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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, June 15, 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 Another tragedy to overcome It was late March when we His co-workers remembered him as ZURWHDQHGLWRULDOWLWOHG³5HVSRQVH bigoted, racist, angry and volatile. to tragedy,” about the terrible +HSK\VLFDOO\DEXVHGKLV¿UVWZLIH shooting in Brussels. We began He pledged support to ISIS and WKHSLHFHOLNHWKLV³7UDJHGLHVDUH other terrorist organizations, even coming at us too fast to keep track: those in combat with one another. Brussels. Paris. Ankara, twice. San He was clearly an awful person, Bernardino. Umpqua Community terribly confused and held in the College. Newtown. grips of a radical, Downtown hateful ideology. Our ability to On top of that, he Manhattan.” Those events feel an arsenal of forget traumatic had so long ago, don’t weapons and was they? Humanity’s well-trained in the events comes ability to overcome gun that allowed with a price. senseless tragedy him to kill 49 and traumatic scenes innocent people. of violence and Before we try to death is admirable and necessary. stuff this terrible event into the dark But our ability to forget them comes hole of memory, we should take one with a price: we can lose our focus simple fact to heart, which will make and our drive to make things better. millions of people safer. We can fall into inaction until the Muslims must make room, as next tragedy, when the pain and fear many Christians have, for a healthy returns again with a temporary fury. respect of gay rights. Perverted We will get past this one, too. and hateful religious views — no Human nature is like that. But matter the religion — cannot be used as reason to kill, threaten perhaps we should not do it so and intimidate anyone. The Pulse quickly again. This tragedy, one of the most deadly shootings in modern nightclub was targeted because of the people who congregated American history, is more vicious there, and those people are targeted and hateful and bloody than even daily in many Muslim countries those other terrible attacks. throughout the world. They are While facts are still being imprisoned, beaten and killed. uncovered, it is clear that Mateen was a radicalized person, homophobia and Islamic radicalism there is no doubt about that. And are driving forces behind the killer, his act was undoubtedly terrorism Omar Mateen. — violence with a political purpose. Mateen was a regular at the gay But it looks at this point like a hate club that he later terrorized and for crime leveled against a protected years used gay hookup apps, but he was twice married and his family has class of people that Mateen could not square with his radical views. spouted anti-gay views to the press. 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 Holding police accountable The Oregonian/OregonLive He also didn’t place the chief on administrative leave until after Ward’s ack in October 2014, Portland city comments about O’Dea’s misleading account. Even then, Hales downplayed commissioners professed their the move as a way to help clear some commitment to hold Portland RIWKH³WXUPRLODQGFRQIXVLRQ´DWWKH Police accountable for their actions. police bureau. Certainly, a criminal The commissioners at the time were investigation of a sitting police chief can discussing police reforms mandated cause that. by a settlement with the federal justice Hales’ statements show that he does department over excessive force not recognize how such special treatment allegations. But the message they sent for the police chief harms the integrity was not limited to the parameters of the of the police bureau as a whole. Putting settlement. the chief on leave is the bare minimum Portlanders, Commissioner Amanda of what we should expect from a leader, Fritz noted, should look to the council at least one who understands his loyalty as a whole, not just Mayor Charlie should be to the public, not his cronies. Hales, to ensure the police bureau acted Hales, unfortunately, is not that leader. in conformance with the values of the So far, the other city commissioners FRPPXQLW\³)RUWKH¿UVWWLPH´VKHVDLG fall into that category as well. None has ³WKHHQWLUHFRXQFLOLVUHVSRQVLEOHIRU openly questioned Hales’ decision to police accountability.” keep the matter quiet or publicly urged It’s telling, then, how dead silent she Hales to place O’Dea on administrative and the other commissioners have been leave. None has come out to say that for the last two weeks as the story of the allegations of O’Dea’s misleading Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea’s statements or that his assistant chiefs also accidental