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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2017)
VIEWPOINTS Saturday, April 29, 2017 East Oregonian Page 5A President Trump’s first 100 days He gets an A+ for effort. He gets a B+ for results. Much better than people expected. It would be an A+ if Congress got in gear. We asked readers to eval- uate President Trump’s first 100 days in office. Here are the responses: I was overjoyed with the win by Donald Trump, as I had predicted it a few months before he entered the race. I felt like we needed something new and so far I have not been disappointed. I was a registered Democrat and changed to an Indepen- dent. I am so tired of this civil war between Democrats and Republicans. If your party wants to win, the least you could do is supply a decent candidate. Both had flaws, but I wanted change. I am willing to give the man a chance as everyone should. So far, I am really impressed. Rodney Thompson Pendleton Blah blah blah the Chinese invented climate change blah blah. Blah blah blah bad hombres blah blah build wall. Muslims are bad blah blah blah blah. Blah blah I love Putin blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah hate North Korea blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah I’ve got the best words blah blah blah. Blah blah blah Obama was born in Kenya. Blah blah blah blah I listened for ten minutes blah. Blah blah more work than I thought blah blah blah. Blah blah blah Mar-a-Lago is my southern White House blah blah blah. Mike Beers Pendleton I think President Trump has accomplished a lot in his first 100 days in office. We are closer to war with Syria, North Korea, Iran and Russia than we have ever been before. He pledged “America First” to create more jobs. That hasn’t happened yet. He is closing programs for a lot of citizens here, like Meals on Wheels and Senior Companions, to name a few. All this for a wall that he promised. He is finding out that making deals for his businesses is different than making deals that affect millions, when you have to go by Congress for approval. Minnie Bethel Hermiston Trump doesn’t seem to be much of an origionalist, as he once proclaimed. He has two accomplishments: appointment of a Justice to the Supreme Court and a plan to block illegal immigration. Other than this, he has mainly tried to rescind most of the Obama Administration’s programs which would have benefited the public. He didn’t stop ObamaCare. Let us hope he will improve it. Pretty much a failure. Dorys C. Grover Pendleton Federal judge Learned Hand will be forever remem- bered for his comment that “the spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.” Trump’s first 100 days will be forever remembered as the time he never asked himself “What if I’m wrong?” Because now we are witnessing the exponential speed of climate change. As our world likely collapses, Trump’s James Tibbets Pendleton AP Photo/Andrew Harnik President Donald Trump poses in the Oval Office for a portrait a week before his 100th day in office. supporters will learn the rudiments of civilizations that don’t decline and fall: belief in taxes, government and government service. Because such denial is exactly how a strong Roman Empire quickly collapsed, followed by the Dark Ages. Tom Hebert Pendleton Donald Trump’s first 100 days were a good start toward fulfilling his campaign promises. The inauguration set a favorable tone with emphasis on our Christian heritage. Support for Israel has been expressed. An attempt has been made to give Americans preference in hiring and purchasing — about time, I believe. Efforts have been made to deport criminal aliens. Veterans have been promised assistance. The president has shown firmness in dealing with Middle Eastern terrorists. Perhaps most significant was confirmation of a Supreme Court justice who believes in religious freedom. More might have been accomplished except for obstruction by the political left. Ron Ingle Hermiston After the first 100 days of Trump being in office I feel as if I am in my own episode of “The Apprentice.” From putting out his brutally honest opinions on social media to dropping the largest non-nuclear bomb to date on a third world country, we have really seen it all. But, he has done what he prom- ised us in the beginning. Trump has started plans to build the wall while also working to buy American and hire American. But all of his presidential acts in office are in the name of “Making America Great Again,” whenever that was. Lincoln Johnson Pendleton Donald Trump’s presidency has been hard to tell for me. So far Trump has been mainly “American First” making sure that Americans have first take on opportunities in the United States. Trump is still out of control tweeting his opinions, such as on March 29 when he tweeted, “If the people of our great country could only see how viciously and inaccurately my administration is covered by certain media.” Personally I think Trump shouldn’t tweet as much because how often he tweets creates distraction for the task at hand. This possibly leads to how low his approval rating is. Stephen Machado Pendleton Trump’s first 100 days have been successful — successfully