Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, August 17, 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
An Olympic
achievement
Perhaps nothing is better for the
world than the Olympics.
Sure, we’ve got our governments
and soldiers and bankers and
pastors, who try in their own ways to
keep the world in a system free from
chaos.
But the Olympics does it another
way, disguised by celebration
and sport, that belies how truly
revolutionary it is.
That makes the Olympics
powerful, and that has come at a
price. The Olympics have become
bloated and corrupt — a fertile
environment for professional
sportocrats to line their pockets
while amateur athletes dedicate their
lives to compete for peanuts. Its
value to television companies and
advertisers has come at the expense
of the audience.
But the Olympic ideals remain,
under the surface, still revolutionary
and a force for planetary good.
Thus year, a North Korean and
South Korean gymnast shared a
sel¿e — as close and as peaceful as
those two countries have been since
they were formed.
Young girls in this country and
across the world were inspired by
Simone Biles, the 4-foot-8-inch
American gymnast who ran faster
and Mumped higher and rede¿ned the
shape of the sport.
Humans across the globe were
gob-smacked watching Jamaican
sprinter Usain Bolt test the limits of
human ability, while doing it with
unmatched Moy and con¿dence.
And many have been inspired by
the continued excellence of Michael
Phelps — who rarely settles for
second place — and the incredible
accomplishment of Yusra Mardini,
the Syrian swimmer who became
a refugee and helped save lives by
guiding a sinking ship across the
Aegean Sea. From winning to just
showing up, sports show us the end
result of an attitude work ethic that
can improve our lives.
The Olympics often shed light
into corners of the world that are
¿lled only with darkness.
Athletes often are not from rich
backgrounds. Syria aside, even
Biles and Phelps came from poor
and middle-class upbringings. In a
world that often celebrates the rich
and powerful, athletics in general
offer one of the few ways for poor,
inner-city, favela kids to excel.
And while jealousy-inducingly
¿t, they are not beautiful in the
ways that our culture often puts in
front of us, be they supermodels or
celebrities. Especially for young
girls, seeing women of endlessly
varying body types succeed and
become stars is important.
We also see people of all colors
and all races, from countries rich
and powerful to those we have
never heard of. In a nation such
as ours, where our world news is
often limited only to warfare and
bombings, it is good to see athletes
from Ethiopia and Macedonia giving
their all alongside our own.
There are always problems — an
Egyptian judoka refused to shake
the hand of the Israeli who defeated
him. Most of the Russian team was
sent home for doping. The costly
and useless buildings will bankrupt,
not bene¿t, Rio de Janeiro. The
pollution and Zika threat will remain
long after the hoopla is gone.
Yet there are more pros than
cons. Humans are prideful creatures.
We’re proud of where we’re from,
we want to prove it and, yes, deep
down inside we want to pound that
volleyball really hard right at the
other team.
The Olympics have created a
venue where that can be done and
no one dies. Because really, what are
wars but a competition about might,
smarts, skill and heart?
It’s no wonder that terrorists
and anarchists are obsessed with
disrupting the events. The Olympics
are one of the great achievements
of humanity and civilization, and
we should do our best to support the
ideals, prosecute the corruption and
protect the games.
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.
Trump, media running
a ‘baloney machine’
I
t’s no secret Donald Trump’s
a very loud message that what he is
supporters wish he would spend
doing now is not working. And yet
more time in his public appearances
Trump has said several times that he
focused on issues and less on the
sees no need to change his style to
offhand remarks that have gotten him
compete in the general election.
into trouble recently.
Gingrich sees an increasingly
Newt Gingrich, the Trump vice
urgent situation. “The fact is, you
presidential ¿nalist who goes in and
only have a limited amount of
out of favor at Trump Tower, has long
communications time, and you should
Byron
counseled a tighter, more disciplined
be focusing that time on the issues that
York
focus on issues. In an interview Friday
matter to the American people,” he
Comment
morning, as the Obama-is-the-founder-
said. “If talking about yourself drowns
of-ISIS controversy spilled into
out everything else you’re talking
another day, Gingrich seemed to reach a new
about — because you know as a conservative
level of frustration, suggesting that Trump
the news media is never going to give you a
and the news media have
break — you have to make
created a “baloney machine”
sure you don’t give them a
that distracts the public from
break. And every time he
important issues.
gives them something to talk
“Trump should spend more
about that allows them to
time talking about America
avoid his issues, they’re going
and less time talking about
to take it.”
Trump,” Gingrich told me
Gingrich pointed to the
after an appearance on Fox
House Republican report that
News.
the U.S. Central Command
“It’s not helpful, and it’s
altered its intelligence
not helpful to have quips
to suggest the American
that distract from the main
campaign against the Islamic
issues,” Gingrich continued.
