Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 27, 2017
OTHER VIEWS
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
EO MEDIA GROUP
East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald
Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal
Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette
Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace
OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com
OUR VIEW
Lord willing and
the creek don’t dry
understand the needs of rural
No one is pleased that the
agriculture.
Westland Irrigation District pulled
Environmentalists are satisfied
out of the Central Project plan earlier
with the plan. And over a long
this week.
period of winning over one vote at
Dollars that could have enriched
a time, a majority in the Legislature
members of the district (and local
gave the basin $11 million to help
tax coffers) have dried up — for
fund the program. The state stepped
now. The infusion of water that
up to the plate and they likely won’t
could have greatly increased land
again, if we don’t
and crop values
the faith
is likely to go
There is no blaming reward
they had in the
elsewhere, if it
basin.
goes anywhere
the bogeyman of
at all.
environmentalists, is in The our future
hands
And that’s
what is at stake
nor lamenting Salem now, and if we
fail we have no
now for the
has forgotten our
one to blame
Umatilla Basin.
ourselves. A
Decades of
corner of the state. but
single lawsuit,
work cobbling
disputing the
together votes
application of water rights in the
and funding, data and legal hurdles,
district, is the project’s undoing.
is at risk.
There is risk, of course. Nothing
J.R. Cook, director of the
in water or entrepreneurship is
Northeast Oregon Water
guaranteed. It will take a spirit
Association, said something to the
of cooperation, of optimism, of
East Oregonian editorial board
can-do spirit and the desire to
Wednesday that he never thought
he’d say: The organization has water see improvement and change.
It will take a lot of work. It will
and nowhere to go with it.
For years, farmers and developers take a recognition that relying on
the Umatilla River and McKay
and political representatives
Reservoir for irrigation will only get
throughout the basin have pleaded:
worse, and that drawing down our
Just let us access some water out of
the Columbia River, and we’ll make underground water reserves — a
a fantastic return on that investment. finite resource — has the ability to
put future growth and sustainability
We’ll grow more and hire more,
in danger. Milton-Freewater and the
pay more in property and business
Walla Walla basin are learning that
taxes, create growth in supportive
lesson the hard way.
industries. We’ll benefit ourselves
and the entire region.
That spirit could not be found
But here we are, water all but in
right now in Westland. We hope
hand, and the window is closing. We for the sake of the region, it can
have until April 2019 to spend those be found in next projects — East
state dollars.
and West — that need to start
There is no blaming the
showing progress. If not, we will
bogeyman of environmentalists, nor have squandered a very lucrative
opportunity that may not come
lamenting that Salem has forgotten
around again.
our corner of the state, or doesn’t
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.
The way they kill now
A
RRAS, France — In the
from the element of surprise, from
springtime of 100 years ago,
turning a pop concert, a national holiday,
nations that shared a Christian
a Christmas market, into its own peculiar
heritage slaughtered one another over
Western Front. They bring an element of
a few miles of mud. In just one battle,
lethal menace to everyday life.
When you see the prosthetics on
the great powers of Europe fought
display at the Museum of the Great
for more than a month outside this
War in the Somme Valley town of
magnificently reconstructed medieval
city, and suffered 280,000 casualties.
Timothy Peronne — fake noses and eyes for
faces scraped of their features by
At the same time, French
Egan
artillery — when you try to imagine
infantrymen began to mutiny after
Comment
630,000 war widows in France in
200,000 of their young men fell —
1919, you can’t help but think that we
dead, wounded or missing — in another
have made progress of a sort.
senseless grind of human flesh to the south.
After all, the Great War, as it was initially
All of that — the poisonous gas, the
mowing down of teenage boys in ashen fields, called, sucked up lives at rate of almost 50,000
the legless legions of the Lost Generation — is a day at one point. The Germans committed
behind us. In its place, a century later, are
atrocities against civilians in Belgium and
cowards who kill children in the name of
reduced the Cathedral of Arras to rubble. The
soil of Northern France, pockmarked with war
religious perversion.
craters, is all one big burial ground for lost
Manchester, where the 22 died Monday
souls — the graveyards you see, 410 military
and more than 60 people were injured in
cemeteries, and the graveyards you don’t see.
the worst terrorist attack on British soil in
When the war ended, after 17 million
more than a decade, would seem small by
deaths worldwide, a headline in Britain’s
comparison. Some perspective is in order.
