Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Thursday, October 5, 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
OUR VIEW
In the year 2243
Imagine the year is 2243.
The writers of those words were
Now imagine the weapons.
understandably unable to conceive
of the America we know today. The
Nuclear warheads will still be
Second Amendment was written
around, though we can hope they
mostly to discourage a standing
will be dusty from disuse. But more
army, which Jefferson specifically
than likely there will be even more
thought was a threat to the peace
damaging and terrifying weaponry
of the nation. We’ve long since
in circulation. Consider entire
required one — and long since
autonomous armies, high-energy
made it the largest
lasers, space-
in the world — as
based weaponry
new technologies
orbiting overhead,
Imagine the
made our country
hypersonic aircraft
weapons of
more vulnerable to
and electronic
bombs. Perhaps
226 years from destructive attack.
defenses
you could program
now. That is the Capable
were necessary, and
a drone from your
sacrificed liberty
Umatilla County
same distance we
basement and fly
and tax dollars to
from today as make it so.
it straight into
the White House.
Those founders
1791 — the
Perhaps you will be
also did not foresee
able to kill millions
year the Second the technological
advances of “arms,”
with the click of a
Amendment
and the way mass
mouse. Perhaps you
violence has seeped
will not even need a
was ratified.
into our country.
mouse.
It seems hard
They could not
imagine a world as interconnected,
to imagine the technological
as integrated and as immediately
capabilities and how they could
impacted. They couldn’t imagine
be used, both for good and ill. It is
tanks and missiles and automatic
equally hard to imagine how future
weapons. They couldn’t even
governments and non-government
imagine a place we now call Oregon.
actors will keep Americans and
It’s worth considering how long
the world safe from the crazed
ago the amendment was written,
actor — be he or she a head of
and what the goal of those writers
state, the leader of a political or
were, in light of Sunday’s mass
religious movement or a lone
shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest
wolf interested only in death and
in modern American history. It
destruction. What laws and rules
took place little over a year after
will have to be enacted to govern
autonomous armies? Will we outlaw the Orlando nightclub shooting,
which at the time was the deadliest
space weaponry, or will we all have
in modern American history. And
one missile pointed at one another,
that took place just nine years
allowing us to operate under a
after the mass shooting in Virgina
comfortable détente of mutually
Tech, which set its own mark as
assured destruction?
the country’s deadliest in modern
It’s impossible to answer with so
much unknown about the year 2243. times. Interspersed are the 26 killed
(mostly children) in Newtown
Who knows what will be necessary,
in 2012 and the 14 killed in San
what technologies will exist, what
Bernadino in 2014.
defenses could be employed, and
We’re setting records for all
how violent or peaceful the world
the wrong reasons, while our law
will be? Who knows if nations and
remains rooted in 1791.
states will still exist? Who knows if
It is optimistic — but also naive
the planet will?
— to imagine 2243 as a utopian
Consider then that 2243 is 226
paradise where technology has
years from now. That is the same
brought only peace and prosperity.
distance in the future as 1791 is in
But with each technological
the past. 1791 was the year the Bill
advance, there has always been
of Rights — including the Second
someone — government or
Amendment — was ratified and
otherwise — who has found devious
became the law of this land.
uses.
It is understandable then,
Consider that the rules and laws
that the language and foresight
and societal norms we fight for in
of our founding fathers may
2017 can not only help make our
seem ill equipped to handle the
world a less deadly place now, but
technology and culture of today.
could set the foundation for law
The Amendment reads, as if we
needed any reminder more than two hundreds of years from now. It may
be necessary as the weapons of 2243
centuries later: “A well regulated
will carry with them unimaginable
Militia, being necessary to the
consequences — total annihilation
security of a free State, the right of
at the click of a mouse instead of 58
the people to keep and bear Arms,
Americans dead at a concert.
shall not be infringed.”
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
Child care facilities need lead testing
The Bend Bulletin
he state of Oregon will not require
day care centers to test for lead
in their water. The tests, which
can cost nearly $100, are simply too
expensive, officials say.
Lead in drinking water is damaging
to humans, particularly very young ones.