State is making more progress
“If Trump is not talking about
than is actually the case. “That
the economy, and he’s not
ought to be a major national
— Newt Gingrich, scandal,” Gingrich said.
talking about safety, and he’s
not talking about reforming
“But it gets totally
Republican,
Washington, he’s losing
former U.S. House Speaker submerged in all of this
ground.”
baloney,” Gingrich concluded.
Indeed, Trump is losing
“And Trump contributes to the
ground. He is running 6.3 points — a
baloney. He and the news media have a sort of
substantial margin — behind Hillary Clinton
baloney machine going between them.”
in the RealClearPolitics average of national
Nevertheless, Trump has repeatedly refused
polls. Even more concerning are new polls
to change his approach. On Tuesday, he told
of states Trump must win if he is to become
Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo that, “I think
president. Even as Gingrich spoke, NBC and
that you know my temperament has gotten me
the Wall Street Journal were releasing surveys here ... I certainly don’t think it’s appropriate
showing Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by 5
to start changing all of a sudden when you’ve
points in Florida, 9 points in North Carolina,
been winning.” On Thursday, Trump told
13 points in Virginia and by 14 points in
CNBC, “At the end, it’s either going to work,
Colorado.
or I’m going to, you know, I’m going to have
Add those to polls showing Trump
a very, very nice long vacation.”
in trouble in Ohio and falling behind in
Ŷ
Pennsylvania — two absolutely critical states
Byron York is chief political correspondent
for Trump — and the polls are sending Trump for The Washington Examiner.
“Trump should
spend more
time talking
about America
and less time
talking about
Trump.”
OTHER VIEWS
Bakken after the boom
W
The Bismarck (N.D.)Tribune
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public
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Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
hen the oil boom exploded in North
Dakota it was every man for himself.
Companies jockeyed for the best
sites, landowners pursued the most lucrative
deals and government scrambled to improve
infrastructure.
It was the Wild West.
Now, with falling oil prices, calm has
prevailed on the region. Drilling continues,
but at a less frantic pace. Highway traf¿c no
longer seems like a racetrack and the number
of wells in operation has declined.
There’s time to step back and evaluate the
situation. That’s what the World Wildlife Fund
hired the Covenant Consulting Group to do.
Members of the World Wildlife Fund toured
the Bakken region and they visited areas of the
Badlands not impacted yet by the oil boom.
They wanted to know how development, if
it reached into new areas, could be handled
better. They also wanted to know how things
could be improved in the Bakken.
Rod Backman of Covenant Consulting
Group has been explaining the study results.
One thing he wants to make clear, none of the
stakeholders in the Bakken want or expect oil
drilling to go away. What they want is better
planning and more reasoned development.
Backman’s team found people appreciated
the jobs and community revitalization that
resulted from the boom. They also found
widespread support for protection of surface
assets. Backman put together a team of
industry, conservation and ranching experts
and interviewed 71 people — 26 members of
ranching and grazing associations, 21 state,
local and federal government of¿cials and
20 members of conservation groups. The
team also contacted 11 oil companies and got
responses from four of¿cials.
The next step in the process involves
the selection of ¿ve representatives from
government, the oil industry, conservation
and ranching who will meet six times over the
next ¿ve months with the goal of developing
salable solutions. Backman said the ¿ve North
Dakotans are independent, charged with
coming up with a plan for Badlands users by
Badlands users. After ¿ve months the group
can decide whether they want to continue to
disband.
The wisdom of their plan will determine
whether it’s adopted, in whole or part, or
ignored.
Over the last few years there have been
ideas Àoated about task forces or special
committees to develop recommendations for
oil development in North Dakota. Nothing
came of the ideas. The World Wildlife Fund
and Covenant have given the state a starting
point. It’s unlikely everyone will agree with
everything that the group of ¿ve proposes.
It will bene¿t everyone to consider their
suggestions. So far there’s nothing to indicate
this project is guided by an agenda other than
¿nding better ways for all stakeholders to
work together.
The craziness of the early Bakken days
resulted in outcomes unsatisfactory to
all parties involved. We have a chance to
improve the situation as we move forward.
It will bene¿t residents and companies
to pay attention to the proposals coming
from the ¿ve. They should be given close
scrutiny because of the potential impact on
the state. It’s also important to remember all
stakeholders expressed interest in protecting
surface assets.
Finding ways to do this, whether it’s oil
companies sharing roads or landowners
working with companies to develop plans, will
bene¿t us.
This study provides an opportunity for
North Dakota and should be taken seriously.