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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2018)
Page 4A East Oregonian Wednesday, February 14, 2018 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Judging a judge An unqualified federal judge is a We understand what’s at stake. We know that politics will always play a serious problem. part in appointments. President Donald In the most rudimentary civics class you’ll learn that a strong and Trump claims the appointment of fair judicial branch is critical to our conservative Supreme Court Judge democracy, creating a check that limits Neil Gorsuch as one of the great the powers of the federal government. accomplishments of his first year To fulfill this role, the judiciary must in office, and many conservative voters listed that be filled with fair- as minded, learned and It’s unfortunate to appointment their top reason for honorable men and women. see Ryan Bounds’ voting for Trump. There are many also know that nomination to the We four of the other federal judgeships nominees — 890 — that fill 9th Circuit Court judicial selected by the Trump specific roles in that of Appeals take on administration have democratic duty, graded by as prescribed in an unfair tarnish. been the American Bar Article III of the U.S. Association as “not Constitution. The qualified.” Supreme Court is the highest in the With all that in mind, it’s unfortunate land, but circuit and district courts are also accountable for proper reading and to see Ryan Bounds’ nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals take on rendering of the law. an unfair tarnish due to a few lines in No decision falls on a single judge. a few opinion pieces he wrote when he There is room for our sometimes was at Stanford University more than clunky democracy to play out 20 years ago. across several venues, and no single There is writing, done at any stage of interpretation of the law can stand above the broad understanding held by life, that would be disqualifying. This would include arguments for white the majority of these judges. supremacy or against free speech, or But any time an unqualified judge statements that display an implicit bias is seated, the integrity of the entire against certain people or groups. system becomes weaker. These judges Bounds’ statements that have come are appointed for life, and outside to light so far — in the form of op-eds of impeachment by the Congress from the mid-1990s in the Stanford they serve until they retire or die. Review — do not nearly meet that Unqualified candidates also lower the bar, so to speak, making room for more standard. While he has admitted they were both tone-deaf and insensitive, partisan politics to play into future we struggle to find anything more appointments and real concerns of character and conduct to be overlooked. nefarious. As a college student he AP Photo/Paul Sakuma An ACLU attorney argues his case in front of judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a San Francisco courtroom on Sept. 22, 2003. took a little too much glee, it seems, in painting a sarcastic picture of race-based organizations — not the races, but some campus groups — and his musings on punishment for sexual assault allegations presented a lack of respect for victims. We’d hope that college is a time of sharpening one’s mind and viewpoints, and that opinions formed and expressed during that time are not intractably held for the rest of one’s life. By that token, we should be very interested in allowing students to express their ideas and arguments without fear of reprisal at some future date. Bounds said he has matured, and there’s ample evidence of that. His professional career in the decades since show him to be a respectable attorney and judge, and a bi-partisan committee that reviewed his nomination found him to be more than capable of the job based on that record. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, however, are questioning his qualifications based solely on the writing. Rep. Greg Walden has continued to support Bounds. It’s no secret where the motives lie. The Democratic senators would rather not see a young, conservative judge added this court, and the Republican representative would. It’s worth noting that Bounds has a connection to Walden’s office — his sister, Lorissa Bounds, is Walden’s chief of staff — but neither the appointee committee nor the East Oregonian find that conflict to be disqualifying, either. What we hope for is a judicial selection process that stays away from partisan politics as much as possible, allowing the best and fairest legal minds to hold important seats that keep our democracy in check. OTHER VIEWS End of the two-party system n the first half of the 1990s, I organ of conservative opinion. worked in Europe for The Wall Restricting immigration has become Street Journal. I covered nothing the core Republican issue. Today’s but good news: the reunification of Republicans are happy to trade Germany, the liberation of Central away their fiscal principles if they Europe, the fall of the Soviet Union, can get their way on immigration, the end of apartheid in South Africa, which is what they did in last week’s the Oslo peace process in the budget deal. Middle East. Then, toward the end The Trump era has produced a David of my stay, there was one seemingly Brooks renaissance in conservative writing. anomalous episode — the breakup National Review is a more interesting Comment of Yugoslavia. magazine now than at any time in In retrospect, the civil war in the its history. But the style of politics Balkans was the most important event of that Trump’s scarcity mindset demands has that period. It prefigured what has come been a disaster for conservative governance. since: the return of ethnic separatism, the He insists on perpetual warfare — against rise of authoritarian populism, the retreat of all comers. Stuck fighting his wars with liberal democracy, the elevation of a warrior him, Republican politicians have had to say ethos that reduces politics to friend/enemy, goodbye to most of the pillars of conservatism: zero-sum conflicts. rule of law, fiscal discipline, global In those intervening years there’s been engagement, moral decency, the idea that an utter transformation in the unconscious people should be judged by the content of their mindset within which people hold their character and not the color of their skin. beliefs. In theory, the GOP restrictionist position Back in the 1990s, there was an on immigration is perfectly legitimate. unconscious abundance mindset. But Trump has fatally entwined it with his Democratic capitalism provides the bounty. constant race baiting. Republican politicians Prejudice gradually fades away. Growth and could have denounced the race baiting but dynamism are our friends. The abundance remained silent. They allowed themselves mindset is confident in the future, to become fellow travelers to bigotry, and welcoming toward others. It sees win-win spoiled their own cause. situations everywhere. The fact is that the scarcity mentality and Today, after the financial crisis, the the perpetual warrior style it demands are shrinking of the middle class, the partisan incompatible with any civilized political warfare, a scarcity mindset is dominant: creed. At first the warriors seem to be Resources are limited. The world is fighting for the creed but eventually they dangerous. Group conflict is inevitable. It’s transform it. us versus them. If they win, we’re ruined, Under the influence of this mentality, therefore, let’s stick with our tribe. The ends evangelicalism turns from a faith into a justify the means. siege-mentality interest group that reveres The shift in mentalities seems like a shift a pagan immoralist. Under the influence in philosophy. But it’s really a shift from of this mentality, liberalism goes from a philosophy to an anti-philosophy. The a creed that values individual rights and scarcity mindset is an acid that destroys deliberation to one that values group every belief system it touches. separatism and intellectual intolerance. For example, in the years after Ronald All of this would be survivable if the Reagan, the Republican Party was mentality was going away in a few years. defined by its abundance mindset. The But it is not going away. The underlying key Republican narratives were capitalist conditions of scarcity are only going to get narratives about dynamic entrepreneurs worse. Moreover, the warrior mentality and America’s heroic missions. The Wall builds on itself. As the right pulverizes Street Journal editorial page was the most the left, the left feels the need to pulverize important organ of conservative opinion. back, and on and on. This is a generational The party’s views on other issues, like challenge. Trump will be succeeded by immigration, were downstream from some other warrior. Eventually, conservatives will realize: If confidence in the abundant marketplace and we want to preserve conservatism, we can’t the power of the American idea. be in the same party as the clan warriors. Now, Donald Trump leads the Liberals will realize: If we want to preserve Republican Party, the personification of the liberalism, we can’t be in the same party as scarcity mindset. Fox News, with its daily gospel of resentments, is the most important the clan warriors. I YOUR VIEWS Gun bill stomps on owners’ due process A comment on House Bill 4145 (East Oregonian, Feb. 9, 2018), which would expand prohibitions on domestic abusers having guns to include dating partners and stalkers, adding them to spouses, former spouses and couples who are co-habitating: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. So basically, anyone from your past who harbors a grudge against you could strip you of your right to own firearms and cause your property to be confiscated? The legislators proposing this law seem eager to don hobnailed jackboots and give “due process” a right royal stomping. John Kaufman Pendleton 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. 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.
