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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Onion growers face another food safety law challenge Onion growers in Eastern Oregon revised rules allow other mitigation have had quite a time trying to deal options. The inal rule allows growers with the mandates of the Food Safety whose water exceeds the standards to Modernization Act. comply if they can show that bacteria Having found a solution to one dies off at a certain rate in the ield. regulation that would have all but put And Oregon State University was them out of business, they now face able to show that very thing. another that could cost the industry Now comes the issue of crates. $200 million to implement and puts The FDA’s rules require growers its survival in question. to store onions in plastic crates. The The law was passed by Congress industry now uses wooden boxes — late in 2010 with the about a million of goal of mandating them in the Treasure The FDA’s rules best safety practices require growers Valley. for producers and The plastic crates processors while to store onions in are smaller, holding making it easier for 900 pounds as plastic crates. The about regulators to trace opposed to the 1,600 foodborne illnesses industry now uses pounds the boxes back to their source. The wooden wooden boxes — hold. To enforce the boxes cost $60 each, act, the Food and the plastic crates about a million Drug Administration cost $150. Growers of them in the wrote 1,200 pages say it would cost Treasure Valley. $200 million to buy of proposed rules to address food enough plastic crates safety controls for to hold the crop, plus the growing, harvesting, packing storage facilities would have to be and holding of produce for human altered to accommodate the different consumption. sized containers. Many of the proposals were OSU has found that the change impractical and too costly. Others just wouldn’t reduce the level of weren’t necessary. contamination found in stored For example, ag water provisions onions. in the rules originally proposed In a test of 10 wooden boxes of a standard that would have been onions and 10 plastic crates of onions impossible for onion growers who stored for six weeks, researchers irrigate from open ditches to meet. found no difference. Because disease- No approved treatment method causing bacteria die off on onions existed, nor would it be economical if left in the ield to cure, the common it did exist. practice in the region, the onions It would have required produce stored in either container weren’t growers whose irrigation water contaminated to begin with. exceeded certain thresholds for We hope FDA takes note, as it did bacteria to immediately stop using it. in the earlier case. That would have made it impossible No one can argue that food for most people in the Treasure shouldn’t be safe, or that reasonable Valley around Ontario to grow precautions shouldn’t be taken. But onions. Congress didn’t intend to put whole Following an outcry, the FDA segments of the food production and relented. Rather than limiting distribution chain out of business growers to ixing the water, the when it passed the act. 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. Culture Corner If Zac Brown Band’s recent Pendleton visit has piqued your interest in country music that’s not afraid to incorporate styles and instruments from other genres, Sturgill Simpson’s third full-length album “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth” could blow open your world. Be warned, though: Simpson isn’t fascinated by beer, trucks, romantic dusty roads or “girls.” In this effort he uses his extraordinary talents as a singer and songwriter to prepare advice for when his “pollywog” son is ready to head out into the world. What makes the album exceptional is Simpson’s wide base of inluences. It is no doubt a country album, but delivered by an artist well-versed in genres from psychedelic to soul to funk to grunge. The horn section on several of the songs elevates the energy of the album, while the slower tracks, including a cover of Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” show Simpson’s ability to draw a listener in with more subtle musicality. Speaking of production, fans of music from the 1960s and ’70s will ind much to enjoy in Simpson’s fearless sound. While some shy away from big production, Simpson embraces it to make an album with a wide variety of sound and moods. The layers reveal themselves on repeated listens, a welcome break from much of the one-trick country radio hits of today. And right in the middle of it all is his voice, often compared to George Jones or Waylon Jennings, that delivers his stories and loving words of advice. The album was released a week after Merle Haggard’s death (Haggard was an unabashed fan of Simpson’s), and in a year where we’ve lost so many legends it’s heartening to ind a classic and singular artist putting out great work. — Daniel Wattenburger, managing editor OTHER VIEWS The Turkish coup that wasn’t Secretary of State John Kerry “agreed s coups go, the Turkish effort was a study in ineptitude: No that all parties in Turkey should support serious attempt to capture the democratically elected government or muzzle the existing political of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any leadership, no leader ready to step in, violence or bloodshed.” no communication strategy (or even The problem is that “restraint” is not awareness of social media), no ability to part of Erdogan’s vocabulary. As Philip mobilize a critical mass within either the Gordon, a former special assistant to armed forces or society. In their place a Obama on the Middle East, told me: Roger platoon of hapless soldiers on a bridge “Rather than use this as an opportunity Cohen over the Bosporus in Istanbul and the to heal divisions, Erdogan may well do Comment apparently uncoordinated targeting of a the opposite: go after adversaries, limit few government buildings in Ankara. press and other freedoms further, and It was enough for President Recep Tayyip accumulate even more power.” Within hours, Erdogan, speaking on his cellphone’s FaceTime more than 2,800 military personnel had been app, to call supporters into the streets for the detained and 2,745 judges removed from duty. insurrection to fold. That Erdogan will no doubt A prolonged crackdown on so-called be the chief beneiciary of this turmoil, using “Gulenists,” whoever Erdogan deems them to it to further his push for an autocratic