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OPINION
East Oregonian
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
MARISSA WILLIAMS
Regional Advertising Director
MARCY ROSENBERG
Circulation Manager
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
Business Office Manager
MIKE JENSEN
Production Manager
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OUR VIEW
Your vote matters
The presidential election is
before ever the first vote was cast.
Perhaps that is because the polls are
supposed to be the pinnacle of
not in his favor, and Trump has never
American democracy: candidates
conceded anything.
scurrying to every corner of this
Yet Trump’s accusations, like
country, exhausting themselves by
many levied in his campaign, tap
doing everything possible to earn
votes.
into a real fear but belie a deeper
and truer issue. Clearly, foreign
By the time Election Day finally
arrives, they will have eaten every
governments are very interesting in
local specialty, sipped a million diner fiddling with the American election
milkshakes and taken
process. Clearly,
just as many swigs
online data is more
Vote.
of local beer. They
susceptible than ever.
will have answered
Have faith in Such cyber warfare
a billion questions,
be terrorism of
this country, its would
been questioned on
the most dangerous
— it would
every policy position
elections, our variety
send the country into
in their platform, and
democracy
panic and suspicion
heard from voters in
of our neighbors and
downtown Chicago,
institutions.
the tip of Florida and
the top of the Rocky Mountains.
But Trump has pointed the finger
in the wrong direction — dead
After all that, we get to pick.
Americans go to the polls, or mail people and immigrants casting
in their choices, and on Election Day ballots — while an actual, vital
concern goes without further inquiry.
we tally the results. This weird thing
For now, our election is in good
called the electoral college meets,
hands. Especially in Oregon, our
and the next president is named. If
system is remarkably resistant to
the person currently holding the job
fraud — both in the voting process
will no longer have it, they prepare
and then on the back end tabulation.
to peacefully surrender the reins of
power. The loser calls to congratulate Perhaps more states should consider
our system and take additional efforts
the winner, then tearfully thanks
to keep results safe from cyber
their running partner, family and
terrorists.
supporters in a televised concession
The time to fill out your ballot
speech. America lurches forward.
is now. Affix a stamp and put it in
Except this year things have been
the mail, or take it directly to your
a little different, and Election Day
neighborhood drop box. However
will likely be different, too.
Republican candidate for president you do it: Be sure to vote. Have faith
in our country, its elections, and our
Donald Trump has routinely
denigrated the voting process without democracy. Then accept the results,
whatever they are.
proof — calling it “rigged” well
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
After Malheur verdict: Where to now?
The (Eugene) Register-Guard
A jury’s “not guilty” verdicts last week
in the trial of seven Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge occupiers shocked
everyone. The defendants and their
supporters expected to be railroaded by a
corrupt federal government. Opponents
of the occupation assumed that laws
must have been broken in the course of
a six-week armed takeover of a federal
facility. Prosecutors thought they had an
airtight case — but they pressed it further
than the jury was willing to follow.
As the shock wore off, however, it
became evident that the verdicts were
the product of prosecutorial over-reach.
Ammon Bundy, his older brother
Ryan and five of their supporters were
charged with conspiring to prevent
federal employees from doing their
jobs. To make a conspiracy charge
stick, prosecutors must prove beyond
a reasonable doubt that the accused
harbored a specific intent to break the
law. Courtroom arguments thus hinged
on the defendants’ state of mind rather
than on physical evidence. Prosecutors
should have contented themselves with
proving the Bundys and their band
damaged public property.
The defendants’ court victory is not
final — the Bundy brothers and their
father, Cliven, still face federal charges in
Nevada stemming from a 2014 standoff
over the family’s refusal to pay livestock
grazing fees. If prosecutors in Nevada
learn anything from the Oregon trial, they
will focus jurors’ attention on what the
Bundys did, not what they were thinking.
The acquittals also cannot erase
the worst consequence of the Malheur
occupation. The celebrations outside
the federal courthouse in Portland could
not change the fact that one of the
occupiers, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum,
was shot by state police at a roadblock
as the takeover near Burns was nearing
its end. Finicum’s death does credit to
no one: Not to the occupiers, who were
awoken from their self-aggrandizing
dreams of standing at the vanguard of a
national uprising, and authorities whose
determination to avoid bloodshed turned
to ashes in an instant.
