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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Thursday, May 12, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Transgender rules are controversial — for now Last week the Oregon Department departments throughout the country, although many are currently of Education released 15 pages of compiling them as state legislatures guidelines regarding transgender debate their own transgender rules. students. Transgender rights are the Among the recommendations: issue du jour, and any rules Oregon students should be able and regulations are bound to be to use the names, pronouns and controversial. bathrooms they Clearly legislators want. In addition, transgender females If you think it is are much more in political should be allowed to dificult to come interested points and creating play girls sports and those controversies transgender boys to terms with — and installing allowed to wear transgender sexual organ tuxedos to prom. at the door In general, students youth, try being detectives of every bathroom, should be able to present themselves a transgender apparently — than solving real as the gender of youth. problems. their choosing. And there are “A student who plenty of things to says she is a girl discuss regarding transgender issues, and wishes to be regarded that way throughout the school day should be including high suicide rates, high unemployment rates, high sexual respected and treated like any other assault rates and more. Actual girl,” reads the document. “So too with a student who says he is a boy.” problems. If you think it is dificult to come to terms with transgender The guidelines were requested youth, try being a transgender youth. months ago after controversy at Clearly, bringing those Dallas High School, where the Oregonians out of the shadows will principal let a transgender male use take some getting used to. As will the boys locker room. There was an students stating their gender instead uproar from parents who demanded of having it stated for them. the student be banned from the But schools are best suited to changing room. These guidelines creating an understanding and will not soothe the controversy, at supportive environment and least while transgender students are introducing our youth to people who regarded with suspicion and fear. are different than them. Or perhaps The explicit guidelines are not so different after all. relatively rare among education 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 Environmentalist suit smacks of sour grapes The (Medford) Mail Tribune n environmental group that iled ethics complaints against State Rep. Sal Esquivel and two other lawmakers over statements they made about a wolf delisting bill is howling up the wrong tree. Esquivel, R-Medford, along with Reps. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, and Greg Barreto, R-Cove, were advocating for House Bill 4040, which afirmed the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission’s decision to delist the gray wolf from Oregon Endangered Species Act protection. The bill passed the House, then the Senate, and Gov. Kate Brown signed it into law. Cascadia Wildlands iled a complaint against the three lawmakers alleging they violated rules that prohibit legislators from making false statements about legislation. The group says the three claimed the bill would not preclude a court challenge of the delisting decision. In fact, the group maintains, a Legislative Counsel review of the bill after it passed the House found it did preclude court challenges, and the state Appeals Court cited the bill when it dismissed the group’s lawsuit last month. Esquivel says he was going on what he knew of the bill at the time, and did A not intentionally mislead anyone. A reading of the bill in its various incarnations as it made its way through the Legislature is confusing to say the least. As originally introduced, the bill appeared to clearly say anyone could petition the Wildlife Commission to change the status of a species, and to ile a court challenge if the commission failed to act as requested. The amended version that eventually passed the House replaced that language, but the inal version doesn’t explicitly forbid court review, either. In any case, many things are said about many bills, by many people, in the heat of a legislative session. We don’t disagree that legislators should do their homework and know what they’re talking about, but over the course of a session, some of those statements are bound to be less than precisely accurate. This complaint smacks of sour grapes. The environmental group came out on the losing end of legislation and irst got mad, and now is trying to get even. This threat to the legislative process may or may not lead to an ethics violation, but if interest groups can ile complaints over every alleged misstatement, it likely will lead to limiting debate and discussion, effectively closing off the public even more from the state’s decision-makers. If interest groups can ile complaints over every alleged misstatement, it will likely lead to limiting debate and discussion. 