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.