disastrous, successfully laughable and successfully negligible. His triumphant successes have been clearly displayed through his “million, million and a half people” inauguration crowd; his truly admirable Secretary of Education pick, Betsy DeVos, who has no back- ground in public education; his generous donation of $78,333 to National Parks to make up for the $1.5 million in budget cuts — and don’t even get me started on his astounding executive orders banning those who display a truly unwavering threat to this country, who obviously do not. What remarkable successes so far, President Trump. Raeana Mikel Pendleton In this era of populism, the election was a referendum on decades of government for special, corporate, and other moneyed interests. His campaign tapped into strong discontent on both left and right. Please, drain the swamp! Instead of reducing the corrupting influence of big money, he has advanced its cause. Tragedy he’ll never understand. His 17 cabinet appointees, all political insiders, have combined worth higher than the 100 million humblest Americans. Will policies help ordinary folks improve their daily lives? Doubtful. Corporate politics as usual, but on steroids, and it needn’t be. Break the mold? Swamp creatures won’t allow it. Sad! William Perkinson Pendleton He sought to con America when she was most vulnerable; like a snake oil salesman claiming that his elixir would cure all afflictions. He promised jobs, lower taxes and a wall. He appealed to the gullible, the financially strapped and the haters. Inexplicably, he was elected president. Now 100 days in, successes are few. He points with pride to his Supreme Court nominee. He has padded his personal wealth while ignoring the poor. He has succeeded in fostering further division, chaos and fear. He has spawned the resistance. America’s greatness and her resilient people will allow her to survive Trump. Mark Petersen Pendleton liked several of the earlier candidates but in the end voted against Hillary Clinton. Bill is a liberal Democrat who voted for Bernie e are writing because we have been Sanders in the primary and Hillary Clinton distressed by the tone and nature of in the general election. political discourse in our country, Second: Invite the Other for lunch and we want to do something about it. That and explain that you want to have a is not so unusual. What is unusual is that we conversation with them about their politics; are very different politically, and yet we have why they voted the way they did, what they discovered we have very much in common. hope for our country’s future and where the We recognize that there are forces two of you might agree. present now that divide our country. Social Third: Come committed to listening, media, a whole spectrum of “news sites” rather than challenging or explaining your and the way we surround ourselves with vote. Enter into the discussion remembering similar thinkers tend that this Other is a to polarize and isolate person and “Out beyond ideas of rational us from one another. makes rational choices. How many of us have wrongdoing and right- Seek to understand their “unfriended” people that choices. were friends because of doing there is a field. What did we their politics, or have discover? changed the station I’ll meet you there.” We have a lot in until we hear what we common, and that — Rumi, 13th-century Persian Sunni common ground is a agree with, and found Muslim poet and scholar ourselves demeaning solid foundation for and demonizing those building. Some of that who have different views? These behaviors we already knew; we worship in the same are causing our citizenry to become divided church in adjacent pews, and have served and drift apart, and it is a rare politician who together in church leadership. We care seems to care about this division. about our country, and we feel a duty to But we are both patriots, and believe in seek ways of uniting rather than dividing. the promise of democracy that our country We share common interests in public can model for the rest of the world. education, immigration, gender equality and Is there something we can do locally to the advancement of rural economies. heal the rift? We now have a better understanding of the So we embarked on an effort to talk Other’s motivation for voting how they did. with and learn from each other, and share We found it to be a good exercise to explain our experiences with others in hopes of why the “other” voted the way they did in building on a movement that is underway in November without using judgmental words. our country. Ours is not a new idea, and the It is a fallacy to assume that the “other” is germ came from a TED Talk by Elizabeth opposed to everything you support. Lesser entitled “Take ‘the Other’ to Lunch.” There is value in having stimulating The exercise is simple, yet challenging. conversation without always agreeing. Our First: Find someone you know and respect choice of news outlets may provide comfort that holds different political views (‘the for us, but isn’t nearly as enlightening as a Other.”) We are very different politically; lunch hour spent in respectful conversation George is a Republican