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OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Stevens’ family tired
of Benghazi witch hunt
It isn’t often that a remote
the attack on them was underway.
Paciic Northwest coast newspaper
Democrats on the committee labeled
igures in national affairs in even
the entire enterprise a witch hunt.
the smallest way, but Washington,
Anne Stevens, sister of
D.C.’s attention briely lickered
Ambassador Stevens and chief of
toward Paciic County, Washington, pediatric rheumatology at Seattle
in the aftermath of U.S. Ambassador Children’s Hospital, cuts through
Chris Stevens’ 2012 murder by thugs all the political gibberish in an
in Benghazi, Libya.
interview in the June
Not only did
issue of The New
It would be much 28
the U.S. State
Yorker.
more useful for
Department reach out
Some high points:
to provide a statement Congress to focus on
• The Benghazi
of condolence to
compound wasn’t
providing resources well enough
the Chinook Indian
Nation via the
for security for all protected, but
Chinook Observer,
Congress itself
State Department underfunded State
but CBS News came
around to see whether facilities around the Department security.
there was any vaguely
• The latest
world.
interesting local
investigation turned
information to report
up nothing new. It
about the ambassador, a member of
and earlier efforts were blatantly
the tribe.
political.
The State Department’s outreach
• Clinton took full responsibility
was an unanticipated but thoughtful
and established a better security
gesture, while national media
program. However, danger is an
interest was the sort of due-diligence inherent part of being a diplomat in
one would hope for from Edward R. a tumultuous region. Chris Stevens
Murrow’s organization. Unexpected and his family knew the risks and
and unwelcome were efforts by
were willing to accept them.
some in Congress to use Chris
• “It would be much more useful
Stevens’ tragic death as a weapon
for Congress to focus on providing
to undermine the political career
resources for security for all State
of then-Secretary of State Hillary
Department facilities around the
Clinton.
world — for increasing personnel,
The Stevens family has shown
language capabilities, for increasing
remarkable patience and restraint
staff to build relationships,
as one investigation after another
particularly in North Africa and the
tried to pin blame on Clinton and/
Middle East.”
or the Obama administration in
Perhaps best of all in his
general. Most recently, late last
sister’s remarks, it is refreshing
month Republicans who lead
to be reminded of how bright and
the House Select Committee on
outward-looking Chris Stevens
Benghazi issued an 800-page, $7
was. His openness to the world,
million report. It lambasted the State his courage, intelligence and sense
Department, the Pentagon and the
of adventure all were exemplary.
CIA for failing to adequately protect His Chinook ancestors would be
the slain diplomats and respond once exceptionally proud.
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.
Be heard!
Comment online at eastoregonian.com
OTHER VIEWS
Choosing leaders:
clueless or crazy
T
hese days, if you want to elect a
campaign to become prime minister —
leader, you generally have two
an astounding feat of snatching defeat
choices: a sensible, establishment
from the jaws of victory that must make
igure who is completely out of
some of history’s all-time choke artists
touch, or a populist outsider who is
gape and applaud.
incompetent, crazy or both.
Gove, on the other hand, is earnestly
That was the choice British Labour
sincere, with a manner that would get
Party members faced in 2015, when
him kicked off many math teams for
they were picking a new leader.
being too nerdy. Two years earlier,
David
They went with the incompetent,
Brooks Gove had expressed disdain for
inexperienced outsider, Jeremy Corbyn.
Johnson, reportedly telling a crowd
Comment
He recently lost a no-conidence vote
after a long dinner: “Boris is incapable
among members of Parliament in his
of focusing on serious issues and has
own party, 172-40.
no gravitas. He isn’t a team player and plays
That was the choice Republican voters in the to the gallery the whole time.” But during the
states faced throughout the primaries. Passing
Brexit campaign, Gove was Johnson’s deputy
up the out-of-touch insiders, they went for an
and seemed destined to be his No. 2 in the
overlowing soufle of crazy incompetence in
government.
the form of Donald Trump.
But sometime in the days after the victory
And this is certainly the choice that confronts he decided that Johnson was wobbly and that
members of the British Conservative Party.
he himself should really be No. 1. Gove’s
Calm cluelessness comes to them
doubts were fortiied by an
in the form of David Cameron. He
email from his wife, the Daily
Something
was a good prime minister, but he
Mail columnist Sarah Vine.
called for a “Brexit” referendum
fundamental is She reminded her husband that
for short-term political gain,
party members were skeptical
shifting in our of Johnson but found him
blithely unaware of what was
happening in his own nation.
“Do not concede any
politics. The reassuring.