Daily Mirror proclaimed: “Democracy
But every war is awful in its own way.
Triumphs Over the Last of the Autocrats.”
Manchester was badly bombed during World
If only. Another hundred-year anniversary
War II. Those planes were under the command
now marks the Russian Revolution — the
of Adolf Hitler, a corporal in France during
collapse of the czar, power seized by the
World War I, who later reached deeper
Bolsheviks, followed by decades of crimes
into the bowels of hell searching for more
against humanity committed by heartless and
sophisticated forms of savagery.
The homemade bomb that killed those kids autocratic followers of Karl Marx.
The autocrats of modern terror seethe and
at a concert a few days ago — one victim was
plot in the shadows, and their control is limited
an 8-year-old — packed a disproportionate
to a handful of fellow child killers. Their design,
amount of firepower. Old-fashioned war, as
the saying goes, is diplomacy by other means. such as it is, is to sweep away basic democratic
values and put Europe in lockdown. Britain just
There’s a certain warped rationality to it.
raised its threat alert to the highest level, and the
What happened in Manchester is
unexplainable. The Islamic State called the killer new French president, Emmanuel Macron, is
seeking an extension of emergency powers for
— identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi,
three more months.
a British-born citizen of Libyan descent — a
For something stirring to say, President
soldier. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Trump could look to his own passport, and the
Abedi was a psychopath — dispossessed
words of John F. Kennedy embossed inside:
in a tired part of England, perhaps, and
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us
warped by a toxic strain of Islam, but a
well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear
psychopath nonetheless. The question of the
any burden, meet any hardship, support any
moment is: Are there enough people like him
friend, oppose any foe, in order to ensure the
to destabilize Europe? World War I, after
survival and the success of liberty.”
all, started with the lone assassination of an
And what exactly did Pope Francis tell
obscure Balkan figure.
him? Neither side is leaking. Francis is sly,
The child killers of modern Europe have no
though. He has enough sense of history to
armies, no tanks or cannons at their disposal.
know that the wars of today could easily
They are stateless murderers plotting from
failed-state ghettos like Libya. Their terror comes escalate into the wars of yesterday.
YOUR VIEWS
OTHER VIEWS
A tradition of courage,
honor and sacrifice
M
emorial Day is a holiday
our citizens today have not been
rooted in tradition.
directly impacted by war. The
Every year, thousands
same cannot be said for our Gold
of Oregonians participate in
Star families, who have lost a
ceremonies, parades and other
loved one in service to our nation.
solemn events.
We can never forget the true
But long before the first
cost of war — a cost far beyond
Memorial Day processions wound
dollars and cents. A hundred
their way down city streets, long
Cameron years ago, in World War I, we lost
before dignitaries across the
over 115,000 dedicated service
Smith
country took to podiums to honor
members — almost 1,000 of
Comment
service and sacrifice, the holiday
whom were from Oregon. Those
started, informally, with a much
who survived the battlefields in
simpler tradition: the laying of flowers
Europe did not come home to a robust
upon the grave of a fallen service
system of veterans’ health care and
member.
benefits. But they banded together in
It was in the wake of the American
service organizations and fought to
Civil War that communities began the
advocate for the nationwide network of
practice of decorating soldiers’ graves
support we have today.
with flowers. This military family
Across the ages, from the beaches of
and community tradition was later
Normandy and the Pacific islands to the
formalized as a national day of honor in
mountains and jungles in Asia, countless
Decoration Day, and what we now call
Americans have stood up to serve and
Memorial Day.
have laid down their lives. At the most
In 1866, no family or community was basic level, they fought to protect the
untouched by the Civil War. America’s
one on their right and the one on their
bloodiest conflict resulted in over 1
left, but ultimately their fight protects
million casualties and claimed over
us all and preserves the values we hold
620,000 lives. The impacts of the war
dear.