That’s been a problem, particularly in
the Portland area where, in spring 2016,
unacceptably high lead levels were
found in several schools’ drinking water.
The school district failed to make the
information public in a timely manner.
Central Oregon’s schools did fairly
well when tests were ordered across the
state in 2016, after Portland’s problems
became public.
Bend reported lead in a couple of
the district’s oldest buildings, while one
school in Crook County also had lead
in one of its drinking water sources. All
problems in both districts have since
been taken care of.
But while lawmakers have since
required Oregon schools test for lead,
the requirement does not extend to child
care facilities.
Deciding what to do about that was
T
left to the state’s Early Learning Council,
which decided on Sept. 28 not to require
testing in child care facilities here. The
state of Washington recently decided to
make such testing mandatory.
Oregon officials cited the cost of
testing faucets and other water sources,
and noted that they neither could
demand nor help pay for corrective
measures. They could, instead, simply
bar kids from facilities with lead
problems.
Officials were concerned about the
potential for losing child care slots in a
state with not enough child care to go
around.
Still, the decision leaves parents
in a quandary. Unless facilities test
voluntarily and make the results known,
parents may worry about what their kids
are ingesting.
Providers can have the tests done on
their own and then, assuming the results
are good, advertising that fact. The state
is also issuing new guidelines about
letting water run for several minutes if a
faucet hasn’t been used in several hours.
If parents are concerned, they can
pressure facilities to have the testing
done.
If only Stephen Paddock
had been a Muslim
f only Stephen Paddock had been
them assault rifles — 23 in his hotel
a Muslim ... If only he had shouted
room and 19 at his home — as well as
“Allahu akbar” before he opened
thousands of rounds of ammunition
fire on all those concertgoers in Las
and some “electronic devices.” Just
Vegas ... If only he had been a member
another deer hunter, I guess.
of ISIS ... If only we had a picture of
On crushing ISIS, our president
him posing with a Quran in one hand
and his party are all in. On asking the
and his semiautomatic rifle in another
NRA for even the tiniest moderation,
...
Thomas they are AWOL. No matter how
If all of that had happened, no one
Friedman many innocents are fatally shot — no
would be telling us not to dishonor
matter even that one of their own
Comment
the victims and “politicize” Paddock’s
congressional leaders was critically
mass murder by talking about
wounded playing baseball — it’s never
preventive remedies.
time to discuss any serious policy measures to
No, no, no. Then we know what we’d
mitigate gun violence.
be doing. We’d be scheduling immediate
And in the wake of last month’s
hearings in Congress
unprecedented hurricanes
about the worst domestic
in the Atlantic — that
terrorism event since 9/11.
wrought over $200 billion
Then Donald Trump would
of damage on Houston and
be tweeting every hour “I
Puerto Rico, not to mention
told you so,” as he does
smaller cities — Scott
minutes after every terror
Pruitt, Trump’s head of the
attack in Europe, precisely
Environmental Protection
to immediately politicize
Agency, also told us that it
them. Then there would
was not the time to discuss
be immediate calls for a
“the cause and effect” of
commission of inquiry to
these superstorms and how
see what new laws we need
to mitigate their damage.
to put in place to make sure
We need to focus on helping
this doesn’t happen again.
the victims, he said. But for
Then we’d be “weighing all
Pruitt, we know, it’s never
options” against the country
time to take climate change
of origin.
seriously.
But what happens when the country of
To take ISIS seriously abroad, but then to
origin is us?
do nothing to mitigate these other real threats
What happens when the killer was only a
to our backyards, concert venues and coastal
disturbed American armed to the teeth with
cities, is utter madness.
military-style weapons that he bought legally
It’s also corrupt. Because it’s driven by
or acquired easily because of us and our crazy money and greed — by gunmakers and
lax gun laws?
gun-sellers and oil and coal companies, and
Then we know what happens: The
all the legislators and regulators they’ve
president and the Republican Party go into
bought and paid to keep silent. They know
overdrive to ensure that nothing happens.
full well most Americans don’t want to
Then they insist — unlike with every ISIS-
take away peoples’ rights to hunt or defend
related terror attack — that the event must not themselves. All we want to take away is the
be “politicized” by asking anyone, particularly right of someone to amass a military arsenal at
themselves, to look in the mirror and rethink
home and a hotel room and use it on innocent
their opposition to common-sense gun laws.
