Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
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MIKE FORRESTER
STEVE FORRESTER
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Pendleton
Chairman of the Board
Astoria
President
Pendleton
Secretary/Treasurer
CORY BOLLINGER
JEFF ROGERS
Aberdeen, S.D.
Director
Indianapolis, Ind.
Director
OUR VIEW
How we should
prepare for the
megaquake
T
aftermath of Cascadia, but spoke
last month at a Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce luncheon about the
larger part Umatilla
County can play in
the days and weeks
If we are
after the quake.
prepared
to
Many residents
On the other
of
Eastern
side of the state, a
take care of our take pride in Oregon
being
massive earthquake
own, it will take able to take care
on the Cascadia
of themselves and
Subduction Zone
a
great
strain
their own. But
has wreaked havoc
off emergency even we can take
on cities, homes
little things for
and infrastructure.
responders
granted — modern
Everything west
like
of I-5 is toast.
helping those in conveniences
electricity and
Hundreds of
real need.
running water,
thousands of
for instance, and
refugees from the
the even more
disaster of the
modern
luxury
of
instantaneous
century are headed this way with
communication.
only the clothes on their back.
Franell suggested keeping a
This is not a certain future, nor
stockpile
of 6-8 weeks worth of
is it a purely speculative scenario.
essentials for your family. That
Experts at Oregon State University
means bottles of water, preserved
have predicted a 40 percent chance
foodstuffs and batteries. And keep in
of the big one — magnitude-9
mind that you may have displaced
or higher — hitting the Paciic
family and friends showing up
Northwest in the next 50 years, and
looking for help.
the exact fallout is unknown.
If we are prepared to take care of
But many people have decided
our
own, it will take a great strain off
not to shrug it off as a possible
emergency responders helping those
problem for some future generation
in real need.
to deal with. They are treating it
Businesses should also be
as a “when” instead of an “if,” and
thinking
about how to serve the
assuming the tectonic plates beneath
quickly
swelling
population. At the
our feet give us a few years of lead
East
Oregonian
we
are considering
time before acting out their natural
how
we
will
spread
urgent and
cycle, we can be prepared to deal
essential
news
when
the usual
with the crisis in a way that limits
networks are down. We hope those
the catastrophe.
who provide similar important
Just because the damage in
services are considering how to meet
Eastern Oregon will be less
extensive doesn’t mean we shouldn’t the demand.
It’s hard to even wrap our
be thinking and planning. Those
minds
around such a large-scale
who make it out of the chaos west
catastrophe,
the worst natural
of the Cascades will need supplies
disaster
in
recorded
U.S. history. But
and shelter, and we may be the most
by taking it to a personal level, and
stable place around.
then community-wide, we can at
Joseph Franell, chair of the
the very least keep our own families
Oregon Broadband Advisory
safe, and at the best provide care for
Council, is concerned speciically
a region in crisis.
with communications in the
he power is out, and will remain
out for 6-8 weeks. The food in
your cupboards may be all you
have access to in that time, and the same
goes for the fuel in
your vehicle’s tank.
There is no internet, no
cellphone reception.
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
The political orphans
I
n barely two weeks, Republicans
apart.
will converge in Cleveland for the
For years, this party stood
Trumpocalypse, a fact-free and
for something — lower taxes, a
hate-illed gathering likely to be as
lighter government hand, personal
scary as it will be entertaining. A week
responsibility, global engagement.
later the Democrats will assemble in
After Cleveland, they will stand for
Philadelphia in a focus-group-tested
nothing but the bombastic tyrant who
pander fest, as tightly scripted as the
lets the smallest thing get under his
visualize-world-peace answers at a
Timothy very thin, very orange skin. From
Miss Universe contest.
Trump, you hear more praise of
Egan
If you feel left out, you have plenty
Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin
Comment
of company. You can search across the
than for Lincoln or Reagan. The
fruited plain and nowhere will
Republican base created
you ind a political convention
this monster; by the power
for the afiliation that more
of hubris, he should destroy
Americans identify with than
their party.
any other — independents.
More important,
According to Pew Research,
Republicans have shown no
interest in governing. After at
the share of indies now stands
least seven probes, more time
at its highest point in more
has been spent investigating
than 75 years of polling: 39
the four American deaths at
percent. And although other
Benghazi than was spent on
surveys slightly disagree, the
the attacks of 9/11 or Pearl
point is the same: a plurality
Harbor. All to conclude that
of voters has no place to call
the crazy conspiracy theories concocted about
political home.
This large island of independents is a habitat this tragedy have no basis in fact.
