Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, June 23, 2017
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
OUR VIEW
Tip of the hat;
kick in the pants
A tip of the hat to the prison superintendents who are passing the
keys of the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution from one woman to
another.
Jeri Taylor is currently the director of the Pendleton prison, a place
where she worked since it was a state hospital. Taylor is set to retire after
a long career in which she worked her way up the
corporate ladder in a male-dominated field. Brigitte
Amsberry — who has also worked her way up the
ranks at EOCI and nearby Two Rivers Correctional
Institution — will take her place.
A prison is a working environment where strong
leadership is critical. The work is difficult and
dangerous, and culture and morale are important so
that staff stick out the tough parts and find ways to
succeed. And in more than most jobs, ethics must remain the highest priority.
Creating an organizational culture and holding employees to the ideals of the
job are where CEOs and superintendents can make the biggest impact.
Taylor made a positive one and all signs are that Amsberry learned from
her mentor and can continue to keep EOCI headed in a positive direction —
hard to do in a place that has its fair share of negativity.
A kick in the pants to Republican Senators who have secretly created
their health care bill, which was dropped on the world Thursday and
may be pressed into law as early as next week.
Health care is a life-and-death issue for many Americans. It makes up
one-sixth of our country’s economy. It is as complicated as can be, with
tentacles spreading out into not just public health and mental health, but
into Medicare and Medicaid, the budget deficit
and into the country’s tax structure, hospitals
and hospice, and into the wallet of every man,
woman and child in the country.
Donald Trump oversimplified the problems
with Obamacare during his campaign, touting
his ability to painlessly fix the system. He had
an about-face after being sworn in — “Nobody
knew health care could be so complicated!” the
president said to a slack-jawed audience in February — but most of us have
known it forever. Anyone who has tried to read through their employer’s
health plan — or tried to buy a plan on the open market — knows how
mind-numbingly complex it can be.
Since that’s the case, a total remake of how it works should undergo a
long, public process that allows a lot of time for our representatives to debate
the myriad issues. We should have enough time so that groups we trust —
whether that be The Washington Post, the American Medical Association,
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Planned Parenthood or the Catholic
Church — have enough time to read the legislation and weigh in and help
us to better understand the complexities
It’s disappointing that Republicans used their power to abuse the system
when crafting this important law. It’s our hope that the necessary three (or
more) Republican senators show the backbone to insist on deeper debate.
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.
YOUR VIEWS
How lame to blame sports
loss on the cheerleaders
How can cheerleaders cause
a sports team to lose a game?
(Coach resigns after parents blame
cheerleaders for loss, page A3 in June
21 EO) Maybe get a technical or two
and then your team loses. In football,
(Stanfield) lost 57-14 in the finals. The
coach of the winning team commented
that when Stanfield beat them by a
touchdown early in the season, and
when they played them in the finals,
Stanfield did not get any better.
Parents make excuses to not blame
the coaches and players. What’s wrong
with saying we got beat by a better
team and not make up any excuses?
The basketball finals score was
57-54, the Downey brothers from
Santiam scored 54 of their 57 points.
We have gloated on (our team) all
season and when they lost we make up
a reason why: Cheerleaders made them
lose.
Did the cheerleaders play varsity
football or basketball on the boy’s
team? No. What’s wrong with saying
we got beat by a better team and not
make up any excuses?
How many of us have played
basketball and football and while
playing ever knew what the
cheerleaders were doing? Zip,
nothing, notta, no clue. As a player,
when do you have time to watch the
cheerleaders while playing?
If I was the mother of the
cheerleading coach and also working
for the same school district that your
daughter works for I would support my
daughter as a parent wholeheartedly.
Administrators are supposed to be
professional and handle complaints
with an open mind and not my way or
the highway.
What’s wrong with letting Aleta
Lemmon work until her retirement
date and be gone? I feel the
administrators could have handled
this more professionally and with
less drama and more thoughtfulness.
Twenty two years of employment is
respectable and needs to be handled
with humility and compassion for all
those involved. Some individuals have
too much power and ultimately affect
all those who work under them.
Art Derbyshire
Hermiston
Pendleton city isn’t
involved in corruption
The mayor has been offended by
my recent letters to the editor that
in his opinion include charges of
corruption — his words, not mine.
Charges were leveled by me in
regards to the Pendleton Development
Commission awarding grants that
benefit his circle of friends. And I have
to apologize for that or be publicly
accused of not being an honorable man
at each meeting I attend in the future.
So (in my own opinion) the
Rivoli Coalition and the Pendleton
Downtown Association administration
are evidently not, I repeat, not friends
of the mayor. My mistake and I
apologize for that. I would remind
the colonel, with all due respect,
that the title of the section in the
East Oregonian that contained the
letters is “opinion” and no charge of
corruption was intended, just maybe
bad judgment. Again, those letters
in question were my opinions and of
course, (the opinions) of my circle of
friends.
Kudos to the Umatilla Fire District
#1 in Hermiston as they continue to
lead the way with a new community
paramedic program and construction
of a training facility partially funded
by a grant of $438,000 from our own
BMCC. Perhaps one day we’ll get
there, too.
