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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, June 8, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Disaster averted, threat remains Friday’s oil train wreck at Mosier, foreign oil. as destructive and damaging as it And in the short term, was, could have been much worse. transporting oil by rail makes it dangerous than if we used pipelines Many people could have been — although environmental and killed. health and safety dangers exist there, Many buildings — even a whole too. town — could have been burned to Oregon and Washington the ground. representatives have called for a The train could have tipped temporary moratorium on oil trains toward the river, spilling even more through the Gorge, and Tribal and oil into the Columbia. environmental groups have called It could have closed Interstate 84 for making it permanent. Clearly, for days or weeks. they hold a stronger It could have hand than they did put rail lines out There will be when a iery oil of commission for train crash in the weeks or months. long-lasting was just a Some certainly environmental Gorge hypothetical. consider Friday’s Right now, it is derailment a and economic imperative to clean disaster, no matter damage, though up the damage to the how much worse extent possible. We it could have been. thankfully no need to know why And there will lives were lost. the train crashed, and be signiicant, if additional rules long-lasting and regulations can environmental help reduce derailments. We need and economic damage, though to demand Union Paciic and other thankfully no lives were lost and no railroads invest in the safest railcars major infrastructure destroyed. But plenty more could have gone and technology, to prove that safety really is job one. We must realize wrong. The same engine, cars and that this additional expense will raise caboose that derailed and caught the price of oil, but perhaps save ire had earlier rumbled through destruction and death down the road. Boardman and Arlington and past American infrastructure is as Hermiston, as well as numerous other railtowns in Idaho and Oregon. weak now as it has ever been, due to our bifurcated political system and Carrying crude oil from the Bakken the remnants of more than 15 years region of North Dakota, many populations both large and small feel of war and divestment abroad. The Columbia Gorge is too the vibration of these rolling, highly important a place ecologically lammable loads as they course and economically, to tourists and through their city centers. That Tribes and citizens from Astoria deinitely doesn’t sound safe. to Arlington. We’ve spent billions But rail is currently the only way there to restore salmon runs, money to transport large quantities of oil that could all be undone in an across the country. Politically, it instant. Eastern Oregon, southern has become impossible to approve Idaho and the Intermountain West massive pipeline projects that move has everything to lose if rail and fossil fuels from one part of the interstate and even barge trafic was country to another. Perhaps that is a disrupted through it. long-term good, and will help keep The dangers and the threats are more muck in the ground rather than high, and we must ask ourselves if in the ozone, though at the same the risk is still worth it. time it increases our dependence on 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 Trump’s attack on judge breathtaking in its vileness The Dallas Morning News onald Trump’s presidential campaign is littered with more insults and disrespect than anyone can count. Now he’s added a racist assault on a member of the federal judiciary to his hit list. Has he no respect for anyone or institution? Trump’s latest target is U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the presiding judge over two of the three Trump University lawsuits that accuse the billionaire’s business venture of defrauding students. Last week, Trump ranted and tweeted that Curiel is “Mexican” and is biased in the court proceedings. Why? Trump claims the judge opposes his plan to build a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States and is a “hater.” No evidence exists of any of these vile accusations. But that hasn’t slowed Trump’s hair-trigger tongue. Given his status as the presumptive GOP nominee, these comments undeservedly trash the integrity of a federal judge, threaten the independence of the judiciary and reveal, once again, the smallness of the man who could become president. Judge Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrants who arrived with elementary school educations. He is as American as Trump, who is the grandson of immigrants. Suggesting that Curiel is biased because of his heritage insults any minority who has pursued the American Dream to laudable accomplishments. Curiel’s parents gave him an D opportunity at the American Dream, as did Trump’s ancestors. Are we to assume that any judge is unit to judge someone of another background? For the sake of the judicial system, the answer had better be “no.” Some Republicans who back the party’s presumptive nominee are shocked by Trump’s behavior. No less a Trump supporter than former Speaker Newt Gingrich called the comments inexcusable and labeled them among the worst mistakes of Trump’s campaign — and that’s saying something. Sadly, others, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, offered weak-kneed responses that prioritize politics over principle. On “Meet the Press,” McConnell said he disagreed with Trump’s comments but favored party unity behind Trump. In his op-ed in The Washington Post, Gonzales defended Trump’s right to question whether a judge is biased. That misses the point. Trump crossed a line when he questioned Curiel’s judgment based on his ethnicity and threatened to do something about the judge when he becomes president. Such actions are indefensible and should have been denounced without equivocation. Trump continues to pick vile ights with anybody who doesn’t look like him — women, Mexican-Americans, even the Pope. The very future of the GOP — not to mention personal reputations — are at stake each time Republican leaders tolerate his foul behavior. Trump continues to pick ights with anybody who doesn’t look like him — women, Mexican- Americans, even the Pope. OTHER VIEWS Let’s have a better culture war T he recent ight over transgender That has to be the opening assertion of a new traditionalism — that we’re bathrooms represents the not primarily physical creatures. reductio ad absurdum of the There’s a ghost in the machine. culture war. We have souls or consciousness or We argue about cultural and moral whatever you want to call it. The