Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, December 27, 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
OUR VIEW
Read columnists
with experience
and expertise
For some, the editorial page is
the first stop after reading the 1A
headlines when picking up the
newspaper. The candor of the letters
to the editor, the biting satire of the
political cartoons and, of course, the
deep wisdom in the local editorial.
Those readers look forward to the
new thoughts and ideas expressed by
their favorite columnists, and enjoy
both the enrichment of finding their
views articulated and the challenge
of having their ideas tested.
We hope to provide both
experiences as often as we can, and
in an effort to do so pick from a
stable of columnists that range the
ideological spectrum to analyze and
opine on the world. We run their
photo with each piece, but not much
more about who these men and
women are.
What follows is a brief primer,
written from each columnist’s
biography, to show the wealth
of experience and thought that is
represented each day:
• David Brooks became a
columnist for The New York Times
in September 2003, teaches at Yale
University and is a member of the
American Academy of Arts and
Sciences. He is a conservative voice
on the Times’ editorial page and a
commentator on “PBS NewsHour,”
NPR’s “All Things Considered” and
NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
• Charles M. Blow joined
The New York Times in 1994 as a
graphics editor and has been a New
York Times columnist since 2008. He
left the paper in 2006 to become the
art director of National Geographic
magazine. He lives in Brooklyn,
often writes about social justice and
is the only black columnist to appear
regularly in the paper.
• Gail Collins joined The New
York Times in 1995 as a member of
the editorial board and columnist
and in 2001 she was appointed
editorial page editor — the first
woman to hold that post. She uses
lighthearted humor in her columns,
often writing in the form of pop
quizzes.
• Ross Douthat, previously a
senior editor at The Atlantic, joined
The New York Times as a columnist
in 2009. He is the author of “Bad
Religion: How We Became a Nation
of Heretics,” and a co-author, with
Reihan Salam, of “Grand New
Party: How Republicans Can Win
the Working Class and Save the
American Dream” (2008). He is the
film critic for National Review and
lives with his wife and daughters in
Washington.
• Maureen Dowd, winner of the
1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished
commentary and author of two New
York Times best sellers, became
a columnist in 1995. She began
her journalism career in 1974 and
has covered seven presidential
campaigns. She turns her weekly
editorial space over to her more
conservative brother each year.
• Timothy Egan worked for 18
years as a writer for The New York
Times, first as the Pacific Northwest
correspondent, then as a national
enterprise reporter. He won the
National Book Award for his history
of people who lived through the
Dust Bowl, “The Worst Hard Time,”
and in 2001 he won the Pulitzer
Prize as part of a team of reporters
who wrote the series “How Race
Is Lived in America.” He has done
special projects on the West and the
decline of rural America.
• Thomas Friedman became
the New York Times’ foreign affairs
columnist in 1995. He joined the
paper in 1981, after which he served
as the Beirut bureau chief in 1982,
Jerusalem bureau chief in 1984, and
then in Washington as the diplomatic
correspondent in 1989, and later
the White House correspondent and
economic correspondent. He was
awarded two Pulitzer Prizes for
international reporting in Beirut and
Israel and one for commentary.
• Nicholas Kristof has been a
columnist for The New York Times
since 2001. He grew up on a farm in
Yamhill, graduated from Harvard,
studied law at Oxford University as
a Rhodes Scholar, and then studied
Arabic in Cairo. He was a longtime
foreign correspondent for The
New York Times and speaks many
languages, including Chinese and
Japanese.
Mr. Kristof has won two
Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of
Tiananmen Square and the genocide
in Darfur, along with humanitarian
awards such as the Anne Frank
Award and the Dayton Literary
Peace Prize.
• Paul Krugman joined The New
York Times in 1999 as a columnist
and continues as professor of
Economics and International Affairs
at Princeton University. He received
his B.A. from Yale in 1974 and his
Ph.D. from MIT in 1977. He has
taught at Yale, MIT and Stanford.
