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OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, November 15, 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
Poaching and
punishment
This hunting season, plenty of
actions, knowing full well their
mistake, and are unable to stop
deer and elk have been harvested
from the fertile mountains of Eastern themselves or frankly just don’t
care. But there are also hunters
Oregon.
Many of them were taken legally. who have every intent of following
the law, but make in-the-moment
But too many were not.
Poaching has been a problem
errors in judgment or fact. For them,
since the first king laid down the first self-reporting an error is critical. But
rules for hunting. And it continues
a much better option is going back
to this day to be a concern for
to basics: Before you take any shot,
hunters, as well as other Oregonians look closely at your animal. Look at
it again. Look at what is on its head,
who use their tax dollars and their
management practices to protect and look at what is behind it, know what
is legal with your tag in your unit.
lawfully and ethically harvest our
The best way to defeat poaching
state’s bounty of nature and protein.
Just this year, multiple violations
is good ethical hunting practices.
The sport relies on it for safe and
have been witnessed by police and
reasonable harvest that reduces
ethical hunters, from Heppner to
pain and unnecessary
La Grande and from
It must be
Tollgate to Ukiah.
We must teach harm.
taught from mothers
Animals senselessly
fathers to sons
slaughtered for their
and promote and
and daughters.
antlers or for nothing
the right way
Yet we know
at all — blood lust or
that
many poachers
stupidity. When that
to hunt.
learned their poaching
happens, everyone
loses — though no
habits from their
mothers and fathers — that’s where
one more than the animal itself.
Last year, a Pendleton hunter and media and law enforcement must
come in, and hunter’s education
guide — a former board member
classes that are required for young
for the Mule Deer Foundation —
hunters.
admitted to illegally killing one
We must teach and promote the
of the state’s largest mule deer.
right way to do it, and we must
For his crime, he paid $8,500
punish those who fall short.
restitution and his hunting license
In our opinion, a continual
was suspended for three years. Also
reminder of hunting ethics must
in 2016, an Elgin trio was charged
be in tandem with increased
with killing and wasting two bull
punishments. It does not seem
elk. Then there was also the illegal
too cruel, harsh or unusual for a
poaching of bighorn sheep from
poaching crime to cost a person their
alongside Interstate 84 in Gilliam
hunting privileges for the rest of
County. Wolves have been killed
their life.
in suspicious circumstances from
And poaching an animal that the
the Blue Mountains all the way to
state has sunk significant resources
Klamath Falls. And in Tuesday’s
police log, we noted a man allegedly into — by conserving necessary
habitat, paying for game wardens
driving drunk down Highway 11
with a poached deer in the bed of his and biologists and attorneys —
should cost a criminal a significant
pickup.
dollar amount if they are convicted.
And these are just the few high-
On top of it, they should pay for
profile or highly stupid, isolated
depriving other hunters of a lost
incidents that law enforcement are
opportunity to harvest.
able to build a case around. Much
In our book, it doesn’t matter
more often, investigators are not able
whether the poached prey is an elk
to pin a crime on anyone, or those
or steelhead, moose or wolf. Our
crimes go undiscovered in the first
outdoor heritage rests on playing by
place. It is exceedingly difficult to
the rules. For the system to remain,
get convictions on game crimes.
those rules must be enforced and
There are two kinds of poachers:
they must be followed.
those who purposely take illegal
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
Bring your gun to church
Amarillo (Tex.) Globe-News
C
hurches and guns do not seem
a fitting combination. A place
of worship? And a weapon?
Sacrilegious, right? Not in Texas,
thankfully.
While churches and guns do not seem
to fit, the reality is they do — legally —
in Texas.
The recent mass shooting at a church
in Sutherland Springs — the worst mass
shooting in Lone Star State history —
has put the focus (once again) on gun
control.
And since churches (along with
schools) are often targets for evil and
insane acts of violence, it needs to be
pointed out that churches in Texas have
had the ability to protect their members
— with guns — for quite some time.
State Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, is
credited for spearheading a bill allowing
places of worship to have armed
volunteer guards. The bill became a state
law that took effect in September.