Islamist be, and the Kemalist “deep state” (supporters Turkey, does not mean that he staged it. The of the old secular order) is likely. An already Turkish army remains isolated from society. divided society will grow more issured. It is entirely plausible that a coterie of oficers Secular Turkey will not quickly forget the cries believed a polarized and disgruntled society of “Allahu akbar” echoing last night from some would rise up once given a cue. If so, they were mosques and from crowds in the streets. wrong — and the error has cost more than 260 A rapid push by Erdogan to reform the lives. constitution through a referendum and create But in Erdogan’s Turkey, mystery and a presidency with sweeping executive powers instability have become the coin of the realm. It is possible. He now has a case to say only such is no wonder that conspiracy theories abound. powers will keep enemies at bay. Since an electoral setback in June 2015, the “It may well be that democracy has president has overseen a Turkey that is ever triumphed in Turkey only to be strangled at a more violent. This dangerous lurch has enabled slower pace,” Jonathan Eyal, the international him to bounce back in a second election in director at Britain’s Royal United Services November and portray himself as the anointed Institute, told me. There can be little doubt one averting mayhem. His attempt to blame, the expressions of support for Erdogan from without any evidence, the attempted coup on western capitals came through gritted teeth. Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric and erstwhile For the Obama administration, the dilemmas ally living in Pennsylvania, forms part of a of the Middle East could scarcely have been pattern of murkiness and intrigue. more vividly illustrated. When an Egyptian Through Erdogan’s fog this much seems general, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, led a coup three clear: More than 35 years after the last coup, years ago against the democratically elected and almost two decades after the 1997 military president, Mohammed Morsi, Obama did not intervention, Turks do not want a return to support the democratic government, as he the seesawing military and civilian rule that has now in Turkey. The administration even characterized the country between 1960 and avoided use of the word “coup” in Egypt. In 1980. On the contrary, they are attached to their effect, the president sided with the generals in democratic institutions and the constitutional the name of order. order. The army, a pillar of Kemal Ataturk’s True, Morsi was deeply unpopular. The secular order, is weaker. Every major political Egyptian coup had massive support. It was a party condemned the attempted coup. Whatever fait accompli by the time Obama weighed in. their growing anger against the president, Turks Still, principles in the Middle East are worth do not want to go backward. little. Policy often amounts to choosing the least A successful coup would have been a bad option. disaster. Erdogan has massive support in In Turkey, the least bad — Erdogan’s the Anatolian heartland, particularly among survival — has prevailed. That does not mean religious conservatives. Mosques all over the much worse will not follow. A failed coup does country were lit through the night as imams not mean democracy is the winner. In fact, echoed the president’s call for people to pour the worst of this prickly autocrat may now be into the street. There can be little doubt that any unleashed upon Turkey, with America and its military-controlled administration would have allies able to do little about it. faced a Syria-like insurgency of Islamists and ■ others. The blow to what is left in the Middle Roger Cohen joined The New York Times in East of democratic institutions and the rule of 1990. He was a foreign correspondent for more law would have been devastating. than a decade before becoming foreign editor No wonder President Barack Obama and in 2002. A YOUR VIEWS Local government can better oversee public land After reading “Anti-Government Militias Threaten Us At Home” (July 2), I felt compelled to write. I suppose the label “extremist” could be considered a matter of deinition. But to apply the label “violent”? The only violence during the recent standoff came from government law enforcement, resulting in the death of Robert “LaVoy” Finnicum. Some who ind the Bundys’ activism extreme blame hatred of Obama for their actions. In no way does the “Sagebrush Rebellion” stem from a hatred of President Barack Obama. The movement began before his entry into politics. Certain anti-government extremists have latched onto the sagebrush movement. That does not diminish the legitimate grievance behind the movement, nor the patriotic activism of most involved. Those anti-government extremists are not unlike the “professional protesters” that show up at so many liberal protests. This is not an anti-gov- ernment movement. We just want to pull in the reins a bit. As to the U.S. Forest Service and BLM needing federal law enforcement authority, local police and county sheriffs have closer ties to the land and a better understanding of its needs, as well as the needs of local communities. They can be given additional training if needed. It’s true western states never owned the lands in question. It was stolen from them at state- hood. I trust Oregon’s state government to care for public lands. Look at our ocean beaches. Nearly all are public beaches. I believe Oregon will keep public land public. At the same time, responsible management can make use of the natural resources available. Revenue from these resources can help pay for managing the land. Jobs would be created for local communities. The added income would increase the tax base in those communities, further supporting the cost of land management. And visitors can still recreate as they always have. Nobody is suggesting a wide-scale handover to the private sector. That is just not going to happen. Many involved in the cause have strong feelings on the matter. Emotions run high. They do so because many have been living in a climate of fear brought on by harassment from government agencies. Government agencies overstepping their bounds. Agencies that shouldn’t even exist. Run by agents “just doing their jobs.” Jobs that aren’t even legit! Edward Abbey, American anarchist, environmentalist and novelist, said, “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” Randy Piper Arlington 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.