Page 4A
East Oregonian
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Back to school
he first day of school is a day
that matters.
It’s a day of hope and
excitement, from the most wide-eyed
kindergartner to the seasoned senior.
It’s a day of butterflies in the
stomach, of catching up with old
friends and making new ones.
It’s a day where expectations are set,
not just for the next eight months but
for the next stage in life.
Education is the foundation on
which our society is built. It’s a
monumental task we give our teachers
and administrators when we ask
them to prepare our children, and by
extension the future itself. We want
reading, writing and arithmetic, but
we also want kindness, curiosity and
conscientiousness. We want them to
learn the value of exercise and critical
thinking, music appreciation and the
scientific method. We expect a lot.
Most other societal issues — crime,
economy, politics — are easily traced
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back to education, or lack thereof.
It’s no wonder both of Oregon’s
gubernatorial candidates have released
education plans promising to increase
our state’s standing in the U.S.
We’ve taken issue in the past that
the hours are too short in Oregon.
Both Gov. Kate Brown and challenger
Knute Buehler are vowing to increase
the number of days required. Our only
caveat would be to require expanded
educational hours, not just days. For
some of our rural districts, providing
transportation and meals five days a
week is a real cost concern, and the
four-day option with longer school
days has helped make ends meet.
Both candidates have also talked
about giving better support to teachers.
Buehler suggests debit cards loaded
with $250 for teachers to spend on
classroom needs. Brown suggests
creating stronger mentoring and
development programs.
The plans are available on each
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Teacher Theresa Stangel reads instructions for students to write a short biography
about themselves in a Bulldog catering class Monday at Hermiston High School.
candidate’s campaign website, and
there’s a lot of crossover between them.
The biggest question that each must
answer is how to fund the increases
necessary to make real change, or
whether there are cost-free changes that
could have an impact.
But while these ambitious promises
remain fodder for debate, our educators
are back at work in the real world.
We wish them well and offer our
support. We have high expectations,
but realize it’s our job as parents and
community partners to come alongside
and help where we can.
It’s a job that really matters.
OTHER VIEWS
In D.C., a rare relationship
without pretense and B.S.
here are people in
a story headlined, “Trump shunned
by Arizona’s GOP establishment
Washington who hate each
ahead of Phoenix visit.” McCain
other but who, for public
went on MSNBC to tell host
consumption, pretend not to hate
Andrea Mitchell that he found
each other. What was almost
Trump’s rhetoric offensive.
refreshing about the relationship of
“When he comes to Arizona,
Sen. John McCain and President
he will find that we Arizonans
Trump was that there was no such
Byron
cherish our Hispanic heritage and
pretending.
York
influence,” McCain said. “We
A number of Trump’s 2016
Comment
cherish the music, the culture, the
Republican primary rivals who
food.”
serve in the U.S. Senate — Marco
While McCain stayed away, Trump’s
Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and
rally was big. And of course, Trump fired
Rand Paul — said some pretty vicious
back at McCain. “We have incompetent
things about Trump during the campaign,
politicians, not only the president,” Trump
and of course, Trump said vicious things
said. “I mean, right here, in your own
about them. Now, some of them have
future political ambitions that would not be state, you have John McCain.” Trump
served by feuding with a president of their later told reporters that McCain was
“very weak on immigration” and could be
own party. Others are just trying to get
beaten for re-election “if the right person”
things done and recognize the will of the
voters. Whatever the reason, all have made ran against him.
Of course, McCain struck back. On July
their peace with Trump. Some are actually
16, talking to The New Yorker, McCain
friendly with him.
said, “This performance with our friend
The notable thing about McCain, who
out in Phoenix is very hurtful to me,
even before he fell ill was approaching the
because what he did was he fired up the
end of his Senate career and whose own
crazies.”
runs for the White House were in the past,
That same day, an enraged Trump, via
was that he never felt the need to even
feign positive feelings for his party’s leader. Twitter, demanded that McCain apologize
In a way, the two men together, McCain to the “amazing Americans” who attended
the rally. And then: “@SenJohnMcCain
and Trump, struck a blow for genuineness
amid the phoniness of official Washington. should be defeated in the primaries.
Their antipathy played out in a series of Graduated last in his class at Annapolis
— dummy!”
escalating attacks on each other in 2015,
In retrospect, all that was just setting
as Trump began to make waves in the
the stage for the nuclear explosion that
Republican presidential primary.
occurred two days later, on July 18. At an
It started when Trump announced his
event in Iowa, Trump, who never served
candidacy on June 16, 2015. He pounded
in the military, disparaged McCain’s
on Mexico, accusing the country of taking
experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
American jobs and giving little in return.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re
was a war hero because he was captured. I
not sending their best,” Trump said.
like people who weren’t captured.”
