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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, November 12, 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
Expand your silo
to avoid surprises
Did the results of Tuesday’s
available to check facts.
Farhad Manjoo recently wrote an
election surprise you? Did you stay
article in the New York Times titled:
up until late at night, rubbing your
“How the internet is loosening our
disbelieving eyes?
grip on the truth.” He argues that
You weren’t alone.
while the internet offers plenty of
Even most data savvy journalists
sources of information, it also offers
and the country’s biggest Trump
plenty of sources of disinformation.
supporters were caught by surprise.
And it makes it difficult to tell the
Some found the surprise quite
difference between the two.
pleasant, others found it jarring.
“Psychologists and other
Yet at a moment where everyone
social scientists
agrees America is
have repeatedly
as divided as it has
shown that
been since the Civil
When we
when confronted
War, why is it a
silo ourselves
with diverse
surprise that neither
choices,
side could hear
around friendly information
people rarely
what the other was
information and act like rational,
saying?
civic-minded
In reality, the
people who
automatons,” he
difference between
share our view wrote. “Instead,
a Trump win and a
are roiled by
Clinton victory was
of the world, we we
preconceptions
about 2 percentage
points. That was
do ourselves a and biases, and
we usually do
enough to tip
disservice.
what feels easiest
Florida, Michigan,
— we gorge on
Ohio, Pennsylvania
information that
and Wisconsin to
confirms our ideas, and we shun
the Republican, thus giving him
what does not.”
the election. Most data on Election
Online businesses are dependent
Day eve showed those states were
on clicks — not the truth — and
hovering on razor-thin margins, yet
too often people click on what
most analysis of the race leaned on
the fact that Clinton only had to win they want to believe instead of
two of those states to take the White what they should believe. When
we silo ourselves around friendly
House. Establishment thinkers
information and people who share
couldn’t comprehend that Clinton
might not win two of them, and that our view of the world, we do
ourselves a disservice. And we
Trump had a gambler’s chance at
set ourselves up for that shocking
winning the race. Something was
moment when we peek out of our
lost between the data on the page
silo and see that the rest of our state,
and the thought process of a person
country or world is different than we
who may not have spoken to many
thought.
Trump supporters.
As we’ve argued in this space
The division in American is
previously, it takes a stronger kind
accurate, and it’s not just political.
of person to confront facts that
There is physical division — just
challenge their opinions. It is much
take a look at the electoral map.
easier to lend credence to vague
Liberals are gathering in population
conspiracies, to throw rocks at the
centers and along the coasts.
wall of truth instead of doing the
Conservatives in rural areas and
backbreaking work of building
the South and Rust Belt. There is
generational division, too, as well as your own with supporting facts and
studies and impassioned defense.
a division in education, gender and
Build that wall, Mr. Trump.
race.
Media is, generally, conservative.
The media, which is tasked
And we mean conservative with a
with explaining and bridging that
small c. We’re biased toward long
division, has fallen flat. Too much
résumés, established practices, data
of the campaign coverage dealt
that proves the point and historical
with the entertaining but ultimately
comparisons. We’re cynical of big
superficial horse race nature of it
promises without proof, we don’t
— who was up and who was down.
take a candidate’s word for it, and
Real dissection of policy, and really
we’re wary of leaping without
listening to voters, was noticeably
looking.
absent.
Like you, we are invested in our
On the face of it, the near infinite
philosophy, our view and hope for
number of online news outlets
should help disseminate truth, right? the world. But filling that arsenal
with facts, admitting mistakes and
You no longer need a printing press
sensing advantage is the way to
to dissect policy or bullhorn the
stories of average Americans. At the move forward, win over skeptics and
restore trust and truth.
very least, there is plenty of space
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.
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public
issues and public policies for publication. The newspaper reserves the right to
withhold letters that address 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 phone number. Send letters
to 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
OTHER VIEWS
The view from Trump Tower
I
f your social circles are like
mine, you spent Tuesday night
swapping miserable texts. Not
all, but many of my friends and
family members were outraged,
stunned, disgusted and devastated.
This is victory for white supremacy,
people wrote, for misogyny, nativism
and authoritarianism. Fascism is
descending.
plans, maybe things won’t be
disastrous.
The job for the rest of us is
to rebind the fabric of society,
community by community, and to
construct a political movement for
the post-Trump era. I suspect the
coming political movements will
David
identified on two axes: open and
Brooks be
closed
and individual and social.
