NATION
East Oregonian
Page 8A
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Conservatives welcome Trump with wariness
WASHINGTON
(AP)
— For the past eight years,
thousands of conservative
activists have descended on
Washington each spring with
dreams of putting a Repub-
lican in the White House.
This year, they’re learning
reality can be complicated.
With Donald Trump’s
presidential victory, the future
of the conservative movement
has become entwined with
an unconventional New York
businessman better known
for his deal-making than any
ideological principles.
It’s an uneasy marriage
of political convenience at
best. Some conservatives
worry whether they can trust
their new president to follow
decades of orthodoxy on issues
like international affairs, small
government, abortion and
opposition to expanded legal
protections for LGBT Ameri-
cans — and what it means for
their movement if he doesn’t.
“Donald Trump may
have come to the Republican
Party in an unconventional
and circuitous route, but the
fact is that we now need him
to succeed lest the larger
conservative project fails,”
said evangelical leader Ralph
Reed, who mobilized his
organization to campaign for
Trump during the campaign.
“Our success is inextricably
tied to his success.”
As conservatives filtered
into their convention hall
Wednesday for their annual
gathering, many said they still
have nagging doubts about
Trump even as they cheer his
early actions. A Wednesday
night decision to reverse an
Obama-era directive that said
transgender students should be
allowed to use public school
bathrooms and locker rooms
matching their chosen gender
identity has thrilled social
conservatives.
“He’s said that on multiple
occasions that he’s not a
conservative,
especially
socially,” said Zach Weidlich,
a junior at the University
of South Alabama, “but my
mind-set was, give him a
chance, especially now that
he’s elected.’”
“He was the better of two
Administration
lifts transgender
bathroom guide
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the
Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.
evils given the choice,” added
Timmy Finn. “I agree with his
policies, however, I think he’s
moving a little too fast.”
Trump has a somewhat
tortured history with the
Conservative Political Action
Conference,
an
annual
convention that’s part ideo-
logical pep talk, part political
boot camp for activists. Over
the past six years, he’s been
both booed and cheered. He’s
rejected speaking slots and
galvanized attendees with big
promises of economic growth
and electoral victory.
At times, he has seemed to
delight in taunting them.
“I’m a conservative, but
don’t forget: This is called
the Republican Party, not the
Conservative Party,” he said
in a May interview on ABC’s
“This Week.”
Matt Schlapp, chairman of
the American Conservative
Union, which hosts CPAC,
said Trump’s aggressive style
is more important than ideo-
logical purity.
“Conservatives
weren’t
looking for somebody who
knew how to explain all the
philosophies. They were
actually looking for somebody
who would just fight,” he said.
“Can you think of anybody
in America who fits that bill
more than Donald Trump?”
Trump is to address the
group Friday morning. Vice
President Mike Pence is to
speak Thursday as are White
House chief of staff Reince
Priebus and senior advisers
Steve Bannon and Kellyanne
Conway.
The tensions between
Trump’s brand of populist
politics and conservative
ideology will be on full display
at the three-day conference,
which features panels like:
“Conservatives: Where we
come from, where we are and
where we are going” and “The
Alt-Right Ain’t Right At All.”
Along with Trump come
his supporters, including the
populists, party newcomers
and nationalists that have
long existed on the fringes
of conservativism and have
gotten new voice during the
early days of his administra-
tion.
Pro-Brexit British politi-
cian Nigel Farage will speak a
few hours after Trump.
Organizers invited provo-
cateur Milo Yiannopoulos
after protesters at the
University of California at
Berkeley protested to stop his
appearance on campus. But
the former editor at Breitbart
News, the website previously
run by Bannon, was disinvited
this week after video clips
surfaced in which he appeared
to defend sexual relationships
between men and boys as
young as 13.
Trump “is giving rise to
a conservative voice that for
the first time in a long time
unabashedly, unapologetically
puts America first,” said
Republican strategist Hogan
Gidley. “That ‘America First’
moniker can very well shape
this country, but also the
electorate and the Republican
Party and conservative move-
ment for decades.”
WASHINGTON (AP)
— Transgender students
on Wednesday lost federal
protections that allowed
them to use school bath-
rooms and locker rooms
matching their gender
identities, as the Trump
administration
stepped
into a long-simmering
national debate.
