Page 4A
East Oregonian
Friday, July 20, 2018
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
Tip of the hat,
kick in the pants
A tip of the hat to last weekend’s
really fun Pendleton Whisky Music Fest,
which went off without a hitch despite
hot weather and a packed Round-Up
Grounds.
Pitbull brought the ruckus as the first
act, and was appreciative of the opportu-
nity and the fawning crowd. The came Shel-
ton, who caused middle-aged women across
the county to swoon before he even took the
stage.
And speaking of Blake on stage, we’ve
heard people wonder if Pendleton Whisky
paid Shelton to take a little oopsy-daisy fall
and blame it on some serious drinking. If
not, how could it work out better than having
your star tip over and appear in magazines
and top websites and blame it (by name)
on the alcohol company that sponsored the
show? We hope it was a smooth viral mar-
keting trick by Pendleton Whisky, and if so
we tip our hat to them.
And the fun doesn’t stop during these
Eastern Oregon summers. We welcome
Pendleton Bike Week to town, which brings
its own revving engines, loud music and
party atmosphere.
A tip of the hat to the final sentencing
of the two men accused of shooting — one
fatally — at partygoers on the reservation
in 2016.
The shooting tore a hole in the CTUIR
community, and finally seeing these cases
come to an end can provide the gift of
closure.
In today’s paper, you can read that Vic-
tor Contreras will serve more than 12 years
in prison. He pleaded guilty last year. Julian
Simpson, who fired the fatal shot, will serve
up to 25 years in prison.
It’s not a good feeling to see such lengthy
sentences, and realize more lives are being
lost because of a few dumb decisions. Mur-
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Blake Shelton points at a fan during a song at the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest.
der and violence destroy more than just the
people who die by their hand. Those who
cause it eventfully have to pay for their
actions, and family and friends of everyone
involved suffer the rest of their days as well.
Some local groups have sprung up in the
wake of this terrible incident, and we hope
they find a way to find some silver lining out
of senseless violence. A renewed focus on
community and care is called for.
OTHER VIEWS
Resign, Mike Pompeo.
Resign, John Bolton.
B
YOUR VIEWS
Thanks to firefighters
for stopping Weston fire
On behalf of the residents of Weston, I
wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all
of the responders during the fire on July 12.
While it is said that no one fights like fam-
ily, it is also true that no one defends like
family.
Every corner of Umatilla County came
to Weston to protect our community. Pri-
vate citizens came with water trucks and
hoses, and local, state, and federal agencies
converged; all hands were on deck. Like
true family, you defended us and we thank
you.
Jennifer McClure Spurgeon
Mayor of Weston
Pendleton Development
Commission misconceptions
Having read Mr. Platek’s letter in the
July 7 East Oregonian, it was apparent
that he had a slight misconception of how
the Pendleton Development Commission
functions.
He is correct in that the PDC and
city council are one and the same — the
same people with different agendas that
sometimes overlap. He may, however, not
be aware that the PDC gives both loans
and grants. The loans are basically startup
money for new businesses, a very risky
endeavor.
The large amount as such recently
approved for Mr. Plute for remodeling is
not a loan. It’s a grant, and here’s where
the PDC differs from a bank: Banks turn a
profit from their loans on the interest they
receive as the loan is repaid.
The PDC, on the other hand, simply
gives the money away in the form of a
grant with no repayment required. They act
as the middleman, borrowing their money
from a bank, handing it out as grants,
and then repaying those loans, including
interest, with property taxes. The bank
still makes a profit. It’s basically the city’s
welfare program for commercial property
owners in the downtown area. They want
cash for renovations and the city is eager
to provide it.
Although they claim this approach will
attract new customers to Main Street, a trip
to the Walmart/Safeway/ Melanie Square
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.
area of town proves otherwise. These
businesses more than likely do as much in
sales in an hour as those downtown do in a
month simply by catering to the majority.
Main Street, on the other hand, caters
to tourists and mostly high-end shoppers
with the exception of a couple of well
established businesses that have been
there for years. Our city administrators
still haven’t figured out that things like
variety, sensible prices, shopping carts, and
convenient parking draw more customers
than a few flower pots and Christmas
lights.
Ask Al Plute. As a former PDC/city
council member, he knows exactly which
buttons to push. After all, there’s nothing
better than free money, and he’d be foolish
to turn it down. It’s just smart business.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
No need to spend money
redesigning Pendleton
interchange
I am unsure why the city of Pendleton
is so keen on spending millions of dollars
to reconstruct the Interstate 84/Exit 209
interchange.
According to the I84/U.S. 395
Management Plan, the current
configuration of exit 209 “makes it very
difficult for motorists exiting the freeway
to access downtown.”
This is absurd. It takes almost no time
to access downtown Pendleton from exit
209.
The management plan also claims exit
209 operates at “over capacity.” This is
also laughable. There are rarely more than
a few vehicles on the interchange at any
given time.
The roads in Pendleton are in terrible
condition. The Pendleton City Council
needs to explain why it cannot manage to
repair its own city roads, but can manage
to spend millions of dollars to repair an
interchange that functions quite well.