“They’re sending people that have lots
Trump’s remarks set off a huge uproar,
of problems, and they’re bringing those
with some in the press expressing outrage
problems with us. They’re bringing drugs.
on McCain’s behalf. (McCain’s own public
They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.
reaction was subdued.) The conventional
And some, I assume, are good people.”
wisdom was best captured by Politico,
That did not sit well with McCain, the
which declared, “Donald Trump might
longtime comprehensive immigration
finally have crossed the line.”
reform advocate and moving force behind
Finally, there was July 27, 2017, the
the Senate’s Gang of 8 immigration bill.
night McCain’s thumbs-down vote killed
During a June 30 town hall in Arizona,
the GOP’s long-held hope — and Trump’s
McCain was asked about Trump. “I
campaign promise — to repeal Obamacare.
don’t pay much attention,” McCain said,
The irreparable breach between McCain
according to an account in the Arizona
and the president became even more
Republic. (Some of this column is based
irreparable. A dying McCain specified the
on the Republic’s helpful timeline of
president be excluded from his funeral, and
the McCain-Trump relationship.) Later,
when McCain passed away, the president
McCain said he didn’t think Trump’s
delayed releasing a routine proclamation in
campaign would last and added, “I just
recognition of his life.
disagree with his comments about the,
The relationship between the two men
quote, Mexicans.”
ended as badly as it began. But always
The paper’s headline was, “John
McCain the latest to pummel the Donald.” — and rarely for Washington — without
It wasn’t much of a pummeling, but Trump pretense.
■
no doubt took notice.
Byron York is chief political correspondent
Trump scheduled a rally in Phoenix on
July 11. Two days before, the Republic ran for The Washington Examiner.
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YOUR VIEWS
Time for our elected leaders
to work for their constituents
With all of the media coverage the
last few days on the passing of Senator
John McCain of Arizona, it occurred to a
multitude of Americans that it is way past
due for our elected leaders to put aside
their petty, partisan politics and polarizing
polemics and get about the business of
doing what is best for their constituents,
not special interests, not just the wealthy or
the lobbyists representing them.
Dr. Jake and Cathy Cambier
Pendleton
Parades a poor use of scant
tax dollars to honor veterans
Our nation and its tax dollars do not
need to have multi-millions of dollars
spent on parades. The most meaningful
way to express our “gratitude and pride”
in our armed forces is to put the many
millions into helping our military and
veterans with their basic needs. The funds
for those purposes are stretched beyond
their limits or neglected altogether because
of the lack of money.
The use of $50 million (or far more)
wisely is giving heartfelt thanks to our
military members in a meaningful manner.
The president surely wants to make wise
use of tax dollars. Our national debt needs
to be our focus if we are ever to be able to
reduce it.
Darlene Abney
Pendleton
Walden listens to donors,
but not his constituents
The writer of a recent letter to the editor
believes that Greg Walden’s inaccessibility
to his constituents is because he’s too busy
“doing his job.” Really?
Walden’s job as a congressional
representative is to represent his
constituents. How can he represent his
constituents if he doesn’t meet with us, talk
to us and hear our opinions and concerns?
And he hasn’t been listening for a long
time.
If Greg were listening to us, he would
not have:
• Voted, over fifty times, to repeal the
Affordable Care Act, because that would
have taken health insurance away from
more than 130,000 people in his district.
• Voted to remove protections to people
with pre-existing medical conditions,
because that will result in 27 percent
of Oregonians, including 64 percent of
farmers and ranchers, being denied health
insurance.
• Remained silent on Trump’s trade war,
which is hurting our ag communities and
leading to higher prices for every single
person in his district.
• Blamed the increasingly devastating
wildfire seasons entirely on fuel loads
in our forests without acknowledging
the huge role of climate change and
committing to leadership on climate action.
So, who is he listening to? That’s
easy. His big corporate donors: the
pharmaceutical industry (over $500,000),
the oil and gas industry (over $286,000)
and the telecommunications industry (over
$257,000).
Jamie McLeod-Skinner is a fresh
face and not a Washington insider.
She’s traveled 40,000 miles through all
20 counties in our district, listening to
people and learning about their concerns.
She knows the job description and she’s
showing up to do it. That’s why I’ll be
voting for her in November.
Angelique Loscar
Bend
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
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.
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