shooting of a friend during knew of the shooting without alerting a hunting trip — and Hales’ failure investigators are troubling. By staying to disclose it — has unfolded. Being ³UHVSRQVLEOH´IRUSROLFHDFFRXQWDELOLW\LW silent, no one is championing the public RUDFNQRZOHGJLQJLWVMXVWL¿HGDQJHURI seems, means waiting for someone else yet another breach of trust by the police to say or do something, no matter the and the leaders who oversee them. cost to the public’s trust. Commissioner Nick Fish told The The need for someone in leadership WRUDOO\WKHSXEOLF¶VFRQ¿GHQFHKDVEHHQ Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board that he shares the public’s concerns about obvious from the moment reporters the failure to notify the Independent revealed that O’Dea was under Police Review, which started its own investigation for a shooting. There’s the investigation after reading about the strange details of the shooting itself: shooting in news reports. He said, O’Dea, camping in Harney County however, that he is waiting for the results with six others, was drinking alcohol of the investigation before commenting. DQG¿ULQJDWJURXQGVTXLUUHOVZKHQKH Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s chief accidentally shot his friend on April 21, of staff, Tim Crail, said the commissioner The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. does not publicly comment on personnel The injury was not life-threatening. issues. Commissioner Dan Saltzman has But things got stranger after investigators arrived on the scene. O’Dea similarly not come out on the case. City commissioners don’t need to misled the deputy, suggesting that the wait for the results of an investigation victim had somehow shot himself, to assure the community that they will Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward told hold the police chief accountable if he Bernstein. O’Dea never corrected that engaged in misconduct. They aren’t account, Ward said, even though O’Dea violating anyone’s privacy by criticizing admitted to Hales four days later that he Hales’ bad decision to keep such a matter had shot his friend. And the chief never of public importance secret. They can LGHQWL¿HGKLPVHOIDVDODZHQIRUFHPHQW and should offer their support for the RI¿FHUDVWDQGDUGSUDFWLFHLQRIIGXW\ Independent Police Review division and situations where police respond. HPSKDVL]HWKHQHHGIRUDOORI¿FLDOVWR Then there’s Hales’ handling of the case. Hales chose to keep quiet about the promptly report cases. Fritz was right when she said in shooting for nearly a month. Not only October 2014 that the community did he fail to alert the public to the fact should be able to expect the city council that the police chief was under criminal to hold the police bureau accountable. investigation, but he also failed to refer Unfortunately, she and her fellow the matter to the Independent Police commissioners have too easily ducked an Review, which conducts personnel opportunity to do so. LQYHVWLJDWLRQVIRUKLJKOHYHORI¿FHUV B Orlando and Trump’s America O mar Mateen, the Florida name, Omar Saddiqui Mateen. shooter who had pledged This changes race.” Later, he said allegiance to the Islamic Trump would do this, not that he had State, just ushered Donald Trump to recommended it. the White House, Britain out of the It is, however, also dangerous European Union, Marine Le Pen to to ignore or belittle the potency of the French presidency, and the world ISIS ideology, the core role it has into a downward spiral of escalating played in recent violence from Paris violence. to California, and the link between Roger Aged 29, Mateen is the Gavrilo that ideology and the broader Cohen Princip of the early 21st century, a crisis of Islam. The favored phrase Comment young man who ripped up an old, of the Obama administration in decaying political order. Like the DGGUHVVLQJWKLVVFRXUJH²³YLROHQW 19-year-old Bosnian Serb nationalist whose extremism” — is vague to the point of evasive bullets ignited World War I, Mateen has set a meaninglessness. Yes, jihadi terrorists are VSDUNWRDWLPHRILQÀDPPDEOHDQJHU ³YLROHQWH[WUHPLVWV´EXWFDOOLQJWKHPWKDW Of course, these somber is like calling Nazism imaginings may prove to be a reaction to German no more than that. Mateen humiliation in World War I: has not yet changed the true but wholly inadequate. world; he may never. Mateen demonstrated But there is no question again just how potent the that the deadliest mass mix of ISIS and National shooting in modern U.S. 5LÀH$VVRFLDWLRQLGHRORJ\ history comes at a time is. America is the perfect of particular unease. In VHWWLQJIRU³ORQHZROI´ both the United States ISIS followers because and Europe, political and they have access to the economic