Americans when some crazy rage wells up
So let’s review: We will turn the world
inside him. But the NRA has these cowardly
upside down to track down the last Islamic
legislators in a choke hold.
State fighter in Syria — deploying B-52s,
What to do?
cruise missiles, F-15s, F-22s, F-35s and
Forget about persuading these legislators.
U2s. We will ask our best young men and
They are not confused or underinformed. They
women to make the ultimate sacrifice to kill
are either bought or intimidated. Because no
or capture every last terrorist. And how many
honest and decent American lawmaker would
Americans has the Islamic State killed in the
look at Las Vegas and Puerto Rico today and
Middle East? I forget. Is it 15 or 20? And our
say, “I think the smartest and most prudent
president never stops telling us that when it
thing to do for our kids is to just do nothing.”
comes to ISIS, defeat is not an option, mercy
So there is only one remedy: Get power.
is not on the menu and he is so tough he even
If you are as fed up as I am, then register
has a defense secretary nicknamed “Mad
someone to vote or run for office yourself or
Dog.”
donate money to someone running to replace
But when fighting the NRA — the National these cowardly legislators with a majority for
Rifle Association, which more than any
common-sense gun laws. This is about raw
other group has prevented the imposition of
power, not persuasion. And the first chance
common-sense gun-control laws — victory is
we have to change the balance of power is the
not an option, moderation is not on the menu
2018 midterm elections. Forget about trying
and the president and the Republican Party
to get anything done before then. Don’t waste
have no mad dogs, only pussy cats.
your breath.
And they will not ask themselves to make
Just get power. Start now.
even the smallest sacrifice — one that might
■
risk their seats in Congress — to stand up
Thomas Friedman, a New York Times
for legislation that might make it just a little
columnist, was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes
harder for an American to stockpile an arsenal for international reporting in Beirut and Israel
like Paddock did, including 42 guns, some of
and one for commentary.
I
To take ISIS
seriously
abroad, but then
do nothing to
mitigate these
threats to our
backyards, is
utter madness.
YOUR VIEWS
State budget is out of control,
against desire of rural voters
I cannot resist the fodder in a recent La
Grande Observer: “Deficit climbs to $25.3
billion” by Ted Sickinger of The Oregonian.
When politicians put a ‘B’ for billions and
a ‘T’ for trillions behind dollar amounts it
dilutes the subject. In this case folks, we are
talking billions. Here in Oregon.
The beast is PERS and the public employee
unions that own Oregon because they own
the Democrats that control Oregon, and
the budgets under attack are any and all
community-based, service-related entities in
Oregon: schools, fire departments, etc. — any
entity with a public employee. Here’s the
insult to injury — Oregon’s revenue was
up $200 million this year. And now, every
household and small business in Oregon will
also be tapped.
I personally know retired public employees
that are today making twice the amount they
made while working, and four times what they
made when they first started. Democrats tend
to get riled over public land allotments that
generate revenue as well as resource-based
economies that support rural middle income
families in Oregon but are mum over this
assault of the taxpayer — all the while adding
more public employees with each new piece
of legislation as we watch billions of dollars of
timber resources go up in smoke.
One of the greatest economic fallacies of
government, especially under progressive
Democratic control, is that government creates
wealth. It does not. People generate wealth.
Union County residents as well as 31 other
rural counties from here to Nevada, Idaho
and Washington did not elect the people who
control our destiny here in Oregon. There is
no leadership in Salem; these people rule by
decree and subjugate its rural residents.
Oregon’s current leadership has failed
to tame or control the beast. Why? Because
the beast owns them, and through their
myopic vision of Oregon, they only see what
constitutes .04 percent of Oregon’s land mass.
Oregon’s royalty has no desire nor the knights
in their court with the fortitude to contain or
slay the beast.
Oregon is going bankrupt at the taxpayer’s
expense.
Grant Darrow
Elgin