Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, December 23, 2016
OTHER VIEWS
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
OUR VIEW
Tip of the hat,
kick in the pants
In the spirit of the season, we will leave our kickin’ boots by the front
door this week and offer nothing but praise in this space. Merry Christmas.
A tip of the hat to the organizers and volunteers working to put on
holiday meals to be served up this weekend.
The draw to spend a long holiday weekend in a
nice warm living room surrounded by loved ones is
tempting. Exchanging gifts, sharing holiday baked
goods and watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” on a
loop make us all merry.
But many people have made serving and sharing
a local meal their annual tradition, and would love
to have you join them.
In Pendleton the meal is 4-6 p.m. at the
Pendleton Convention Center and put on by the Blue Mountain Community
College student government.
In Hermiston the meal is 12:30-3:30 p.m. at the senior center, 435 W.
Orchard Ave.
A tip of the hat to everyone who has donated goods, services or cold,
hard cash to charity this holiday season.
In Thursday’s paper we published a column
from Max Williams, the president and CEO of The
Oregon Community Foundation, sharing some best
practices when it comes to donations.
We’re all for directing goodwill to the place
it will be best utilized. But we also know that
generosity comes from the heart, and we wouldn’t
suggest letting fear of missing a better donation
option keep you from sharing your bounty with others.
A tip of the hat to the humming local economy this Christmas season.
Pendleton’s Main Street is as full as it has been
in a decade and even in the cold weather has had
plenty of foot traffic in and out of the stores.
In Hermiston a new hotel, tool store, pet supply
store and pair of sushi restaurants are all signs of an
ever-growing economy.
We don’t expect a shopping mall to locate here
anytime soon, but having varied options for buying
Christmas gifts and eating meals and inviting our
family to stay (that’s not in our living room) is nice.
A tip of the hat to Boutique Air, with a week of service between
Pendleton and Portland under its wing and plenty of good reviews coming
in. We appreciate the three flights a day, seven days
a week schedule.
The leather seats of the Pilatus PC-12 make
for a comfortable ride (though turbulence can be
an issue, as with all small planes, especially near
the Cascades), the off-PDX terminal makes for
a quicker transition from air to road and the low
introductory rate makes it a no-brainer for getting to
Portland and back in short order.
And, the self-serve beverages and snacks in the terminals and on board
are a nice touch.
There is still some work to be done. The interior of the Boutique Air
terminal in Portland is still being furnished and the exterior is unsigned and
poorly lit, making it an uncomfortable place to wait and a difficult place to
find if you haven’t been there before.
It is a great benefit for both locals and visitors to have this quick air
transportation option to and from Eastern Oregon Regional Airport.
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.
Populism, real and phony
A
uthoritarians with an animus
led to big declines in the number of the
against ethnic minorities are on
uninsured in regions that voted Trump
this year, and repealing it would undo
the march across the Western
world. They control governments in
all those gains. The nonpartisan Urban
Hungary and Poland, and will soon
Institute estimates that repeal would
take power in the United States. And
cause 30 million Americans — 16
they’re organizing across borders:
million of them non-Hispanic whites
Austria’s Freedom Party, founded by
— to lose health coverage.
former Nazis, has signed an agreement
And no, there won’t be a “terrific”
Paul
with Russia’s ruling party — and
replacement:
Republican plans would
Krugman cover only a fraction
met with Donald Trump’s choice for
as many people
Comment
national security adviser.
as the law they would displace, and
But what should we call these
they’d be different people — younger,
groups? Many reporters are using the term
healthier and richer.
“populist,” which seems inadequate and
Converting Medicare into a voucher
misleading. I guess racism can be considered
system would also amount to a severe
populist in the sense that it represents the
benefit cut, partly because it would lead to
views of some non-elite people. But are the
lower government spending, partly because
other shared features of this movement —
a significant fraction of spending would be
addiction to conspiracy theories, indifference
diverted into the overhead and profits of
to the rule of law, a penchant for punishing
private insurance companies. And raising the
critics — really captured by the “populist”
retirement age for Social Security would hit
label?
especially hard among Americans whose life
Still, the European members of this
expectancy has stagnated or declined, or who
emerging alliance — an axis of evil? — have
have disabilities that make it hard for them
offered some real benefits to workers.
to continue working — problems that are
Hungary’s Fidesz party has provided mortgage strongly correlated with Trump votes.
relief and pushed down utility prices. Poland’s
In other words, the movement that’s about
Law and Justice party has increased child
to take power here isn’t the same as Europe’s
benefits, raised the minimum wage and
far-right movements. It may share their racism
reduced the retirement age. France’s National
and contempt for democracy; but European
Front is running as a defender of that nation’s
populism is at least partly real, while Trumpist
extensive welfare state — but only for the
populism is turning out to be entirely fake, a
right people.
scam sold to working-class voters who are in
Trumpism is, however, different. The
for a rude awakening. Will the new regime
campaign rhetoric may have included
pay a political price?
promises to keep Medicare and Social
Well, don’t count on it. This epic bait-and-
Security intact and replace Obamacare with
switch, this betrayal of supporters, certainly
something “terrific.” But the emerging policy
offers Democrats a political opportunity. But
agenda is anything but populist.
you know that there will be huge efforts to
All indications are that we’re looking at
shift the blame. These will include claims that
huge windfalls for billionaires combined with
the collapse of health care is really President
savage cuts in programs that serve not just the Barack Obama’s fault; claims that the failure
poor but also the middle class. And the white
of alternatives is somehow the fault of
working class, which provided much of the 46 recalcitrant Democrats; and an endless series
percent Trump vote share, is shaping up as the of attempts to distract the public.
biggest loser.
