Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
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OUR VIEW
Immigration
the key issue in
Umatilla County
Plenty is bound to change in the
many readers want to rip from
noncitizens — Miranda rights, the
first year of a new president, no
right not to incriminate yourself and
matter who is elected. And Donald
Trump is certainly more of a change the right to attend public schools, for
instance.
agent than any president in recent
The Fourteenth Amendment
memory.
addresses citizenship questions and
On immigration, things are in a
state of flux. But how on-the-ground the rights of citizens of this country
and those who live here. It reads
policy has changed and will change
in part: “No State shall make or
under the Trump Administration
enforce any law which shall abridge
is unclear. Anecdotal evidence
the privileges or
has popped up of
immunities of
increased raids
citizens of the United
and deportations
Equal
protection
States; nor shall any
of domestic
under the law. State deprive any
violence victims,
person of life, liberty,
farm workers and
or property, without
community linchpins
due process of law; nor deny to any
across the nation, but there is also
person within its jurisdiction the
increased media scrutiny on the
equal protection of the laws.”
issue due to Trump’s extreme
The equal protections clause may
campaign rhetoric.
be the most powerful and defining
We know Trump has ordered
words in all of the U.S. Constitution.
stricter enforcement of immigration
laws, more detention and deportation It is among the most commonly
used — and most commonly fought
and has plans to hire 15,000
over — phrase in a court of law. The
more ICE agents. He has also
phrase has helped decide landmark
promised a new travel ban from
cases like Brown v. Board of
war-torn countries to replace a
Education, Roe v. Wade and Bush v.
previous iteration that was declared
Gore.
unconstitutional.
We can and should argue about
In Umatilla County, immigration
changing our immigration laws and
will be the primary issue in 2017.
how best to enforce them, but we
Perhaps it has been for a few years
should allow everyone the same
already.
human rights that American citizens
Fear from the president’s
have. That cannot be up for debate.
promises has resonated locally,
Yet the debate is here. And it’s
especially in immigrant communities
in Hermiston, Milton-Freewater and worth noting that its existence
is directly tied to government’s
Umatilla. Social unrest has rippled
failure to solve a clear problem.
through each town, and school
For decades, both political parties
districts are dealing with increased
admitted our immigration system
absences caused by families
was a wreck, and neither did
distrustful of government in any
anything about it.
form — even public schools.
That is one reason the president’s
There have also been strains of
views, equal parts extremist and
celebration by those hoping the
overly simplistic, have gained
harder stance on people living here
illegally will cure some of our social traction. Building a multi-billion
dollar “beautiful wall” along our
ills.
2,000-mile border with Mexico is
Much of the growth in Umatilla
patently absurd, but neither political
and Morrow counties is due to
party has put any meaningful effort
immigrants both documented and
toward a better plan.
undocumented, some with full
When our government cannot
citizenship, others with work visas
solve problems that exist for
and still others with no legitimate
generations, it causes enmity and
paperwork. Those communities
anger from citizens. Sometimes
are an irreplaceable part of our
economy. We have a lot to lose with those citizens revolt at the ballot
box, and those in control realizes
a change in immigration policy, but
they should have taken action long
a lot to gain, too.
ago, before things got out of control.
This newspaper has reported
Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that
on immigration issues multiple
point. Eastern Oregon has a lot to
times since the election. It has been
lose.
surprising to see the basic rights
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
Trumpism at its best, straight up
D
from the disruptions of technological
onald Trump gave us Trumpism
change and globalization.
at its best on Tuesday night.
Donald Trump came along and
And that was useful because
offered them exactly that kind of
it gave us a view of the political
strong government. He is not offering
movement he represents, without the
compassionate government, the way
clownish behavior.
a Democrat might, but he is offering
The first thing we learned was that
forceful government.
Trumpism is an utter repudiation of
Trump would use big government
modern conservatism. For the last 40
David
years, the Republican Party has been
Brooks to crack down on enemies foreign
and domestic. He’d use government
a coalition of three tendencies. On
Comment
to create millions of jobs for
Tuesday, Trump rejected or ignored all
infrastructure projects. He’d use
of them.
government to force or bribe corporations
There used to be Republican foreign
to locate plants here — the guarded order
policy hawks, people who believed that it
of national corporatism over the wide-open
was in America’s interest to serve as a global
riskiness of free-market capitalism.
policeman, actively preserving a democratic
The third thing we learned
world order. Trump explicitly
repudiated this worldview,
is that much of Trump’s policy
drawing instead a sharp
agenda contradicts his core
distinction between what’s
philosophy. Trumpism is all
good for America and what’s
about protection, security and
good for the rest of the world.
order. But many of Trump’s
There used to be social
policies would introduce more
conservatives, who believed
risk into people’s lives, not
that the moral fabric of the
less.
country had been weakened by secularism
Trump’s health care plan — tax credits
and the breakdown of the family. On Tuesday, and health saving accounts — would increase
Trump acted as if this group didn’t exist.
choice, instability and risk for individual
He didn’t mention a single social issue —
health care consumers. His school-choice
abortion, religious liberty, marriage, anything. ideas might make for more competitive
Finally, there used to be fiscal hawks
education markets, but they would also
who worried about the national debt. Trump
increase risk and insecurity for individual
demolished these people, too, vowing a long
consumers.
list of spending programs and preservation of
It’s likely that Republican voters will
entitlement programs.
simply reject these proposals. They’ve got
The Republicans who applauded Trump
enough risk in their lives. It’s quite likely that
on Tuesday were applauding their own
large elements of the Trump agenda will go
repudiation. They did it because partisanship
down in flames because they go against what
is stronger than philosophy, but also because
the country wants and even against his own
Reagan conservatism no longer applies to
core brand.
current reality.