irst matters in the irst place because step of a new traditionalism would we care about our characters and be to put the spiritual and moral the characters of our children. We David implications of everyday life front and understand that a free society requires individuals who are capable of Brooks center. Comment If public life were truly infused handling that freedom — people who with the sense that people have souls, can be counted on to play their social we would educate young people to roles as caring parents, responsible have vocations and not just careers. We would workers and dependable neighbors. Further, we know that this sort of character comfortably tell them that sex is a fusion of loving souls and not just a physical act. We’d formation can’t be done just individually. celebrate marriage as a covenantal bond. It’s carried out in families, schools and We’d understand that communities. It depends citizenship is a covenant, on some common too, and we have a duty assumptions about to feel connected to those what’s right and wrong, who disagree with us. admired and not admired We’d see cloning — a common moral and the death penalty ecosystem. as reckless acts that So we care intensely tamper with something about the health of that mysterious. When we ecosystem and we argue talked about foreign about how to improve it. policy we’d talk not The laws just about our material commanding where interests but also about transgender people go what purpose we’ve been to the bathroom, on called to play in history. the other hand, show If we talked as if people had souls, then how the culture war has devolved into an we’d have a thick view of what is at stake in overpoliticized set of gestures designed to everyday activities. The soul can be elevated push people’s emotional hot buttons. and degraded at every second, even when These laws are in response to a problem you’re alone not hurting anybody. Each that doesn’t seem to exist. They are in thought or act etches a new line into the core response to a threat of sexual predators that piece of oneself. has no relation to the existence of transgender The awareness of that constant process of people. They are about legislating a group, not elevation and degradation adds urgency to a about what constitutes good behavior. They bunch of questions. For example, what are we are an attempt to erect crude barriers when a doing to a prisoner’s soul when we throw him little local consideration and accommodation in solitary? Can we really tolerate having so could get the job done. many people falling out of the labor force and For some reason, some defenders of unable to realize the dignity that comes with traditional values are addicted to sideshows steady work? In what ways do our phones lead that end with the whiff of intolerance. At the same time, the larger culture itself has become to attachment or isolation? When is shopping fun and when is it degrading? morally empty, and therefore marked by We’d also need a new political science. The fragmentation, distrust and powermongering. old one was based on the model that we’re The larger culture itself needs to be utility-maximizing individuals, seeking power. revived in four distinct ways: We need to That’s true, but love is the elemental desire of be more communal in an age that’s overly the spirit. People are desperately motivated to individualistic; we need to be more morally love something well, and be loved. A core task minded in an age that’s overly utilitarian; we of communities is to arouse and educate the need to be more spiritually literate in an age loves, to widen and deepen the opportunities that’s overly materialistic; and we need to be for love and to appraise people by how well more emotionally intelligent in an age that is and what they love. overly cognitive. Our culture is overpoliticized and Rather than ighting endless losing battles undermoralized. This new traditionalism over sexual identity, we need a better culture would shift the debate and involve a thicker war. We need a new traditionalism. way of seeing and talking about public life. A tradition, whether it’s Thanksgiving The debates that would follow would not be dinner, an annual family reunion or a burial ceremony, takes a physical activity and infuses divided along the conventional lines. ■ it with enchantment. There’s a warmth to our David Brooks became a New York Times traditions and rituals that is fueled by love and Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. contact with the transcendent. The larger culture itself has become morally empty; and therefore marked by fragmentation, distrust and powermongering. YOUR VIEWS Judge Temple unfairly criticized for doing her job Minimum wage increase already having an effect Your article “Judge’s mistake restarts rape trial” inaccurately portrays the role of a judge in a trial. In that case, evidence was offered by an experienced, competent prosecutor. It was objected to by the defense attorney. It involved a dificult question of law. Judge Temple made a decision based upon the law and facts presented. In this case, as in many cases, the Court of Appeals disagreed and sent the case back for a new trial. I have handled over 200 appeals to the Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. In every case someone could say the appeal was based on a “judge’s mistake.” Actually, however, most were based on a disagreement over law or evidence. Judges are called upon to make split second decisions during trial. Judge Temple did so here. Many of the very best judges are at times overruled by the Court of Appeals. That is the way our system is supposed to work. Judges don’t deserve criticism for doing their jobs. Be careful what you ask for. The big announcement by Walmart a few months ago about raising wages hits home. Asset Protection forces cut and cashiers replaced with self-checkout here in our local store. Evidently it’s cheaper to allow shoplifting and machines don’t require beneits. Is it just me or is dealing directly with a person a thing of the past? This is just the irst step as wages begin to rise. The answer? We need more subsidized housing for the unemployed such as the new Sergeant City being constructed, affectionately called Pendleton Heights. I wonder if Governor Brown would approve of the progress we’ve made since her last visit. Take a drive out and visit if you really want a look at the professional landscaping that the city is inancing. This is just the beginning. I think the city calls it progress. Has anyone been to Pizza Hut lately? W. Eugene Hallman Pendleton Rick Rohde Pendleton Editor’s note: Pendleton’s Pizza Hut franchise recently closed. 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.
