operator who has also
worked with CTUIR in cultural
resources management, renewable
energy, and toxic and nuclear waste
cleanup.
He holds a graduate degree
from Gonzaga in organizational
leadership, and in his roles as
manager, program developer and
teacher he has worked with a wide
cross-section of people, helping to
build community.
Tom is excited about the ways
technology — unmanned aircraft
and precision agriculture, as well
as discoveries yet to come — will
shape our future, and he wants to
help Umatilla County plan for that
future. In this time of accelerated
change, having a voice from
Tom’s generation on the Board
of Commissioners will be more
important than ever.
Bette Husted
Pendleton
Elfering is honest,
sincere, hardworking
I have known Bill Elfering
for almost 50 years and over the
decades I have always appreciated
his genuine interest in serving his
community.
I have found him to be an
honest, sincere and hardworking
member of our community.
Over the last year I have had the
privilege of working closely with
Bill on several community projects
and have been impressed with
his strong desire and leadership
in developing new and creative
programs and services to assist our
business community.
In my opinion, the Umatilla
County Development Ofice
under the direction of County
Commissioner Bill Elfering
has irmly positioned itself to
be a major player for economic
development in our region.
I am extremely pleased to
endorse Bill Elfering for re-election
as Umatilla County commissioner.
Fred Bradbury
Pendleton
Cimmiyoti for
Pendleton council
I am writing to urge
consideration of Cody Cimmiyotti
for Pendleton City Council. I have
known Cody for four years, he is
hard working and dedicated. Cody
has been a resident of Pendleton
all his life, and became a home
owner at 23. He is committed to
our community and wants to be
instrumental in Pendleton’s growth
and development
It is always good to see a
candidate that wants to approach
issues and concerns with an open
mind.
My address is not within
Cody’s district so I am not able to
vote for him at the ballot box. He
does, however, have my vote of
conidence as an excellent choice
to serve on city council.
Jane Neal
Pendleton