Justin Morton
Pendleton
efore the word “resignation”
By continuing to serve the
became a euphemism for
president, Pompeo and Bolton
being fired, it connoted
and their top aides are not — as
a sense of public integrity
they doubtlessly tell themselves in
and personal honor. Attorney
humiliating moments like this one
General Elliot Richardson and
— cleaning up after him. They are
his deputy,William Ruckelshaus,
covering up for him.
showed both qualities when
The country. In 2016, Bolton
Bret
they resigned from the Nixon
denounced Trump’s penny-wise
Stephens approach to NATO for “encouraging
administration during the Saturday
Comment
Russian aggression.” Last year, he
Night Massacre in 1973. Jimmy
wrote that Russian interference in
Carter’s secretary of state, Cyrus
Vance, did likewise when he resigned during the U.S. election was “a true act of war,”
and that Putin’s denials were “insulting.”
the Iran hostage crisis in 1980.
This was in a newspaper op-ed titled, in
Assuming Mike Pompeo and John
part, “Negotiate with Russia at our peril.”
Bolton still have their own senses intact,
Those views remain true. Russia is a
they too should resign following the epic
hostile power seeking, as Pompeo told me
disgrace of the U.S.-Russia summit in
last year in a public interview, “to stick it to
Helsinki on Monday. So should their senior
America.” Yet Trump has repeatedly gone
staff.
out of his way to mollify and elevate Putin.
I don’t suggest this lightly. I’ve known
both men for years, respect them, and wrote To the extent that his administration has
been tough on Russia — as with last week’s
friendly columns when they took their
Justice Department indictments of Russian
current jobs. I share many of their hawkish
intelligence officers or March’s expulsion
views, and have applauded some of the
administration’s controversial foreign policy of 60 Russians — it has been over Trump’s
personal and often furious objections.
decisions, particularly the withdrawal from
The GOP’s pro-Russia caucus,
the Iran nuclear deal.
channeling Trump’s ideological id through
I’m also cognizant of two factors
such simpering mouthpieces as Fox News’
weighing against resignation. First, Cabinet
Tucker Carlson, continues to gain ground,
members and other senior White House
with the percentage of Republican voters
officials owe a president deep loyalty
with a favorable view of Putin more than
whatever their policy differences — the
doubling since 2015.
sort of loyalty George Marshall showed
Bolton and Pompeo should be leading
when he declined to resign as secretary of
the conservative charge against the Putin
state despite his fierce opposition to Harry
appeasers. In office, they are effectively
Truman’s decision to recognize Israel.
complicit with them.
Second, whoever succeeds Pompeo or
Conscience. On Wednesday, I spoke
Bolton could very well be worse. Secretary
by phone with Cy Vance’s son, Manhattan
of State Newt Gingrich? National Security
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., about his
Adviser Sebastian Gorka? Why not? For
father’s decision to resign. “If he could not
an administration whose core values are
in good conscience support the president’s
personal toadyism and ethical elasticity,
views publicly, he felt he had a duty to the
they’d be perfect.
president and the country to step away,”
Yet those considerations do not relieve
Vance recalls. “He went out in a very painful
Pompeo, Bolton and their staff of three
personal way, but faithful to his views.”
higher duties: the Constitution, to which
Vance adds that one of his takeaways
they swore an oath; the country, to which
they pledge allegiance; and their conscience, from his father’s experience is “how
to which they ultimately must account. Let’s important it is, if you’re going into
government, to be a decision-maker for your
take each in its turn.
own policies.” No adviser to a president is
The Constitution. No, Donald Trump
going to get his way all of the time, but at
is not guilty of “treason,” a word that’s
a minimum that adviser should be able to
been bandied about much too loosely
defend the tilt of an administration’s policy
this week. Treason is narrowly defined in
as if it were his own. If not, he should make
the Constitution for a good reason, and
room for those who can.
its promiscuous misuse only helps the
Right now, Bolton and Pompeo are
president’s defenders paint opponents as
parties to a Russia policy they would never
hysterics and ignoramuses.
otherwise advocate and cannot possibly
Trump’s behavior in Helsinki is,
defend in light of their public views. This
however, another vivid reminder of his
means that they are either violating their
manifest unfitness for office. That’s true
principles, or had none to begin with.
whether the behavior is best explained
If it’s the latter, by all means they should
as a matter of moral turpitude or mental
stay put and enjoy the aphrodisiac of power
incompetence — of his eagerness to accept
for however long it may last. If the former,
the word of a trained liar like Vladimir
Putin over the consensus assessment of U.S. the only decent course is to resign. The
sooner they do it, the more they can preserve
intelligence agencies, or of his inability
of their honor.
to speak coherently at a critical moment
■
in his presidency. The president’s pathetic
Bret Stephens won a Pulitzer Prize for
suggestion on Tuesday that he misspoke by
failing to use a double negative also reminds commentary in 2013. He is a columnist at
The New York Times.
that, knave or fool, he’s a congenital liar.
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.