Fourth, Trump’s speech on Tuesday
The second thing we saw was how Trump’s offered those of us who want to replace him
ethnic nationalism emerges from the wreckage an occasion to ask the big question: How in
of the old GOP. Healthy U.S. political
the 21st century should government unleash
philosophies balance individualism and
initiative and dynamism while also preserving
collectivism, personal freedom and communal order? Trump’s answer: Nationalize
cohesion.
intimidation but privatize compassion. Don’t
The old Reagan conservatism was
look to government to offer a warm hand; look
economic individualism restrained by social
to it to confront your enemies with a hard fist.
and religious traditionalism. Conservatives
Human development research offers
could embrace the creative destruction of
a different formula: All of life is a series
the free market because they believed that
of daring adventures from a secure base.
the communal order could be held together
If government can create a framework in
by traditional morals and the collective
which people grow up amid healthy families,
attachments of family, church and local
nurturing schools, thick communities and
organizations.
a secure safety net, then they will have the
But in the 1990s conservatism devolved
resources and audacity to thrive in a free
from a flexible balance to a crude anti-
global economy and a diversifying skills
government philosophy, the Leave Us Alone
economy.
coalition. Republicans talked as if Americans’
This is a response that is open to welfare
problem was they were burdened by too
state policies from the left and trade and
many restraints and the solution was to get
macroeconomic policies from the free-market
government off their backs.
right — a single-payer health care system
That may have been true of the
married to the flat tax.
businessmen who make up the GOP donor
The last thing Trump showed was this:
class, but regular voters felt adrift and
We’re in a state of radical flux. Political parties
uprooted, untethered and exposed. Regular
can turn on a dime. At least that means it’s a
Republicans didn’t want more freedom and
time to think anew.
more risk in their lives. They wanted more
■
protection and security. They wanted a father
David Brooks became a New York Times
figure government that would protect them
columnist in 2003 and is a PBS commentator.
Life is a series
of daring
adventures from
a secure base.
YOUR VIEWS
OTHER VIEWS
A civics lesson for Oregon students
The Bend Bulletin
S
ome Americans are abysmally
uninformed about their government
and how it works. That lack of
knowledge spurred state Rep. Paul
Evans, D-Salem, to sponsor House
Bill 2691, which would require high
schoolers to demonstrate proficiency in
civics before graduation.
While the idea sounds good, it’s not
the sort of thing that should be added
to the state’s graduation requirements.
Those requirements already provide for
plenty of civics education, as do state
education standards from kindergarten
through grade 12.
It’s true, however, that some
Americans are uninformed about the
nation in which we live. According to a
survey done for the Annenberg Public
Policy Center at the University of
Pennsylvania and released in September
2016, about a third of Americans cannot
name a single branch of government,
much less all three (judicial, legislative
and executive). And while 77 percent
said Congress cannot establish an
official religion, nearly 10 percent
thought Congress could outlaw atheism
(it can’t). Only about a third of those
polled knew what happens to a case
when the Supreme Court ties on it (the
opinion of the lower court stands).
Here in Oregon, students are taught
civics throughout their lives in public
school.
It begins in kindergarten, when
children learn about the value of rules,
among other things, and extends through
high school, when they’re taught
about the “functions and process of
the United States government,” learn
the responsibilities of voters and study
documents including the constitution
and Federalist Papers, among others.
HB 2691 wouldn’t change that.
Rather, it would require, in addition
to classroom work, a proficiency
“measure” before a student could
graduate. The bill leaves it up to
individual districts to decide just how
that measurement should be made.
An understanding of government is
important, to be sure, but requiring a
civics test for graduation is not.
Debate Hermiston school bond
on merits, not nostalgia
Over the next few months there will
be much discussion and debate over the
Hermiston School District bond request and
subsequent vote for approval on May 16.
Although there are fewer of us each year, there
are still plenty of individuals that attended
grades K -12 that continue to proudly call
Hermiston home.
Although I don’t speak for all of these
lucky residents, the pride and vision of these
and all our residents is self-evident in the
way we support not only our schools but our
community and those just arriving and those
with decades of history. This support is shown
equally without question or challenge.
With that said, the construction completion
of our last bond created buildings and
structures with longevity built in. The care
and maintenance of these facilities represents
a fulfilled promise from our school district
administrators when they last asked for our
support. Along with continuous community
use and involvement, the commitments made
have been and continue to be honored on a
daily basis. The Hermiston School District has
promised and over delivered.
As these new buildings created a new
front door into the Hermiston School District
community-wide campus, we continue to
have buildings, grounds and facilities that
remain not only inadequate, but barely usable.
The buildings I attended kindergarten in 55
and 56 years ago still remain (yes, I flunked
kindergarten) along with schools that opened
the year I attended first grade (Rocky Heights
Elementary).
As Highland Hills Elementary followed
close behind, it always amazed me that each
of these facilities seem to have more modular
space by far than the original building
occupancy. As happens so often “temporary
solutions” often become “long term” Band-
Aids, leaving the problems without solutions
and only issues.
A quick tour around the Hermiston
School District will highlight many of these
“temporary solutions” next door to new
facilities. Although at times I would like to
go back to green chalkboards and cursive
alphabet samples as banners across the front
of the room, is it fair to ask students of today
to study in those same rooms and ask them
to be community contributors in the future?
Does it deserve debate — yes — but let’s
debate the needs and use the facts of promises
kept and value of investment returned to this
community as the foundation of these debates.
Dan Dorran
Hermiston