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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 30, 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
What the parties
mean for farmers
The two major political parties
have approved their 2016 platforms.
While presidential candidates of
both stripes have in the past freely
diverged from speciic points in their
party’s platform — and we would
expect the same of Hillary Clinton
and Donald Trump — the documents
provide a point for comparison of the
policy priorities of each party.
Have a
look.
Each
party
promises to
protect and
advance the
interests of
farmers.
The GOP
says it will change capital gains and
estate tax laws to ensure farms can
stay in the family. Republicans favor
ending direct payment programs in
favor of risk-management programs,
such as crop insurance.
Democrats promise unspeciied
programs to “protect and enhance
family farms, a cherished way of
life....” Democrats say they’ll do more
to support young farmers and ranchers,
and will promote “environmentally
sustainable agricultural practices.”
It favors a “focused” safety net for
farmers.
Republicans say they want to rein
in the Environmental Protection
Agency. The platform demands
“an end to the EPA’s participation in
‘sue and settle’ lawsuits, sweetheart
litigation brought by environmental
groups to expand the Agency’s
regulatory activities against the
wishes of Congress and the public.”
It supports legislation giving the
states a larger role in protecting the
environment.
Democrats take note of
EPA programs, particularly the
Agricultural Worker Protection
Standard, but say more needs to be
done. The Democrats want to enlist
farmers as “partners in promoting
conservation and stewardship.”
Republicans want regulators to shift
from punitive enforcement to “a
spirit of cooperation” with producers,
processors and the public.
The Democrats promise more
and stronger regulation on just about
every front. The GOP says it will
reduce government regulation, and
wants Congress to approve any
regulation that will cost consumers
more than $100 million.
The Democrats oppose any
attempt to
“weaken”
the
Endangered
Species Act.
Republicans
want to
block
attempts by
the EPA and
the Corps of Engineers to “expand
jurisdiction over water, including
water that is clearly not navigable.”
The Democrats’ platform wants to
expand access to public lands, and at
the same time “strengthen protections
for natural and cultural resources.”
It supports the creation of a trust
fund to expand outdoor recreational
opportunities. The Democrats want
to create more jobs and billions of
dollars in activity by doubling the
size of the “outdoor economy.”
Republicans want Congress to
explore transferring to ranchers,
timbermen and miners some public
land, arguing that private owners are
the best stewards of the land because
conservation serves their economic
interests. It favors maximizing timber
harvest on public land.
We think the GOP platform is
better for farmers and ranchers. But
we urge caution.
Platforms are gauzy documents
long on ideology and short on
speciics. They are points of departure
for candidates up and down the ticket
who are free to put their spin on
policy.
By what mechanics will either
party deliver its vision?
Details are important. Even ideas
we agree with can turn sour if they
are realized through objectionable
means.
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
Incandescent with rage
N
ideals rather than a recitation of a
o one need ask me anymore
national reality.
about how to heal the racial
My ingers ache as I type this. I
divide in America. No one need
want to pound this keyboard. I want to
inquire about the path forward beyond
racial strife. You will not be put at ease
delete until all the characters disappear,
by my response.
to make the pain of it simply vanish
James Baldwin once said, “To
behind a retreating cursor, but it’s just
be a Negro in this country and to be
not that easy. These words are all I
relatively conscious, is to be in a rage
Charles have left. This agony pouring out of me
almost all the time.” Well, I am now
onto the screen is all I have.
Blow
incandescent with rage and at my wits’
And I take no solace in the lip
Comment
end about how to responsibly aim it
service generated by politicians and
and morally marshal it.
their parties to rectify this situation.
I am at the screaming place.
I have been to two national party
Following three acquittals of oficers in
conventions in as many weeks and with
the death of Freddie Gray — which was ruled
everything I hear, my cynicism grows.
a homicide by the medical examiner! —
Last week in Cleveland, the Republican
Baltimore prosecutors on Wednesday dropped
Party delivered an unabashed affront to the
all remaining charges against the other oficers movement for black lives as it took every
awaiting trial.
opportunity to diminish black loss, as if there
Yet another black man’s body broken
was an inherent conlict between valuing
without anyone’s being called to account,
police lives and valuing the lives of the black
another soul lingering on the other side of the and brown people who are policed. Donald
grave without justice on this side of the living. Trump himself delivered a heavily coded
No oficer has been convicted in the deaths of speech in which he repeatedly asserted that he
Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford
would be the “law and order” candidate, but
III, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Sandra
never spoke of the equally important issue of
Bland and dozens more. Indeed, according
imposing some order on the law.
to Mapping Police Violence, “only 10 of
The Democratic convention has been
the 102 cases in 2015 where an unarmed
different and better in many ways —
black person was killed by police resulted
particularly about elevating the issue and using
in oficer(s) being charged with a crime, and
proper language — but even here I remain
only 2 of these deaths (Matthew Ajibade and
leery of empty platitudes over actual policies.
Eric Harris) resulted in convictions of oficers
The Mothers of the Movement — black
involved.”
women who have lost children to gun violence
What are we to make of this? What are we
— took the stage on Tuesday night and
to take from it?
delivered a powerful and moving address to
In other killings — whether they be
those in the hall and across America. But even
domestic or inter-community or directed at law this makes me a bit uneasy.
enforcement oficers — no matter how tragic
While I applaud and commend the mothers
the circumstances, or perhaps because of the
for taking every opportunity to campaign for
tragedy, the full force of the law is brought
justice for their children and to champion
to bear, and we can point to a track record of
policies that would prevent other mothers
justice, at least to some degree.
from ever being thrust into their position,
But not in these cases.
I’m also incredibly aware of the usury nature
Into what frame am I supposed to position
of politicians and how they try to politicize
this to make it palatable? How can I wrap my
other people’s pain for their own self-
head around it in a way to make it rational and
aggrandizement.
right?