who in his words with a friend who thinks differently. W Christina van der Kamp Pendleton One hundred words? How about: Amoral. Bombastic. Bully. Clueless. Disgraceful. Dishonest. Disaster. Egotistic. Fragile. Grandiose. Hateful. Hypo- crite. Ignominious. Ignorant. Infantile. Joke. Juvenile. Know nothing. Liar. Lame. Misogynist. Narcissist. Oblivious. Obnoxious. Paranoid. Petty. Quarrel- some. Reactionary. Shallow. Shameful. Sad. Testy. Temperamental. Unethical. Unqualified. Unstable. Vain. Vulgar. Warmonger. Weak-minded. Xenophobe. Yellow-bellied. Zero. After Trump was elected, I had sincerely hoped that he would shed his “reality-show persona” and prove himself to be a decent, thoughtful, and mature leader. Sadly, all of his actions to date have not only confirmed my original concerns about him but made me even more worried for our country. The first 100 days of Trump’s presidency have been proof of his adminis- tration’s moral bankruptcy. His executive orders, commentary and actions show no good will. He has chosen people who agree with him in his apparent disregard for the country’s laws. Less wealthy, honest, compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful and moral citizens are bewildered by the change taking place in this country. Our nation’s reputation for caring about the rest of the world is tarnished by his stance on global warming and immigration. Decisions being made on a whim will have very lasting effects on our earth. It concerns me that there is support for Trump by people whose values are in direct conflict with his. When did they decide greed, immorality and hatred are good for the country? Elizabeth Scheeler Pendleton Sharon Vincent Pendleton What unites is greater than what divides By GEORGE MURDOCK and BILL ANEY President Donald Trump is already making America great again! Sure, he has the lowest approval rating of any president at the 100-day mark since WWII. And, all right, he has failed to accomplish the vast majority of his 100-day “contract.” But … consider that record numbers of Americans are now memorizing the names and numbers of their elected officials; joining forces to support important causes; signing up to run for public office; and learning new ways to protect their liberties, while looking out for our country’s most vulnerable. Trump is indeed MAGA (just not in the way he intended). The challenge is to disagree without being disagreeable. Screaming from the far left or the far right does little to unite us and is a recipe for failure in politics, families and business. Identifying and celebrating common ground is much more satisfying in the long run. We discovered that events like community marches in support of one cause or the other polarize us, by staking out a high ground and not sharing that high ground with Others. Plenty of Republicans support women’s rights and the role of science in informing public policy. Plenty of Democrats support the role of law enforcement in maintaining a civil society, or who legally own and use firearms. We need to recognize that no one owns this sort of moral high ground. Most Republicans are not selfish, heartless, racist, sexist oppressors of the poor and the middle class. Most Democrats are not terrorist-harboring, taxation loving, entitlement-driven socialists. But those caricatures are drawn daily, and by staying in our comfort zone with social media, our news outlets, and our circles of friends we can start to believe these images of the “others.” We challenge all patriotic Americans to reach out and have these discussions with others. Our country needs this sort of groundswell of common ground and a rejection of the notion of “us” and “them.” We need to identify and support leaders who recognize and build on areas of agreement in developing policy, and who don’t see compromise as a dirty word. It may be the only way our republic can survive. ■ Bill Aney is a retired Forest Service employee in Pendleton and a lifelong Democrat. George Murdock has worked as a newspaper publisher, educator, adminis- trator, and rancher, currently serves on the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners, and is a lifelong Republican. Quick takes Pendleton School District must lay off employees With the classroom sizes as big as they are, I don’t know how they are going to make cuts. Scary. — Lisa Bork You need to show the Oregon govern- ment how it’s done. — Kevin Bailey Sign of the times in Pendleton. — Thomas Smith Bill would raise punishment for texting and driving Got to enforce the law we have now first. — Michael Tester They could have police set up outside Washington School and get like 30 moms a day pulling out of the parking lot drop off. — Josh Janz Hermiston to build plaza Awesome! Can’t wait! — Dennis Wilson That will block handicap parking at the Methodist Church. — Julie Logosz I wish the Pendleton Downtown Merchants had been wiling to make such sweeping changes on Main Street. — Alice Gilson Hepburn One of the great lessons of the Twitter age is that much can be summed up in just a few words. Here are some of this week’s takes. Tweet yours @Tim_Trainor or email editor@eastoregonian. com, and keep them to 140 characters.