The
administration
came down on the side
of states’ rights, lifting
Obama-era federal guide-
lines that had been charac-
terized by Republicans as
an example of overreach.
Without the Obama
directive, it will be up to
states and school districts
to
interpret
federal
anti-discrimination
law
and determine whether
students should have
access to restrooms in
accordance with their
expressed gender identity
and not just their biolog-
ical sex.
“This is an issue best
solved at the state and
local level,” Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos
said. “Schools, communi-
ties and families can find
— and in many cases have
found — solutions that
protect all students.”
In a letter to the nation’s
schools, the Justice and
Education
departments
said the earlier guidance
“has given rise to signif-
icant litigation regarding
school restrooms and
locker rooms.”
The agencies with-
drew the guidance to “in
order to further and more
completely consider the
legal issues involved.”
Anti-bullying
safe-
guards would not be
affected by the change,
according to the letter.
“All schools must ensure
that all students, including
LGBT students, are able to
learn and thrive in a safe
environment,” it said.
MARIJUANA: Illegal for
a retailer to allow minors
into the store or sell to them
Continued from 1A
pass by 1292 S.W. Tutuilla
Road traveling to and from
Sunridge every day in addi-
tion to the 29 Pendleton
students who use a bus stop
near the proposed site.
Williams understood
that bus stops and other
schools facilities are
located near businesses
that sell alcohol, tobacco
and other “adult products,”
but the inability of most
children to avoid passing
by the store made it unsuit-
able for the area.
School officials weren’t
the only people who lodged
opposition to the pot shop.
Several nearby property
owners sent letters to the
commission urging them
to deny the application,
arguing that the marijuana
store would cause public
safety issues and bring
down property values.
Someone
recently
placed a sign near the prop-
erty warning passersby
that a dispensary wants to
locate near a place where
children congregate.
Under Oregon law, it’s
illegal for a marijuana
retailer to allow minors
into the store or sell mari-
juana to them. Consuming
marijuana on the premises
or in public is also prohib-
ited.
Calls to the phone
number listed on Thur’s
owner Bryson Thurman’s
application triggered a
busy signal. The East
Oregonian was otherwise
unable to contact Thurman.
Thur’s has drawn the
most public opposition of
the four marijuana busi-
nesses that have applied
for zoning permits. The
first two — Kind Leaf
Pendleton and Pendleton
Cannabis — received no
negative testimony at all.
Regardless of the
commission’s final deci-
sion, either side will have
the opportunity to appeal
the issue to the city council.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
BIKE WEEK: Last year’s
event resulted in $2.5M in
spending in local economy
Continued from 1A
remain key partners.
The Saturday night
concert features Grand
Funk Railroad. The band
formed in 1969, rose to
prominence in the 1970s
and continues with various
members with 40-plus
shows a year. Folkestad
said Grand Funk is a great
fit for the demographic
that comes to Pendleton
Bike Week.
The average attendee
is 55 and earns about
$78,000 a year, Beard
said, and is looking for a
place to ride motorcycles,
have a good time but not
cause trouble. Last year’s
event, he said, resulted
in $2.5 million in direct
spending in the local
economy.
Folkestad
said
Pendleton draws people
seeking an authentic
experience who don’t
want to go to a big city.
“There’s nothing fake
about Pendleton,” he said.
Pendleton Bike Week
is July 19-23. For more
information, visit the
website www.pendleton-
bikeweek.com.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
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Pendleton Convention Center
& Pendleton High Sihool
Its that time of year again! Pendleton is preparing to host the State
2A Basketball Tournament. Here's how you can help:
• Weliome Players & Fans on your business reader board.
• Contribute food or finaniially to our
legendary Hospitality Room.
• Beiome a window sponsor and show your
support for an Oregon team.
Call the Chamber of Commerce at (541) 276-7411 to let us know!
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Hospitality Room Donations
The Pendleton Chamber of Commerce is once again in charge of
the BEST Hospitality Room in the State! Donations of food, cash or
volunteer time are welcome. If you'd like to contribute, please
contact Megan at the Chamber office by calling (541) 276-7411 or
email membership@pendletonchamber.com
Pendleton! Where Champions Come to Play!