According to the Texas Legislature
website, there were similar bills in the
85th Legislature, one authored by state
Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo (HB 981).
HB 421 was authored by Rinaldi and had
several co-authors.
Those who attend larger churches in
Amarillo have no doubt seen members
of Amarillo Police Department on
church grounds during services.
However, smaller churches may not
have the resources to compensate law
enforcement personnel to provide
security during their services.
So where does this leave such
churches? Rinaldi’s bill addresses this
problem.
Tom Nichols, a professor at the Naval
War College and the Harvard Extension
School, offered a different perspective
recently in the Los Angeles Times: “The
desire to bring guns to churches is not
about rights, but about risk. You have
the right to carry a gun. But should you?
If the main reason you’re holstering up
in the morning is because it’s a family
tradition where you live, or because
you have a particular need to do so, or
merely because you feel better with a
gun, that is your right. But if you are
doing so because you think you’re in
danger from the next mass shooting, then
you should ask yourself whether you’re
nearly as capable, trained and judicious
as you think you are — and why you are
spending your days, including your day
of worship — obsessing over one of the
least likely things that could happen to
you.”
In Texas, those who want to carry a
gun legally must be licensed by the state,
and complete the review process to be
licensed. This license allows Texans to
protect themselves — and others — by
legally carrying a firearm.
If the state determines a person is
capable and responsible enough to carry
a gun, why should this right cease to
exist at the church door?
And if a church — or any place of
worship — has members licensed by the
state to carry a gun, the church should
be able to extend this right to protect its
members.
OTHER VIEWS
At Air Force Academy, a
perfect hoax for age of Trump
I
young man, who is black, has left the
t’s hard to exaggerate the praise
academy.
heaped on Air Force Gen. Jay
Anyone who follows such
Silveria after his impassioned
speech against racism went viral
incidents, certainly anyone in the news
at the end of September. Silveria,
business, should have known that there
superintendent of the Air Force
was a substantial chance the Air Force
Academy, spoke after five black cadet
Academy vandalism was a fake. Too
candidates at the academy’s prep
many such incidents have turned out to
school found racial slurs written on
be hoaxes not to raise suspicions about
Byron
message boards outside their rooms.
new ones, pending the results of an
York
“If you can’t treat someone from
investigation.
Comment
another race or a different color skin
There was the young black man in
with dignity and respect, then you need
Kansas who admitted writing racist
to get out,” an angry Silveria told students.
graffiti on his car. There was the black man
“If you can’t treat someone with dignity and
in Michigan charged in three racist graffiti
respect, then get out.” When video of his
incidents at Eastern Michigan University.
speech hit the internet — nearly two million
There was the young Muslim woman in
YouTube views — and
New York who admitted
then cable TV, and then the
making up a story about
old-fashioned press, the
being attacked by white
applause began. Silveria,
Trump supporters. The
some said, was a true
black Bowling Green State
American hero.
University student who said
But in a few of the
white Trump supporters
nation’s largest media
threw rocks at her. The
outlets, the acclaim wasn’t
University of Louisiana
just about Silveria. For
student who said a white
some, celebrating Silveria
man wearing a Trump hat
was at least as much, if
tried to pull off her hijab.
not more, about President
Then there was the wave
Trump than it was about the
of stories about threats
Air Force general. For them,
to Jewish community
it was not enough to praise
centers — stories that
Silveria. One must also to
received widespread news
denounce Trump.
coverage in the context
The Washington Post published an editorial of the new Trump presidency. Most of the
headlined, “Moral guidance, if not from the
threats were made by a teenager in Israel, with
president.” Silveria’s speech was “a welcome
the others made by a former journalist who
reminder of what leadership can look like,”
was somehow trying to get back at a former
the paper wrote, “all the more necessary and
girlfriend.
welcome because of the absence of leadership
None of that means that all hate crimes
at the highest levels of government.”
reports are false. But it does mean people
On television, CNN took a leading role
reporting and commenting on them should be
in lauding Silveria. Anchor Brooke Baldwin
cautious until the facts are known.
began a segment on the general by saying,
Gen. Silveria chose not to be cautious.