Expect more Carrier-style stunts that don’t
True, we don’t yet have detailed policy
actually help workers but dominate a news
proposals. But Trump’s Cabinet choices show
cycle. Expect lots of fulmination against
which way the wind is blowing.
minorities. And it’s worth remembering what
Both his pick as budget director and his
authoritarian regimes traditionally do to shift
choice to head Health and Human Services
attention from failing policies, namely, find
want to dismantle the Affordable Care Act
some foreigners to confront. Maybe it will
and privatize Medicare. His choice as labor
be a trade war with China, maybe something
secretary is a fast-food tycoon who has
worse.
been a vociferous opponent of Obamacare
Opponents need to do all they can to
and of minimum wage hikes. And House
defeat such strategies of distraction. Above
Republicans have submitted plans for drastic
all, they shouldn’t let themselves be sucked
cuts in Social Security, including a sharp rise
into cooperation that leaves them sharing part
in the retirement age.
of the blame. The perpetrators of this scam
What would these policies do? Obamacare
should be forced to own it.
OTHER VIEWS
United States nears record for fewest death sentences
The Los Angeles Times, Dec. 21
A
San Bernardino County
judge is expected to follow
a jury’s recommendation
next week and sentence Gilbert
Sanchez to death for the 2001 rape
and murder of Sylvia Galindo,
a 30-year-old Fontana bakery
worker. That sentence will set,
incongruously enough, a welcome
national milestone. His would be
the 30th death sentence imposed in
the U.S. in 2016, the lowest annual
total since the Supreme Court
revived the death penalty more than
40 years ago.
The 2016 ebb point is not just
a little bit lower than previous
years, but down 39% from the 49
death sentences issued last year,
and down 90% from the peak of
315 two decades ago, according
to an annual report released today
by the Death Penalty Information
Center. The reasons for the decline
are not crystal clear, but one factor
is the general nationwide decrease
in homicides, according to Robert
Dunham, executive director of the
Death Penalty Information Center.
What’s probably more
significant, though, is that
prosecutors are seeking death
sentences less often, which could
signal a crucial change in attitudes
among those who hold significant
power in determining who gets
executed and who does not. Juries
make that decision in nearly all
states (Alabama is an outlier), but
not unless they are asked to by the
prosecutor filing the case. In fact,
the Death Penalty Information
Center report found that only 27
counties nationwide sentenced
someone to death this year. The
leader, unfortunately, was Los
Angeles County, where four of the
state’s eight death sentences — also
the highest in the nation, reflecting
the state’s most-populous status —
were handed down. Alameda, Kern,
Orange, Riverside counties issued
one each; Sanchez will be the
state’s ninth (and San Bernardino’s
only one) this year.
And the landscape for capital
punishment is changing. As
national surveys have found
a general decrease in public
support for capital punishment
in recent years, four high-profile,
pro-death-penalty district attorneys
in Florida, Texas and Alabama lost
recent reelection bids in campaigns
that centered on criminal justice
reforms, including the death
penalty. Executions themselves
are also down, though that has less
to do with mercy in the criminal
justice system than with states
having trouble buying lethal-
injection drugs — pharmaceutical
companies won’t sell their products
for use in executions — and with
legal holds placed by courts or
governors grappling with questions
about the constitutionality of
execution methods.
The year wasn’t all good news
for death penalty abolitionists,
however. Despite the broad
national trend away from popular
support for capital punishment,
voters here in California rejected
a ballot initiative last month that
would have banned it. Instead, they
approved a competing initiative
that will speed up the appeals
process in ways that will likely
violate the constitutional rights of
the accused, increase the chances of
an innocent person being executed
and usurp the authority of the state
court system. (The state Supreme
Court put the measure on hold
Tuesday while it considers a legal
challenge.) Elsewhere, voters in
Nebraska overturned a state law
banning the death penalty, and
Oklahoma voters preemptively
adopted a constitutional
amendment recognizing capital
punishment.
So where does that leave the
fight to end the death penalty? In
an odd, but somewhat optimistic,
place. Several federal judges
have in recent years questioned
the constitutionality of the way
California and other states conduct
the death penalty. And in recent
dissents, Supreme Court Justice
Steven Breyer has called for
his colleagues to reconsider the
constitutionality of the death
penalty itself. Whether the justices
will strike it down once and for all
is the big question, especially with
the empty Scalia seat still waiting
to be filled.
But there is always hope that
even a conservative legal mind
will recognize that the mood of
the country is shifting away from
executions. Chief Justice Earl
Warren wrote in a 1958 decision
that the 8th Amendment’s definition
of cruel and unusual punishment
“must draw its meaning from the
evolving standards of decency that
mark the progress of a maturing
society.” We hope the court infers
from the steady decline in death
sentences that American society
is maturing, and leaving capital
punishment behind.
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 let-
ters 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. Un-
signed 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.