Other consequences will follow.
The occupation began in response to
the re-imprisonment of Harney County
ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond,
whose release from incarceration was
reversed after a U.S. attorney insisted
that mandatory minimum sentences must
be served. The acquittals of the Bundys
and the others undercut the occupiers’
claims of oppression and injustice. David
Fry, the last to leave the refuge, said
on Thursday that “we the people must
unite to take this country back from evil
tyrants” — odd words from a man who
had just won a not guilty verdict from a
jury of his peers in open court.
The acquittals will now be seized
upon as proof of a double standard in
law enforcement and the justice system.
The acquittals came on the same day that
police in riot gear arrested 117 Native
Americans and others attempting to
stop the construction of an oil pipeline
in North Dakota. Their treatment at the
hands of the courts will be watched,
and the results will be contrasted to the
verdicts that an all-white jury reached for
all-white defendants in Portland.
The verdicts also send a chilling
message to employees of federal
land-management agencies, particularly
in the rural West. The Bundys and
their supporters disrupted or destroyed
valuable work being done at the Malheur
refuge, and will pay no price for it. Such
a result gives other public employees
reason to fear that their own work — and
perhaps their physical safety — will
be similarly unprotected. Those who
populate the extreme fringes of the
movement for private control of federal
lands will be emboldened.
It’s likely that no verdict could have
advanced the public interest in defending
the concept of land held in trust for all
citizens — a concept that was under
assault during the six-week occupation.
The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
belongs to every American, and the share
claimed by a Boston apartment-dweller
is no smaller than the share belonging to
a Harney County rancher. At the same
time, the rancher understands his world
in ways that can be used to protect and
enhance the value of the Bostonian’s
share of the refuge.
A recognition of both national
ownership and local interests and
expertise underlies the collaborative
management plans that have been
painstakingly developed for the Malheur
refuge and places like it. The occupiers’
contempt public lands being managed for
the broad common good has now been
validated in court — which makes the
hard work of collaboration more vital
than ever.
OTHER VIEWS
What did you do in 2016?
O
ne day, Americans who were
You don’t need an intricate effort
too young to have followed the
to influence people, though. Post your
2016 campaign will look back
own voting plan to Facebook, and ask
and try to make sense of it. They will
your friends to reply with theirs. Text
want to know how such a dangerous
or call relatives in swing states and ask
person could have gotten so close to
about their voting plans. Do the same
the presidency — a man who spoke of
when you see friends.
abandoning our allies, admiring foreign
And when people tell you their plan,
despots, weakening constitutional
don’t just nod and smile. Say that you
David
rights, and serially molesting women.
Leonhardt expect to hear from them after they’ve
Those future adults may also pose a
executed their plan. “Social pressure
Comment
more personal question to their elders:
is mighty persuasive,” says Carolyn
Mommy and Daddy, what did you
DeWitt, president of Rock the Vote.
do in response to Donald Trump?
▪ Third, with the people you feel most
It will be a fair question. The reality is,
comfortable, consider taking the risk of talking
Trump could still win. It is
politics. I’m well aware of
unlikely, yes, but the gift he
how awkward the subject
received from a surprisingly
can be. I come from a close
bumbling FBI shows that
and politically diverse family,
campaigns aren’t over until
and we avoid politics at most
they’re over.
gatherings.
With seven days left, it
But this election is
is not too late for anyone
different. Trump threatens
alarmed by Trump to get
American values, threatens
involved. As it happens,
America’s interests and — as
Trump himself has pointed
is clear from the financial
toward the best way to
markets’ dire view of a Trump
do so. Again and again, he has attempted
presidency — threatens the economy.
to undermine democratic legitimacy, be it
It’s worth reminding undecided voters in
inviting foreign interference or flirting with
your life about who he is: what he has said
voter intimidation.
about prisoners of war and the disabled,
The right response to anti-democracy is
how he has humiliated women, how he has
more democracy. It’s also the way to defeat
promoted online racism and anti-Semitism.