were intensely and personally felt across
This Memorial Day, as we kick
the nation.
off the start of summer and turn to
Today, over 320,000 veterans call
enjoy Oregon’s incredible parks,
Oregon home. We are a strong and diverse beaches, rivers and mountains, we must
community, spanning four generations
encourage all citizens to pause and honor
across five major wars. With every veteran our fallen and Gold Star families. We
counted, we must also recognize the
stand on the shoulders of all those who
sacrifice of their spouses and families,
came before us and will never forget our
who served on the home front while their
veterans’ service, especially those who
loved ones were in uniform.
made the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you
At the same time, we must
for your support of Oregon’s military,
acknowledge that today’s battles are
veterans and their families.
fought by less than 1 percent of our
■
population. The weight of the most
Cameron Smith served three tours in
recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
Iraq as a Marine and is director of the
has been borne by the few. Most of
Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
‘Death Panel’ must be put down
The GOP failed to repeal Obamacare,
and with that, left in place one of its most
destructive pieces. The Independent Payment
Advisory Board (IPAB), sometimes called the
“Death Panel,” is a provision of Obamacare
disliked by Republicans and Democrats alike.
It was recently triggered to go into effect, but
it is not too late to change that.
The IPAB is a board of 15 individuals
tasked with the politically difficult goal of
reducing Medicare costs. The board frees
politicians from accountability for tough
decisions, but it does it by making no one
accountable.
Membership on the board is limited to
“experts,” not physicians or those associated
with a hospital.
The IPABs recommendations are submitted
to Congress to pass into law, but if Congress
does not act on the recommended changes,
they are automatically implemented by the
board. This means 15 unelected technocrats
are creating law without any accountability,
“laws” that were not enacted by Congress in
any way or form.
Board members can be appointed, but not
fired, by the President. To who or what the board
is accountable to is still unknown. The IPAB is so
“independent” they are answerable to no one.
Increasing health care costs have triggered
the creation of the IPAB, and a resolution to
disable it needed to be passed by Congress by
February 1, 2017. America now has a board
with almost infinite powers in an area where
people’s lives are at stake.
Never has America seen such flagrant
disregard for the rule of law and the
procedures by which the people are governed
and represented. We vote for our elected
officials to create and pass laws on our behalf.
That’s the definition of a republic. We do not
expect, nor do we want, the technocrats in
Washington to create policies and laws for
us to live by. Our seniors deserve Medicare
as promised by their elected officials. Our
members of Congress often run on planks
protecting Medicare but the 15 individuals on
the IPAB do not promise such protection and
are not accountable for their decisions.
Now is the time for leadership. I urge
Rep. Greg Walden to go a step further
beyond support, and lead his colleagues by
co-sponsoring House legislation (HR 849) to
repeal IPAB and regain congressional control
over Medicare policy.
Jeff Reynolds
Portland
How will new trail affect traffic?
There have been several articles regarding
new projects in Hermiston. Improving turn
lanes for trucks, the new senior center project,
etc. Today it is stated in the East Oregonian
that the Highland Trail/bike lane will probably
begin in early 2018.
No one has explained how this will affect
the 11th Street and Highland church on the
corner with beautiful lawn, sidewalk and
shrubs and an entrance/exit onto Highland,
or the two exits/entrances to the adjoining
apartment or to 13th Place and 13th Street.
Someone on this committee should spend a
day on Westland Avenue and see the “395”
traffic 24/7 who have getting through the
lights just fine and the use of the apartment
accesses for 42 apartments.
All we need all the way on the north side
of Westland to the river is foot traffic. Please
explain how this will be done for pedestrians
and bikes. Also, Highland Avenue is used for
produce trucks and to move farm machinery
to fields plus other various truck traffic with
no problems.
Jacqueline Hood
Hermiston
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper
reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and
products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must
be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number.
The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send
letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
or email editor@eastoregonian.com.