frustrations have weapons they need to do produced a groundswell their worst. Despite having against the status quo and an been investigated twice in apparent readiness to make a recent years by the FBI for leap in the dark. Washington possible ties to terrorism, and Brussels have become Mateen was able to walk bywords for paralysis. into a Florida gun dealership 7UXPSDQG³%UH[LW´ UHFHQWO\DQGDFTXLUHD³ORQJ represent action — any action — to shake gun” and a pistol. This, by any reasonable things up. They are, to their supporters, the standard, is madness. comeuppance smug elites deserve. The AR-15 assault weapon used by On top of this, and feeding this, Islam Mateen was also the weapon used by the is in epochal crisis. Its Sunni and Shiite San Bernardino shooters. The former NRA branches are mired in violent confrontation. president, David Keene, once described it as Its adjustment to the modern world has proved WKH³JXQOLEHUDOVORYHWRKDWH´,WLVLQIDFWWKH faltering and agonized enough to produce a ULÀHWKDWLOOXVWUDWHVZK\OD[86JXQODZV metastasizing strain of violent anti-Western make American lives cheap. The laws are an jihadi beliefs to which Mateen — like the aberration. San Bernardino shooters — was apparently President Barack Obama described the susceptible. VKRRWLQJDV³DQDFWRIWHUURUDQGDQDFWRI That he shot revelers in a gay club suggests hate.” He made clear his disapproval of the once again that Islam and sexuality constitute existing gun laws. He called for solidarity. a particularly combustible realm. Liberal He said nothing about ISIS, or the way the Western sexual mores are the most troubling Islamic State’s hold on territory in Syria and affront to a certain strain of Islam. The Iraq reinforces the charismatic potency of its resultant confrontation incubates explosive ideological appeal, disseminated from that violence. base through the internet. It is 12 years since Theo van Gogh +HDOVRVDLGWKLV³7RDFWLYHO\GRQRWKLQJLV was murdered in Amsterdam by a Dutch- a decision as well.” Moroccan Muslim jihadi for making a movie Yes, to have actively done nothing in about the treatment of women in Islam; 6\ULDRYHUPRUHWKDQ¿YH\HDUVRIZDU²VR and now homosexuals at the Pulse club in allowing part of the country to become an Orlando, Florida, are targeted by a U.S. citizen Islamic State stronghold, contributing to a of Afghan descent who, it seems, had also massive refugee crisis in Europe, acquiescing found in Islamic extremism the ideological to slaughter and displacement on a devastating answer to his troubles. scale, undermining America’s word in the It is poisonous to blame all the world’s world, and granting open season for President 1.6 billion Muslims for this crisis of their Vladimir Putin of Russia to strut his stuff — religion. Trump’s self-congratulatory amounts to the greatest foreign policy failure reiteration of his call for a temporary ban on of the Obama administration. non-American Muslims entering the United It has made the world far more dangerous. 6WDWHVH[HPSOL¿HVKLVYLROHQFHWLQJHGSROLWLFV I hope for the best but fear the victory of the of division. Michael Oren, the former Israeli politics of anger in America and Europe. ambassador to the United States, was quoted Ŷ on Twitter hours after the massacre as saying: Roger Cohen joined The New York Times ³,I,ZHUH7UXPS,¶GHPSKDVL]HWKH0XVOLP in 1990. America is the perfect setting for “lone wolf” ISIS followers because they have access to the weapons they need to do their worst. YOUR VIEWS Playgrounds should be higher priority than apartments If I were a resident of Pendleton I would be terribly upset with the city’s plan to subsidize developer Saj Jinvanjce thousands of dollars to help him build in the Tutuilla Creek area when the city of Pendleton is closing three playgrounds because of lack of funds. Where are the priorities? 7KHKRXVLQJRQ7XWXLOODLVQRW¿OOHGDQG is advertising places for rent. There really is no housing shortage in Pendleton. Read the newspaper advertising. Aside from this, I am strongly opposed to the building of apartments, as are my neighbors, as we have stated earlier. 7UDI¿FLQWKLVDUHDKDVGRXEOHGVLQFHWKH present housing has been built and it will only get worse. On Tuesday, last week, I FKHFNHGWUDI¿FIURP7XWXLOOD&UHHN5RDGDQG it averaged a vehicle a minute at the Grecian Heights east city limits. It is my personal belief that playgrounds for children and parks for adults outrank unnecessary housing. Besides, the city ought to consider housing at the airport as people FRXOGEHQH¿WIURPXVHRI³WKHURDGWKDWJRHV QRZKHUH´DQGJDLQDWHUUL¿FYLHZZKLFK Tutuilla Creek does not have down in that congested hollow. Dorys C. Grover Pendleton 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
