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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2018)
VIEWPOINTS Saturday, November 3, 2018 East Oregonian Page 5A Where farm country ends F or the past year I have served on the state board of directors for the Oregon Farm Bureau. This endeavor requires a quarterly trip to Salem for a couple of days of meetings. The drive is a bit long at times, but tolerable (it certainly beats walking or riding a horse), especially since on my most recent trip I was able to listen to most of the final game of this year’s World Series match-up between the Red Sox and Dodgers — who, incidentally, last faced off the year my maternal grandfather was born: 1916. While listening to a baseball game en route to a meeting, I was reminded of conservative commentator George F. Will’s explanation of why he preferred to watch baseball over football. Football, he said embodied two of the most objectionable things about modern America — violence punctuated by a committee meeting (the huddle). Fortunately I’ve never been tackled at any meeting thus far. Upon arriving at the Farm Bureau office, I parked my pickup and immediately engaged in conversation with my friend and fellow board member Peter. Perhaps because I was distracted, or more likely because I am a rube, I did not lock the driver’s door. Four hours later, I came back to a vehicle that had been hastily “searched.” Apparently, my favorite 20-year-old duffel bag was needed more by a thief than by me — for it was gone. Its only contents were my favorite flannel shirt, a pair of dirty jeans, socks and jockey shorts and a well-used toothbrush, but I was seething, anyway. The parking lot is only a few blocks from the Oregon Capitol and the theft occurred in the middle of the day. It added another reason for me to not trust people in Salem, although this time under entirely different circumstances than that to which I am accustomed. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so cynical — Cindy and I attended college in Monmouth and have fond memories of visiting Oregon’s third most populous city, although apparently not all 60,000 people who have arrived since our departure nearly 30 years ago are upstanding citizens. (Salem’s population was barely 100,000 in 1990 — today it is well over 160,000. I realize that growth is ostensibly good for the economy, but not for my blood pressure.) Upon leaving for home, I decided to take a detour and recharge the battery that I decided to take a detour and recharge the battery that powers my faith in humanity powers my faith in humanity by visiting one of my favorite “cousins.” While we are not actually blood relatives (he is a first cousin of my second cousin), his farm and his demeanor are a welcome experience without fail. His family has occupied the same farm for four generations since they arrived from Helvetia (with a stopover in Kansas) and settled near Hillsboro. He and his son still stack hay in a 1902 barn that was two years old when great-grandpa bought the place. After a tour of the neighborhood and a visit with his 96 years young father (who retired from bucking bales at approximately 88) we adjourned to the kitchen for a hearty feast, prepared by his lovely wife, of sauerkraut and sausage, fresh pears and homemade cheese from his cousin down the road — all washed down with Vitamin R. We discussed the price of wheat, compared notes on precipitation data at our respective farms, updated each other on family news, looked at cute grandkid pictures and even briefly talked Farm Bureau business. We lamented the loss of prime farmland to development, fondly reminisced about departed ancestors who worked hard and left a legacy that is still remembered and appreciated and kicked the tires on some old farm equipment. After making plans for meeting again in the near future, I gathered my gift pack of cheese, kraut, sausage and Halloween candy and pulled out of his driveway past M att W ood FROM THE TRACTOR a line of farm equipment parked by an old barn, and put his mailbox in the rear view mirror. Four hours later I spotted my own mailbox in the headlights as I drove past a line of farm equipment parked by an old barn. All was well — except before I travel again I need to go to a yard sale and see if I can find a duffel bag. The American government works N ext time you’re in downtown Pendleton, visit the post office at the corner of Southwest Dorion and First Street. There, on an old plaque cemented to the wall are the words: “This brick building was constructed in 1916 by the Federal Government and has been in continuous use as a Post Office and Courthouse since that time ... The symmetry and classical elements of the style create a feeling of monumentality and permanence appropriate to civic structures. The confidence in Tom the government Hebert inspired by public Comment buildings of this time must have seemed particularly important at a time when the front page of the newspaper was devoted almost entirely to the developments of the first World War. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.” Can you imagine such positive words about the American government appearing on a government wall plaque today? How times have changed. First of all, I’m a liberal Democrat. How best to understand the likes of us? Probably the most venerated federal judge in American history was Learned Hand. On May 21, 1944, one and a half million met in Central Park for the annual “I Am an American Day.” Judge Hand was the featured speaker: “What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the mind of EO file photo The Pendleton Post Office was built in 1916 during a time of support for the U.S. government. other men and women.” To cut to the chase, do Americans pay higher taxes than other countries? The answer is no. From a 2017 Time magazine article: “With a tax burden of 25 percent — a measurement that includes income, property, and various other taxes — the U.S. is near the very bottom, well below the overall average of 34 