• David Leonhardt is the
managing editor at The New York
Times Company and served as its
Washington bureau chief since
2011. He writes a weekly economics
column for The Times’s business
section and in 2011 was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
• Byron York is a syndicated
columnist and the chief political
correspondent for The Washington
Examiner. He has written for
conservative publications including
National Review, The Hill, The
Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal,
The Weekly Standard, and New
York Post. He is a frequent guest on
conservative television and radio,
appearing on such programs as
“Meet the Press,” “PBS NewsHour,”
“The O’Reilly Factor,” “Special
Report,” “The Laura Ingraham
Show,” and “Hardball” with Chris
Matthews.
Culture Corner:
Family-friendly fun at “Studio C”
I
f you like your comedy free of
profanity and politics, Studio C is
like a breath of
fresh air. This sketch
comedy series from
BYUtv is family
friendly, always
goofy and often
hilarious. Kids of
any age can watch,
but they’ll really
start to get it around
age 9.
Studio C’s
YouTube channel — with more than
650 short videos dating back to 2012
and a new video posted every few days
— can be addictive. You can also watch
episodes on the BYUtv cable television
channel.
A few of our family’s favorite
episodes are The Restaurant of Life,
The Walking Dead Survival Guide, Elf
on the Shelf Gone Wrong, Kid’s School
Photo Banned and
Channel Surfing.
The grammaticist in
me enjoys Captain
Literally and Captain
Irony.
Most sketches
are just a couple of
minutes long, perfect
for binge watching
whether you have
five minutes or five
hours. There are also some compilations,
such as The Top Music Videos of Studio
C, that run 45 minutes.
If your New Year’s resolution is to
laugh more, or if you just need a break
from the news of the day, check out
Studio C.
— Kathryn B. Brown, publisher
OTHER VIEWS
Red state hope for Democratic blues
F
or the longest nights of the year,
to his state — a literal lifesaver to
there is no better place to be
thousands, forcing Republicans to
than on snow-crusted ground,
defend the indefensible. He attacked
staring up at Montana’s big empty
Republican calls for tax cuts as budget
sky. Democrats across rural America
busters and community-killers. And
must know the feeling, this Christmas
in a state where hate groups still pop
week, of looking into a black void and
up like poisonous mushrooms, he
feeling so very alone.
was a champion of Native American
There is a chance for the pulse to
Timothy sovereignty and gay and lesbian rights.
quicken — a flash of the northern
“It’s not about identity politics,”
Egan
lights, perhaps, the distant howl of a
he said. “It’s about trying to bring
Comment
wolf — in that utter darkness. And
everybody up.”
there is hope for a party spurned in
That’s the theme. Everybody. Not
the wide-open spaces of the country, as well.
just the “emerging demographics,” charted
Meet Steve Bullock, the newly re-elected
on many a Democratic PowerPoint. Vice
Democratic governor of Montana.
President Joe Biden, that son of Scranton,
Donald Trump took Montana by 20
Pennsylvania, sounded much like Bullock,
percentage points — a rare
but his fellow Dems didn’t
win for celebrity-infatuated
listen. Perhaps they’re
megalomaniacs in a state
listening now.
whose voters can usually
“I mean these are good
smell the type from a
people, man!” Biden said
on CNN this month. “These
hundred miles out. But
once again, Democrats won
aren’t racists. These aren’t
the governor’s office and
sexists.”
did it with votes to spare.
A former Iowa governor,
Bullock’s Mountain State
Tom Vilsack, tried to
secret sauce is something
remind Democrats that rural
national party leaders should
America is about 15 percent
sample during their solstice.
of the population — larger
A week after the
than the Hispanic vote.
election, Bullock went deer-hunting with his
Democrats shouldn’t need a translator to
10-year-old son. This doesn’t mean Sen. Cory learn how to speak to these lost constituents.