Crazy incompetence comes
ground. Be your stubborn best,”
insiders can’t she wrote to him.
in the forms of the two leading
pro-Brexit campaigners, Boris
How an email from a wife to a
see it. Outsiders husband
Johnson and Michael Gove.
got leaked to the press is
Johnson is a witty, rakish
a
question
for another day.
get thrown up
showman who always puts
Gove shockingly announced
amid the tumult, that rather than support Johnson,
himself at the center of attention
and is willing to put up with a
would run against him. This
but they are he
lot of scandal and disapproval in
may have been an act of principle,
order to stay there.
too marginal, but it left the impression, as
It’s not clear Johnson was
Tory party leader told
eccentric and one
really in favor of Britain leaving
The Telegraph, that Gove is a
the European Union, but leading inexperienced to “Machiavellian psychopath” who
a campaign for it seemed to be
had planned to stab his friend in
the quickest way to make himself lead effectively. the back “from the beginning.”
prime minister. When his side of
In any case, they are both now
the referendum surprisingly won, he emerged
thoroughly in disgrace, Johnson out of the race
ashen-faced, like a boy who’d had fun playing
and Gove languishing.
with matches but accidentally blew up his own
The big historical context is this: Something
house.
fundamental is shifting in our politics. The
His irst response apparently was denial.
insiders can’t see it. Outsiders get thrown up
He had no post-referendum plan and canceled
amid the tumult, but they are too marginal,
a meeting with MPs 15 minutes before it
eccentric and inexperienced to lead effectively.
was due to start, but, according to British
Without much enthusiasm, many voters
newspapers, did manage to spend a day playing seem to be locking to tough, no-nonsense
cricket with his friend Earl Spencer at Althorp
women who at least seem sensible: Angela
House, Princess Diana’s ancestral estate. The
Merkel, Hillary Clinton and, now, the
next day he hosted a barbecue at his house
Conservative Party front-runner, Theresa May.
in Oxfordshire that was described in The
We probably need a political Pope Francis-
Telegraph as “boozy, shambolic, disorganized
type igure, who comes up from the bottom
and ill-disciplined” — which sounds fun but
and understands life there, but who can still
maybe not for a politician in the middle of a
make the case for an open dynamic world, with
world crisis.
free-lowing goods, ideas, capital and people.
Then came the backpedaling. He wrote an
Until that igure emerges, we could be in for a
op-ed piece for The Telegraph headlined “I
set of serial leadership crises.
Cannot Stress Too Much That Britain Is Part
■
of Europe — and Always Will Be,” which
David Brooks’s column on the Op-Ed page
went beyond reassuring the markets and left
of The New York Times started in September
the impression that nothing very important had 2003. He has been a senior editor at The
happened at all.
Weekly Standard and a contributing editor at
The week ended with him abandoning his
Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly.
YOUR VIEWS
IP28 does not help public,
businesses
EOU making progress
under new leadership
It is likely Initiative Petition 28 will be
on the November ballot in Oregon. Initiative
Petition 28 is a tax on you and me as Oregon
residents. The measure would raise the
corporate minimum tax by charging certain
corporations a 2.5 percent tax on their sales
in Oregon above $25 million annually.
If the measure passes, corporations
making $25 million or more, such as
Walmart, Century 21 or Paciic Power, have
said they will increase their costs to their
consumers, you and me, to make up the
difference. They are not going to take the
loss.
If voters approve the measure it will
bring an estimated $3 billion a year to the
state. The state has made no indication as
to how they would use this money. It will
be up for grabs. Voters should realize these
corporations do make millions and they will
pass on the cost to us.
Carefully read this Initiative Petition
28 for it does not favor the public nor
corporations. See the story in the East
Oregonian, June 17, 2016, pages 1A and
10A.
Thank you for publishing an honest
assessment of Eastern Oregon University
on June 29, 2016. Eastern has made leaps
and bounds progress in the past year
thanks to the steady hand of President Tom
Insko. His two mottos are (1) together it
is possible and (2) what is measured is
managed. Eastern will continue to expand
its scope and inluence based upon the
needs of students and families.
A degree from Eastern opens the door
to quality education at a reasonable price.
Huge potential exists in the ields of
education, agriculture, health care, business,
arts and technology.
Our faculty is focused on the teaching
aspect by connecting with each of their
students. They are dedicated to enrollment,
retention and graduation. One-on-one
instruction is the hallmark of Eastern.
Possibilities are unlimited for students
For example, Erica Hitzman of
Pendleton is a recent graduate. Her art
work is being juried in a best of show
competition with six other inalists from
other Oregon universities. Her progress and
talent was stoked by the willingness of the
faculty to expand her creative skills. Also
Dorys Grover
Pendleton
she was able to have an international study
experience in Germany while obtaining her
degree.
Excellence at Eastern Oregon University
is within your reach.
David Nelson, chair
Eastern Oregon University Board of Trustees
Pendleton
The Pendleton money tree
Seems the Pendleton Development
Commission has found a money tree,
money for the picking. They have found
a solution for curing the blight problem,
which in turn boosts available tax receipts
in the Urban Renewal District and the
funding to get the job done that the PDC
was intended to do. Oops, guess they found
that money tree to fund a boat ramp.
With the placement of the boat ramp at
the west end of town, I can only speculate
that its use would be for providing an
alternate means of transportation to
Hermiston for shopping. “The goals of the
PDC include securing grants to leverage
investments and urban renewal dollars in
the urban renewal district and to promote
the central River Quarter plan as well as
the master plan for the river walkway.”
We only have two parks that provide
somewhat adequate parking for activities.
I have heard complaints from residents
living around parks that at they are unable
to provide a parking spot near their house
for guests because of some activity taking
place in the park. Perhaps the PDC can
lead the Parks Department manager to that
same money tree for some easy picking
and put in some additional parking.
A boat ramp? Really?
Rick Rohde
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 newspa-
per reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual ser-
vices 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.