I was on PBS trying to make
Comment
Those who believe in open
sense of what was happening while
believe in open trade, relatively
trying to text various people off
open immigration, an active foreign
the ledge. At one point I was opining
about the results while a disbelieving text policy and racial integration. Those who
believe in closed believe in protective
flashed across my phone: “Change It!
trade, closed borders, a withdrawn
Change It! CHAAAANGE IT!”
foreign policy and ethnic
Those emotional
separatism.
reactions were a fitting
Trump will
Those who favor
first-night response to the
individual believe in
greatest political shock
probably
individual initiative,
of our lifetimes. Still, this
designing programs to
resign or be
is probably not the best
incentivize enterprise
mentality for the coming
impeached
and removing regulatory
era.
Those who
In the first place,
within a year. barriers.
believe in social believe
emotions like disgust
that social mobility
don’t do justice to
happens within rich communities — that
the complexity of Donald Trump’s
people can undertake daring adventures
supporters. The disgusted posture risks
when they have a secure social and
turning politics into a Manichaean civil
emotional base.
war between the alleged children of light
Donald Trump is probably going to
and the alleged children of darkness —
between us enlightened, college-educated make the GOP the party of individual/
closed. He’s going to start with the
tolerant people and the supposed
traditional Republican agenda of getting
primitive horde driven by dark fears
government out of the way, and he’s
and prejudices. That crude and ignorant
going to add walls, protectionism and
condescension is what feeds the Trump
xenophobia. That will leave people
phenomenon in the first place.
isolated in the face of the challenges of
Second, we simply don’t yet know
how much racism or misogyny motivated the information age economy, and it will
close off the dynamism and diversity
Trump voters. It is true that those voters
that always marked this crossroads of the
are willing to tolerate a lot more bigotry
nation.
in their candidate than I’d be willing to
The Democrats are probably going to
tolerate.
But if you were stuck in a jobless town, be the party of social/closed. The coming
Sanders-Warren party will advocate
watching your friends OD on opiates,
proposals that help communities with
scrambling every month to pay the
early education programs and the like, but
electric bill, and then along came a guy
that party will close off trade, withdraw
who seemed able to fix your problems
from the world, close off integration with
and hear your voice, maybe you would
hyper-race-conscious categories and close
stomach some ugliness, too.
off debate with political correctness.
Third, outrage and disgust impede
Which is why I’ve been thinking
learning. This century is still being
we
need a third party that is social/
formed and none of us understands it yet.
open.
This compassionate globalist
The century really began on 9/11, and so
party
would
support the free trade and
far it has been marked by strong reactions
skilled immigration that fuel growth.
against globalism and cosmopolitanism
But it would also flood the zone for
— by terrorism, tribalism and
those challenged in the high-skill global
authoritarianism.
economy — offering programs to rebuild
Populism of the Trump/Le Pen/Brexit
community, foster economic security
variety has always been a warning sign,
and boost mobility. It would integrate the
a warning sign that there is some deeper
white working class and minority groups
dysfunction in our economic, social and
by emphasizing that we are all part of a
cultural systems. If you want to take that
single American idea.
warning sign and dismiss it as simple
Trump’s bigotry, dishonesty and
bigotry, you’re never going to pause to
promise-breaking will have to be
understand what’s going on and you
denounced. We can’t go morally numb.
will never know how to constructively
But he needs to be replaced with a
respond.
program that addresses the problems that
Finally, it seems important to be
fueled his assent.
humbled and taught by this horrific
After all, the guy will probably resign
election result. Trump’s main problem
or be impeached within a year. The future
in governing is not going to be some
is closer than you think.
fascistic ideology; his main problem
■
is going to be his own attention span,
David Brooks became a New York
ignorance and incompetence. If he’s left
to bloviate while others are left to run the Times Op-Ed columnist in 2003. He is
currently a commentator on PBS.
country and push through infrastructure
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. President
La Grande office:
541-962-7691
La Grande office:
541-624-2400
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Email: www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Jeff Merkley
Governor
Washington office:
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office:
541-278-1129
Kate Brown
U.S. Senators
U.S. Representative
Ron Wyden
Greg Walden
Barack Obama
Washington office:
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
Washington office:
185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Senator
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
State Representatives
Greg Barreto, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-38
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us