Booker of New Jersey should start shooting
Franklin Roosevelt, a bit of a dandy from
Bambi near the Meadowlands. But the cultural Hudson Valley wealth, knew the language. It’s
thing is a wash for Bullock. As a Montana
about lifting up those left behind. And taking it
native and a graduate of Columbia Law
directly to those who obstruct progress.
School, he has a foot in both coastal elitism
Bullock didn’t abandon people whose
and prairie pragmatism.
paycheck is dependent on coal. Nor did he
“Every morning my wife and I drop our
make false promises about coal roaring back.
kids off at the same public schools that we
Even coal plant owners acknowledge that
went to,” he said.
their days are numbered as the free market
Public, that’s key. As in public land — the
turns to cheap natural gas to generate power,
great shared turf of the American West. Public and as the world turns away from it for
health, which the governor expanded in this
self-preservation.
poor state. Simple stuff, grounded in the
With the Trump presidency, truth will be
nontoxic populism of the past.
a commodity more precious than the gold
So when the Trump administration starts
lining his throne in Manhattan. He no sooner
taking away people’s health care, trashing
won the Electoral College than he started the
public schools with a church-lady billionaire
Trump era with a big lie, saying he’d achieved
as education secretary or colluding with a
“a historic electoral landslide.” For the record:
Congress that wants to offload public land,
His victory ranked near the bottom, 46th out
Montana can offer a resistance playbook.
of 58 presidential elections.
I asked the governor to give some specific
But it was historic — no president has
advice to fellow Democrats.
ever lost the popular vote by a larger number,
“Show up,” he said, noting that Barack
almost 3 million votes. And yet half of
Obama was at the Fourth of July parade in the Republicans believe that he won the popular
hardscrabble Montana mining town of Butte
tally.
in 2008.
As we say goodbye to a dreadful year, one
That year, the black community organizer
that should be bound up in chains and dropped
from Chicago came within 2 percentage points into the Missouri River, Democrats should not
of winning a state with one of the smallest
forget that they have the majority on their side
black populations in the nation. To Hillary
on almost every major issue. It’s time they got
Clinton, on the way to fundraisers with tech
reacquainted with the millions of other people
millionaires, Montana was flyover country.
who make up that majority.
Had she gone to Great Falls or Glendive,
■
she would have seen that struggling white
Timothy Egan worked for 18 years as a
people desire the same things that struggling
writer for The New York Times, first as the
people in diverse urban areas want. Bullock
Pacific Northwest correspondent, then as a
brought Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion
national enterprise reporter.
Democrats
shouldn’t need
a translator to
learn how to
speak to lost
constituents.
YOUR VIEWS
Show appreciation for those
who keep us safe
Umatilla County residents: I would like
to take a moment to express my gratitude to
all the men and women in Umatilla County
who have had a part in ensuring the safety of
individuals and families in our communities
and along our highways and roadways the last
few weeks, and who will likely be doing so
through the remainder of the winter months.
Often times, it is easy to forget that there
are folks providing these vital services
within our neighborhoods. These individuals
include all our law enforcement officials,
fire and emergency services personnel, 911
communications center staff, road department
crews, search and rescue teams, warming
station and shelter volunteers, tow truck
drivers, air ambulance flight crews, utility
company workers and many others who
work long hours, often in cold and miserable
conditions, to ensure our safety and comfort
when the ice and snow makes an appearance.
The people who dedicate themselves and
sacrifice their time and comfort to assist the
rest of us deserve our thanks.
I encourage everyone to please take a
moment if you see one of these individuals
around your neighborhood to offer them your
gratitude. They have mine, and will continue
to have for a long time to come.
Happy Holidays Umatilla County!
Thomas Roberts, Umatilla County emergency
manager
Pendleton
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. Senators
Ron Wyden
Washington office:
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office:
541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
Washington office:
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office:
541-278-1129
Governor
Kate Brown
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
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