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. Be heard! Comment online at eastoregonian.com OTHER VIEWS What does Paul Ryan want from Donald Trump? S peaker Paul Ryan, the Republican to set aside belittlement and appeal to Party’s highest-ranking oficial, higher aspirations, appeal to what is stunned the political world good in us and to lead a country and Thursday when he announced he a party to having a vast majority of Americans enthusiastic about choosing does not now support his party’s a path.” presumptive presidential nominee, Concern over divisions along Donald Trump, and might not ever do cultural or racial lines was also likely so. behind Ryan’s assertion that the GOP “I hope to support our nominee,” Byron is “the party of Lincoln, of Reagan, Ryan told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I’m York of Jack Kemp.” Yes, Ryan’s inclusion just not ready to do that at this point. Comment of Kemp, a man of far smaller I’m not there right now.” stature than Lincoln and Reagan, The interview left one basic had something to do with the fact that Kemp question unanswered: What does Ryan want? Put another way, what could Trump do to help was Ryan’s mentor. But Ryan also included Kemp, the famously self-styled “bleeding- Ryan get there? heart conservative,” to project an image of The short answer is that Trump must unify Republican inclusiveness, an ideal to which the Republican Party. Ryan used the words GOP leaders, including Trump, should aspire. “unify” or “uniied” a total of 27 times in the So in the end, it appears interview; it’s clearly a hugely Ryan’s message to Trump important thing to him. But was: We don’t have to agree what, precisely, that means is on entitlements or trade, but not clear. you’ve got to tone it down on Gleaned from a long matters of race and culture if conversation with someone you want my support. familiar with Ryan’s thinking, Ryan was as surprised this is how Ryan approaches as anyone else by the speed the situation: with which the Republican Ryan and Trump obviously have huge policy differences: on entitlements, presidential contest came to an end Tuesday night. Ryan thought the battle between Trump trade, immigration, and much more. They’re and Ted Cruz would stretch all the way to the important; entitlement reform, in particular, is a goal to which Ryan has devoted much of his California primary on June 7 and perhaps to a contested Republican convention in July. career in the House. But as important as they So the speaker didn’t have a plan for what are, Ryan doesn’t expect Trump to convert to to say when the race abruptly stopped. He Ryanism. didn’t have a long time to think things through “I’m not saying he’s got to support my policies,” Ryan told Tapper. “You always have before the CNN interview. Ryan’s stand carries signiicant risk. With policy disagreements. Heck, Mitt Romney no competition, Trump is going to win more and I had policy disagreements. So that’s just primaries, and pile up more votes, by the time natural, and it’s too much to ask someone to of the convention. If Ryan changes course change their policy views that they were duly and supports Trump without some truly elected on, on some policy dispute.” Ryan suggested he’s looking for something meaningful concession from the nominee, Ryan will look weak. If he opposes Trump, bigger from Trump. He referred to the GOP’s he’ll anger a lot of people in his own party. “principles” 16 times: “I think conservatives At the moment, Trump does not appear want to know, does (Trump) share our values inclined to accommodate Ryan. Shortly after and our principles on limited government, the the CNN interview aired, Trump released a proper role of the executive, adherence to the statement saying, “I am not ready to support Constitution,” Ryan said. Speaker Ryan’s agenda. Perhaps in the I asked the person familiar with Ryan’s future we can work together and come to an thinking what that meant. If speciic policy agreement about what is best for the American differences — entitlements, trade, etc. — are people. They have been treated so badly for so not violations of principle, then what was long that it is about time for politicians to put Ryan talking about? them irst!” The person pointed to the times Ryan has In addition, in some cases, Trump has a felt the need to publicly rebuke Trump in majority of Republican voters on his side. the last several months. There was Trump’s For example, exit polls from GOP primaries temporary Muslim ban proposal; his refusal have shown strong support for temporarily in one interview to disavow David Duke and banning Muslims who are not U.S. citizens the Ku Klux Klan; and Trump’s acceptance, from entering the U.S. In Pennsylvania, 69 or even encouragement, of violence at his percent of GOP primary voters supported the campaign rallies. Those were the things that disturbed Ryan enough for him to speak out at proposal. In New York, 68 percent supported it. In Florida, the number was 64 percent. the time, and those are the things that trouble In Georgia, 68 percent. In Ohio, 65 percent. Ryan enough to withhold support of Trump. Michigan, 63 percent. Texas, 67 percent. And “We’re talking about identity politics in Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin, 69 percent — that’s what he was referencing,” said the person familiar with Ryan’s thinking. “Identity supported it. That’s about 2/3 support among Republican politics is what Paul was getting at. He spoke out against the Muslim ban, against allowing a primary voters across the country for a proposal Ryan called “not what this party culture of violence at some of these campaign stands for, and more importantly ... not what events, against the Duke comments. He’s this country stands for.” If Ryan were to just saying our party deserves a leader who is committed to unifying, not dividing, our party urge Trump to back down from the proposal, and our country. We’ve always said we would Trump’s response might be: I won, and this guy is making demands? disagree on policy.” ■ “It’s time to go to from tapping anger to Byron York is chief political correspondent channeling that anger into solutions,” Ryan for The Washington Examiner. said on CNN. “It’s time to set aside bullying, Ryan is looking for something bigger from Trump.