Where are the exhaustive inquiries into why
of shruggers, doubters and contrarians. There’s
so many Americans are falling behind? Where
room for nuance in their thinking. Millions of
are the subpoenas of the people who rigged
these middle-grounders are actually leaners
who sorta, kinda, maybe like most of what one the inancial system to a point where it crashed
the global economy? What is the legislative
party stands for — and then ind out that they
response to ideas favored by huge majorities
share a label with Sarah Palin.
of the people — simple gun measures to
As someone who thinks Democrats are
keep terrorists from getting assault riles, or
ossiied on education and afraid to speak out
a boost of the minimum wage? And how are
against the PC censors in their midst, and
the people’s representatives dealing with an
who inds Republicans horriic on science,
epidemic of murder of our fellow citizens by
guns and nearly everything else, I went online
police oficers?
looking for a party hookup. In one quiz, after
Well, you know the answers. Attacking the
answering a dozen questions, I was found
opponent’s party is the only game in town. The
to be a moderate Democrat. In another, said
leaders of this Congress do not legislate. They
to test your political DNA, the result was
stage show hearings to keep them in ofice.
scornful. “You’re not much of a joiner” was
The Democrats, though more representative
the conclusion. “We’re kind of surprised you
of issues that people care about, need to call
took the quiz.”
You get dinged as more of a lefty for saying out the fringe of their party on campus, in
town halls and elsewhere who are enemies
you “mostly agree” that the government needs
of free speech. When Bernie Sanders had his
to do more to make health care affordable and
microphone forcefully taken away from him
accessible, and sometimes doubt the existence
by a Black Lives Matter protester, it was,
of God. What sentient human doesn’t share
in fact, a shameful thing — no matter how
those thoughts? And I was labeled “apolitical”
important the cause. Instead, too many Dems
in the other analysis largely because I loathe
let it pass.
tedious gatherings of the self-righteous and
So wish for a crackup in Cleveland, where
long-winded — “active political participation,”
Trump and maybe Newt Gingrich — with
as it’s called.
six wives between them — will represent
But that doesn’t mean I don’t vote in every
the party of family values. And hope for a
election, a dutiful citizen, hoping for a day
when my kids can attend college without going course correction in Philly, where Democrats
broke or my Congress will actually investigate might listen to working-class voters who feel
betrayed by the corporate elites in power
things that matter to everyday people.
suites.
A few years ago Gallup found that 58
Wish and hope — weak words, admittedly.
percent of voters said a third party was needed
But it’s all the crumbs that we political
because Republicans and Democrats do such
orphans, an underserved majority, can count on
a poor job representing average Americans.
over the next month.
There is hope of that happening this year.
■
The Republicans, on the verge of
Timothy Egan worked for 18 years as a
nominating a man with the temperament of a
writer for The New York Times, irst as the
sociopath, someone who praises a murderous
Paciic Northwest correspondent, then as a
dictator while damning the American troops
national enterprise reporter.
who fought him, should crack up and break
This large island
of independents
is a habitat
of shruggers,
doubters and
contrarians.
YOUR VIEWS
ODFW should do more to
encourage future hunters
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.
“Oregon RMEF is committed to creating the
next generation of hunters and conservationists.
... In 2015 Oregon RMEF supported seven
youth programs for a total of $8,000.”
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
has ive references encouraging youth hunting
in its 2016 Big Game Hunting Regulations,
including mentored youth hunting. The
consensus seems to be we need more hunters
and that hunting should be a family activity.
As a soon-to-be 85-year-old Oregon native,
Korean vet, the father of seven, grandfather
of 12 and the holder of a lifetime Pioneer
Hunting License, the above claims don’t
seem to relect ODFW’s real mission, which
appears to me to be lottery draws, big game
auctions and other fundraisers to encourage
head hunters, not family outings.
Case in point: 1) If I draw a deer tag for
2017, I will be 3 months shy of my 86th
birthday, and it will be my second tag in
eight years; 2) Three years ago, a son from
Montana wished to hunt the Keating Unit
with his brothers and me. He got his tag; we
drew blanks. As an aside, his 12-year-old
twin daughters each killed an antelope after
taking Montana’s hunter safety course; 3) My
10-year-old grandson has spent time with his
granddad in a duck blind since he was 4, but
has never been able to follow granddad on
a buck hunt; 4) Yes, I might have found the
Minam and the Imnaha better draws than the
Keating Unit, but I’m approaching 85, not 35!
As a family we just burned the mortgage
on a cabin and ive acres in the Keating Unit
after 24 years of monthly payments. It would
be great if it could be used as a base camp for
a deer hunt as well as for ishing and picking
huckleberries.
I would like to propose the following as
a father and granddad to encourage youth
and family hunting: For all Oregon-born
residents with a Pioneer Hunting License
and 75 years of age and older, ODFW should
issue big game hunting tags in the unit of the
hunter’s choice. I have no statistics, but my
guess is it would affect less than 100 resident
hunters throughout he state. OK, for that 100
the success rate for us “old codgers” would
probably be less than 10 percent, a small price
for encouraging our future hunters.
Please give this proposal serious
consideration.
John G. Heriza
Baker City
Thanks for the trip
I would like to commend E.J. Harris for
the wonderful photos taken on his trip fro the
California border to Pendleton last week. He
is a wonderful photographer. We enjoy all his
photos.
Margaret McLaughlin
Pendleton