Justice doesn’t live on the left or right side
It is impossible, and indeed unreasonable,
of the ideological spectrum. Justice lives on the
to expect me to do so. I deserve to be angry.
side of righteousness.
I deserve to survey the system that thrusts so
I am exhausted. I am repulsed. I am over
many oficers and black and brown people into all the circular dialogue. But I don’t know
contact in the irst place, and be disgusted. I
precisely where that leaves me other than in
deserve to examine the biases that are exposed a hurt and festering place. America is edging
in oficer/citizen encounters, and be disgusted.
ever closer to telling people like me that
I deserve to take account of an utterly racially
the eye of justice isn’t blind but jaundiced,
biased criminal justice system, and be
and I say back to America, that is incredibly
disgusted.
dangerous.
America’s streets are illed with cries of
■
“black lives matter,” and America continues
Charles M. Blow is The New York Times’s
to insist through its actions in these cases that
visual Op-Ed columnist. His column appears
they don’t, that that is a lamentation of hopeful in The Times on Saturday.
YOUR VIEWS
Farm thieves should
consider a day’s work
The last time I wrote a letter to
the editor was about three years ago
after someone stole hay from my
17-year-old son’s hay stack. Here I
am again condemning the behavior
of yet another thief.
Attempting to complete
another wheat harvest, littered
with equipment breakdowns, low
commodity prices and long hours,
my husband and son arrived at their
ield to ind that during the night
someone siphoned all of the diesel
from their combine and truck and
helped themselves to all of the ire
extinguishers, tools and CB radios.
It wasn’t bad enough that they stole
the items, they had to break things
in the process. Instead of putting
to use the tools that they obviously
had and undoing the radios, they
cut wires and yanked things loose
making more work for us in the
long run. Thank you!
To the thieves who feel the
need to steal your living from
hardworking people, if you needed
the supplies to sell in order to feed
your family or pay your rent, I can
sympathize with that. Instead of
lurking around during the evening
hours, maybe you should come
back to those farmers during the
day and ask for a job. Most farmers
have fences that need to be repaired
or weeds needing to be hoed. You
might ind some satisfaction in
making an honorable living.
If you are taking the items to
subsidize a drug habit, maybe
putting in a long day’s work, where
at the end of the day you are like
most farmers, too exhausted to even
eat, you wouldn’t feel the need
to smoke, snort or inject your life
away.
Cindy Wood
Adams
Luxury or eficiency in
our new ire station?
Why does Pendleton need an $8
million irehouse? Short answer:
“It doesn’t.” When economical
times are at their worst our town’s
leadership fails us every time.
The report done says, if built
at old St. Anthony, we will lose
23 seconds of response time. That
very report also indicates the old St.
Anthony is a bad choice because of
that very reason.
For a town this size we don’t
need an $8 million ire station,
again on the backs of taxpayers.
A modest ire station built at the
old cinema is the only way a new
ire station could be justiied in
Pendleton’s economic condition.
There are plenty of places for ire
training and plenty of places to
build that won’t take 23 seconds of
response time away.
This says it all: “Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo pointed out that while the
Pendleton Cinema site was slightly
cheaper to develop and would
generate faster response times, the
St. Anthony site had more room for
training and parking.” So training
and parking are more important
than price and response time? This
is ludicrous! Remember, the ire
station can train at any location. It
does not have to be on site.
Their plan to build a two-story
ire station on six acres is ridiculous
for what Pendleton needs. Read
the McKenzie report — it was
designed to persuade and not
enlighten. If you don’t want to read
the whole ridiculous thing then
just skip down to where they grade
each of the sites. They give the old
St. Anthony site the highest grade
for building. You will ind that
the report is deceiving. The most
important thing a ire station needs
(response time) graded the lowest
for that site.
Of course, all the silly things
got a high score, making the old
St. Anthony site seem like the
obvious choice. You will soon see
that this site was picked for luxury
and not for the city’s best interest.
As a matter of fact, it is highly
plausibly a dangerous place to
build. Twenty-three seconds of burn
time has serious implications and is
a reckless decision.
Vote no next May on this absurd
ire station plan, and let our leaders
learn a little self-discipline with
our money and pick a more modest
and comprehensively designed ire
station at a location that better its
Pendleton’s needs! This time it’s
our choice!
Chris Hallos
Pendleton
Montez a headliner,
not an afterthought
On Tuesday I attended a
Hermiston Chamber of Commerce
lunch at McKenzie park. I would
like to irst commend the Umatilla
County Fair court for doing such a
good job announcing the events of
the Umatilla County Fair.
I would, however, like to make
one minor, but I believe important,
critique. The headliner music
events of most of the days of the
fair were announced by name. On
Friday, however, we were told only
that a “traditional cultural event”
would take place.
That “traditional cultural event”
was none other than Montez de
Durango. “Traditional cultural
event” is a lame way to refer to the
boys behind the 2007 smash hit
“Lagrimas del Corazon.” In fact,
Montez probably brings in more
money every year than all of the
other groups mentioned put together.
If CCR minus John Fogerty,
“Creedence Clearwater Revisited,”
deserves to be mentioned by name,
how much more does a group of
international fame like Montez?
This omission seems to be part
of an underlying attitude of self-
discrimination by Latino and Anglo
culture in this area. The fair court
might have well said that “on Friday,
the Mexicans will be doing their
thing, don’t worry about it, show
up for Saturday to see CCR without
John Fogerty.” If the Umatilla
County Fair is going to pay to bring
a well-known group like Montez,
the least the fair royalty could do is
mention them by name.
Blaise MacPherson
Irrigon
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 resi-
dence 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.