“Some say the president’s rhetoric is divisive,
Now, Silveria has chosen to double
not that of a commander-in-chief. Others
down on his message. “Regardless of the
will say that’s why they love him. What is
circumstances under which those words were
true, whether you agree with him or not, he
written, they were written, and that deserved
has a tendency to go too far, to divide rather
to be addressed,” Silveria said in a statement
than unite. There’s a moment I wanted to
to the Colorado Springs Gazette. “You can
share with you today that has so many people
never over-emphasize the need for a culture
saying, ‘Those are the words of a leader,’ at
of dignity and respect — and those who don’t
a time when the divided nation needs them
understand those concepts aren’t welcome
most.”
here.”
Baldwin played a long clip of Silveria’s
There’s also a need for accuracy when
speech and then introduced a live interview
the head of the Air Force Academy makes a
with Silveria himself. She began the interview high-profile statement that reaches millions of
with, “May I just say bravo ... “
Americans.
CNN’s Don Lemon also reported the
But it seems unlikely Silveria’s jump-
Silveria story as a Trump story. “I really hope
the-gun performance will hurt him, certainly
the president is watching tonight as well as his not with those who repeatedly brought
supporters,” Lemon said, adding that Silveria’s President Trump into coverage of the phony
words “are a stark reminder of everything our
hate crime. When CNN reported Silveria’s
president is not saying.”
response to the hoax revelation, Baldwin was
“I think it’s just a crying shame we
quick to offer support. “Well, he’s right,”
don’t have this kind of leadership from the
Baldwin said of Silveria. “The words ring
president,” added CNN’s Van Jones.
true. It’s just unfortunate to learn who really
Now, as everyone knows, there’s an update (did it).”
to the story. The cadet candidate who reported
■
the racial slurs has admitted that he was
Byron York is chief political correspondent
behind the whole thing. It was all a hoax. The
for The Washington Examiner.
Not all hate
crime reports
are false.
But it does
mean people
commenting on
them should be
cautious.
YOUR VIEWS
Tim White a different kind
of congressional candidate
I’m writing in support of a different sort
of candidate for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional
District — different because of his indepen-
dence from party dogma and a real desire to
see benefit to the residents of our district.
His name is Tim White, and if you examine
his positions you’ll find that he doesn’t
conform to the “identity politics” that Steve
Bannon rightly identified as the Democrats’
vulnerability. Yes, he is in full support of
ensuring the rights of all of us, whether we are
of a racial minority, LGBTQ, female or male,
and especially those of us in the working
middle class who have been left behind in
times of economic boom.
More importantly, he believes we must stop
the wave of undoing the progress America has
made on many fronts. That wave has brought
us legislation and executive orders that have a
crippling effect on protections put in place by
previous administrations.
Our health care system is broken, it needs
to be fixed not discarded. White believes
the ACA deficiencies can be fixed if our
representatives would work together and stop
the partisan bickering.
Our Veterans Administration is in serious
trouble, leaving our heroic military veterans
in a sea of paperwork and bureaucratic delays.
Tim believes we can do better by providing
adequate funding for facilities and staff and by
holding the VA management accountable.
And let’s not forget the economic ditch we
were in during 2007 and 2008. The GOP is
now proposing to gut the protections put in
place to prevent a recurrence of that mess —
they want to go back to the good old days of
an unfettered Wall Street and big banks.
So, it’s time for Greg Walden to retire.
Eighteen years, and counting, in the House is
far too long. Can I honestly say Oregon’s 2nd
District is on a stronger economic footing than
that of 18 years ago? Are our veterans being
better served? Has Walden introduced any
legislation of substance during his tenure?
I believe the answer to each of these three
questions is no. Walden is a faithful party man.
He has voted almost 100 percent for Trump
policies. If you support everything Trump is
doing, then Walden is your man. But I think
we need someone who will truly represent us
and work hard for us.
Take a look at Tim White. I think you’ll
find that he will more than measure up on both
counts.
Gerry Mueller
Bend