In other news, a “Tip of the Hat”
is in order for the Pendleton School
Board approving the renewal of
the ASPIRE scholarship program
administered by Jill Gregg. I have
had the good fortune of her assistance
in selecting recipients for my own
scholarships I’ve awarded in the past
few years.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
OTHER VIEWS
Where did ‘we the people’ go?
A few days ago I was at a
in virtually every institution, and the
conference in Montreal, and a
authority of many leaders, because
Canadian gentleman, trying to grasp
people don’t like what they see.”
what’s happening to America, asked
With shared truth debased and trust
me a simple question: “What do you
in leaders diminished, we now face a
fear most these days?”
full-blown “crisis of authority itself,”
I paused for a second, like a
argued Seidman, who distinguishes
spectator waiting to see what would
between “formal authority” and “moral
come out of my own mouth. Two
Thomas authority.”
things came out: “I fear we’re seeing
While our system can’t function
Friedman
without
leaders with formal authority,
the end of ‘truth’ — that we simply
Comment
what makes it really work, he added,
can’t agree any more on basic facts.
is “when leaders occupying those
And I fear that we’re becoming Sunnis
formal positions — from business to politics
and Shiites — we call them ‘Democrats’ and
to schools to sports — have moral authority.
‘Republicans,’ but the sectarianism that has
destroyed nation-states in the Middle East is
Leaders with moral authority understand what
now infecting us.”
they can demand of others and what they must
It used to be that people didn’t want their
inspire in them. They also understand that
kids to marry one of “them,”
formal authority can be won
referring to someone of a
or seized, but moral authority
different religion or race (bad
has to be earned every day
enough). Now the “them” is
by how they lead. And we
someone of a different party.
don’t have enough of these
When a liberal comedian
leaders.”
poses with a mock severed
In fact, we have so few
head of Donald Trump, when
we’ve forgotten what they
the president’s own son, Eric
look like. Leaders with moral
Trump, says of his father’s
authority have several things
Democratic opponents, “To
in common, said Seidman:
me, they’re not even people,”
“They trust people with the
you know that you are
truth — however bright or
heading to a dark place.
dark. They’re animated by
So when I got home, I
values — especially humility
called my teacher and friend Dov Seidman,
— and principles of probity, so they do the
author of the book “How” and CEO of LRN,
right things, especially when they’re difficult
which helps companies and leaders build
or unpopular. And they enlist people in noble
ethical cultures, and asked him what he
purposes and onto journeys worthy of their
thought was happening to us.
dedication.”
“What we’re experiencing is an assault
Think how far away Trump is from
on the very foundations of our society and
that definition. In Trump we not only have
democracy — the twin pillars of truth and
a president who can’t lead us out of this
trust,” Seidman responded. “What makes
crisis — because he has formal authority
us Americans is that we signed up to have a
but no moral authority — but a president
relationship with ideals that are greater than
who is every day through Twitter a one-man
us and with truths that we agreed were so
accelerator of the erosion of truth and trust
self-evident they would be the foundation
eating away at our society.
of our shared journey toward a more perfect
We saw that play out between Trump and
union — and of respectful disagreement along James Comey, the FBI director.
the way. We also agreed that the source of
There’s an adage, explained Seidman,
legitimate authority to govern would come
that says: “Ask for my honesty and I’ll give
from ‘We the people.’”
you my loyalty. Ask for my loyalty and I’ll
But when there is no “we” anymore,
give you my honesty.” But Trump was not
because “we” no longer share basic truths,
interested in Comey’s honesty. He only
Seidman argued, “then there is no legitimate
wanted Comey’s blind loyalty — delivered
authority and no unifying basis for our
free because Trump thought he had the formal
continued association.”
authority to demand it. “But true loyalty can’t
We’ve had breakdowns in truth and trust
be commanded; it can only be inspired,” said
before in our history, but this feels particularly Seidman.
dangerous because it is being exacerbated by
Alas, Trump is not going to get any better
technology and Trump.
and the technology is not going to get any
Social networks and cyberhacking are
slower. It is imperative, in the short run, that
helping extremists to spread vitriol and fake
some moral leaders emerge in the GOP and
news at a speed and breadth we have never
actually restrain Trump. But that’s doubtful.
seen before. “Today, we’re not just deeply
But the upside of today’s political-
divided, as we’ve been before, we’re being
technology platform is that leaders can come
actively divided — by cheap tools that make it out of anywhere — fast. Look at the new
so easy to broadcast one’s own ‘truths’ and to
president of France. In the long run, the only
undermine real ones,” Seidman argued.
thing that will save us is if more people — no
This anger industry is now “either sending
matter what age, color, gender or faith —
us into comfortable echo chambers where we
build moral authority in their respective
don’t see the other or arousing such moral
realms and then use it to do big, meaningful
outrage in us toward the other that we can no
things.
longer see their humanity, let alone embrace
Use it to run for office, start a company,
them as fellow Americans with whom we
operate a school, lead a movement or build
share values.”
a community organization. And in so doing
Social networks and hacking also “have
you can help put the “We” back in “We the
enabled us to see, in full color, into the
people.”
innermost workings of every institution and
■
into the attitudes of those who run them,”
Thomas Friedman, a New York Times
noted Seidman, “and that has eroded trust
columnist, was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes.
Social
networks and
cyberhacking
are helping
extremists
spread vitriol
and fake news.