Trump. His paths to the presidency depend on
Almost everybody loves somebody who
large third-party vote shares and low turnout.
is part of a group that Donald Trump has
Fortunately, we know a lot more about how demeaned.
to encourage democratic participation than
If you do talk politics, you’ll have a lot of
even a decade ago, thanks to a flowering of
company. In each of the last three presidential
research in psychology and political science.
campaigns, at least 40 percent of adults tried
Here, then, is a how-to guide for fighting
to influence someone else’s vote, according to
Trumpism:
the American National Election Studies.
▪ First, obviously, you should vote. You
▪ Finally, it’s not too late to volunteer to
knew that, but many people who intend to vote get out the vote. You can do so through a
become waylaid — by a traffic jam, a sick kid
campaign’s website or through a group like
or a work meeting. Make a detailed plan now,
Rock the Vote, which is looking for volunteers
about when and where you will vote.
who have a few spare minutes to call people
▪ Voting plans increase voter turnout.
and ask about their voting plans.
In an experiment by David Nickerson and
You can also sign up with a nonpartisan
Todd Rogers, involving tens of thousands of
group to help protect voting rights. That work
phone calls, some people received a vague
is vital, given the efforts to restrict rights. (In
encouragement to vote. They were no more
Texas, for example, some poll workers last
likely to vote than people who received no call. week falsely told voters that they needed
Other people received calls asking questions
photo identification.) The Election Protection
about their logistical plans — and became
Coalition, a large, well-regarded group, is
significantly more likely to vote. The questions seeking both laypeople and lawyers to work at
nudged them.
phone banks or polling sites.
▪ Second, tell other people about your
In less than a week, the often-depressing
plan, and ask about theirs. The power of
campaign of 2016 will be over. Before it is,
peer pressure increases voter turnout. One
take a moment to imagine how it would feel
aggressive experiment mailed people a sheet
to live in a country that had voted for and was
of paper with their own turnout history and
run by Donald Trump.
their neighbors’. A more gentle experiment
Then go out and do your part to keep
presented Facebook users with head shots of
America great.
their friends who had posted an update about
■
having voted. Both increased turnout, as have
David Leonhardt is a columnist for the New
many other experiments.
York Times.
The right
response to
anti-democracy
is more
democracy.
YOUR VIEWS
No matter who wins election,
we must come together
On Nov. 9 I will be up early getting ready
for work. Many of you will be doing the same.
We will have a new president-elect, selected
by the majority of those who voted.
Maybe my choice won, maybe yours won.
Either way there will be classes to teach,
people to feed, merchandise to be sold and
work to be done. We will still be the greatest
nation on earth, striving to live up to our
creed: ¨We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal ... ”
In the beginning these words only referred
to landed white men. Over the years our
nation has struggled to make these words
more inclusive. We even fought a horrific
Civil War in order to become a more perfect
union as envisioned by Abraham Lincoln.
Our nation still has a way to go, but we will
continue to make progress as long as we
keep the dialogue going, as long as we can
compromise.
Change is a constant in life, and no one
likes change, but nothing stands still. If we
can set aside our innate nearsightedness and
self-centeredness to put ourselves in the shoes
of those around us, we will continue to move
forward. We are not a divided nation; we are
a diverse nation, made up of all peoples in
this world. We all came from somewhere else
to reside on this continent. This great social
experiment of self-governance we are part of
requires everyone’s participation in order that
all can enjoy their ¨unalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. ¨
Perhaps we will determine that the person
chosen in this election is wrong for the nation.
Our Constitution has made a provision for
this. We have used it before. Whatever comes
our way, we the people are still the United
States of America.
Brenda Kirk
College Place
State timber lands could bring
in more than marijuana taxes
The Medford Mail Tribune reprinted the
East Oregonian’s opinion chastising citizens
for foregoing the windfall that could be had by
taxing marijuana.
Rather than promote what is proving to be
a pernicious influence on our communities,
perhaps the editorial board could go to work
pushing to have O&C timber lands put back
into production. Down here in Southern
Oregon those lands produce 83 cents per acre
per year, yet they are meant to replace what
would be tax revenue.
So while these lands remain unproductive,
your counties and cities hit you with bond
after bond. Yes, there is tax revenue, but
it comes right out of the hapless workers’
wallets.
Hubert Smith
Jacksonville, Ore.
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