percent. It ranks below all the measured countries except Korea, Chile, and Mexico.” But President Trump has said that our taxes are “just about the highest in the world.” The U.S. government may not be perfect, but many of its programs have had lasting effects on the nation. The Brookings Institute has researched domestic and foreign government programs to compile a list of Government’s Top 10 Greatest Achievements, part of a study of the government’s 50 greatest endeavors: 1. Rebuild Europe after World War II 2. Expand the right to vote 3. Promote equal access to public accommodations 4. Reduce disease 5. Reduce workplace discrimination 6. Ensure safe food and drinking water 7. Strengthen the nation’s highway system 8. Increase older Americans’ access to health care 9. Reduce the federal budget deficit 10. Promote financial security in retirement Thus, government can work wonders but only if the leadership truly wants it to. And of course, government service has to be honored. Now, both government and government service are often ignored, attacked, and not defended. So, how are effective federal government programs created? Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps took 37 days from his inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the induction of the first enrollee on April 7, 1933. It’s a shame we no longer have presidents who speak to us in fireside chats so that the American people can learn of the world and major issues like they did during his time in office. These were the most essential words of Roosevelt’s Tennessee Valley Authority as presented to Congress on April 10, 1933. From his cover letter: “I, therefore, suggest to the Congress legislation to create a Tennessee Valley Authority — a corporation clothed with the power of government but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise.” Within 90 days TVA was fast- tracking Norris Dam to an early completion. Another fast start-up: On Feb. 6, 1961, Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps, accepted a 30-page concept paper, “The Towering Task.” On March 1, 1961, President John Kennedy issued the Executive Order establishing the Peace Corps. Shriver had thus needed only 21 days to organize the agency. Volunteers were in the field by the fall. The trigger event that founded the Peace Corps was when John Kennedy ended his Jan. 18, 1961, inauguration speech with a line that defined my generation: “And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Well, we tried. Writing as the liberal Democrat I admit to being, I believe the government problem we have today is the dead on arrival gerrymandered Congress and the most political and activist Supreme Court in the nation’s history. The court is setting policy and that improper role is also far to the right of what polls show most people want. Our bureaucracy is the finest the world has ever known. But, of course, after a couple decades of heated, abnormal political arguments and an exhausted electorate not voting as much as they once did, it has lots of barnacles. All cultures have always had to provide for transitioning young boys and girls (braves) into warriors, who are simply men and women who put community before self. Yes, there’s a real need, here and now, for modern warriors. The builders of our Post Office would agree. ■ Tom Hebert is a writer, public policy consultant and East Oregonian columnist. How do we move on from here? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette S he lived 97 years, only to be gunned down in her synagogue. That was the unfair end to the life that Rose Mallinger lived with energy, love and joy. While the enormity of the Oct. 27 mass shooting at Tree of Life is most easily comprehended in numbers and turns of phrase — 11 dead in what has been described as the most horrific attack on the American Jewish community in U.S. history — that doesn’t begin to articulate the loss rippling across the victims’ families, professions and communities. The victims had gifts to give, like Ms. Mallinger’s love and wisdom for her family, and they enriched the world in ways that should be celebrated and remembered. Consider the sharp mind, healing hand and compassionate heart of Jerry Rabinowitz, a family physician who could make everything better. The field of medicine, so often criticized for bureaucracy these days, will be poorer without his human touch. Think of Joyce Fienberg, a research specialist at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center from 1983 to 2008. Who knows how many schools, teachers and students benefited from her insights or how her work may influence the field of education for years to come? Ponder the resilience modeled by David and Cecil Rosenthal, two brothers with intellectual disabilities who lived full lives in a world often unkind to people who are different. Consider the cumulative effect of the many kindnesses of Daniel Stein and Irving Younger, who served as youth baseball coaches and held various roles at the synagogue. Mr. Younger often greeted congregants and bid them welcome. Vibrant communities and well-run organizations rely on volunteers like these. How precious the example of Bernice and Sylvan Simon, a married couple whose love spanned more than six decades; of Richard Gottfried, a dentist who married a Catholic woman and volunteered his services to a free clinic run by Catholic Charities; and of Melvin Wax, whose spirituality defied an ever-more-secular world. Bill Cartiff, a friend of Mr. Wax, said that going to synagogue “was as important to him as breakfast to most people.” Only by knowing a little about the victims is it possible to fathom all that was stolen by one man with crazy ideas about Jews and refugees. If people filled with hate got to know the people they’ve come to hate, there might be more peace in the world. Who could hate Ms. Mallinger or the Rosenthals? Mr. Cartiff asked, “How do we move from here?” The lives the 11 lived — filled with joy, civic-mindedness and compassion for others — are pointing the way.
