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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Friday, January 18, 2019 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor WYATT HAUPT JR. News Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Tip of the Hat, kick in the pants A tip of the hat to Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, for bringing a package of four wildfire bills to address problems and oversights in his expansive district. While the term “wildfire” may con- jure up images of vast forests ablaze, the Substation Fire in the sparse ranges of Wasco, Sherman and Gil- liam counties last summer was for a time the largest in the country. Thousands of acres of wheat were destroyed and a firefighter trying to head off the fire was killed. The bills as a group give farmers assurance they won’t be held liable for incidental property damage while fighting fires, move 400,000 acres of no-man’s land into the state fire mar- shal’s jurisdiction and give firefight- ers more support and flexibility when fighting rangeland fires. The Legislative session begins Monday and will likely roll all the way into fire season. We saw first- hand how destructive and deadly these range fires can be, and hope this important legislation passes. We’ll be watching Senate bills 290, 291, 292 and 311 closely. A kick in the pants to the raft of proposed bills seeking to limit pub- lic access to public records. In a summary released by the Office of the Oregon Public Records Advocate, there are 43 bills related to public records and 33 add exemptions, restrictions and prohibitions to cur- rent law. The most egregious is Senate Bill 609, sponsored by Sen. Betsy John- son, D-Scappoose, which adds a requirement that any requester of a public record must state how they intend to use it. Frankly, that’s not the concern of a public agency when asked to release a document that already belongs to the public. The other exemptions pertain to a wide variety of disclosures, from email addresses to complaints to bid proposals. As a whole, they add to the Swiss cheese nature of Oregon’s pub- lic records law. There are some helpful bills, for journalists and non-journalists alike. Two bills sponsored by Secretary of State Dennis Richardson aim to make EO Media Group/George Plaven A vacant house was burned down to its foundation in the 2018 Substation Fire on Gordon Ridge in Wasco County. spending by state agencies more trans- parent and prohibit public business from being done on private e-mail. Another pair by Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, cut the cost of record request fees in half for members of the media and add potential penalties for public agencies that respond with “undue delay” to requests. Any steps to limit access to the public’s records must be viewed with a highly critical eye, while giving the public more power to obtain their records should be championed. A tip of the hat to the community effort to get funding for the Uma- tilla County Jail. As Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, pointed out, it’s not just a Pendleton issue, or even just a Umatilla County issue. The jail is used to house inmates from neighboring Morrow and nearby Wallowa counties, and as it’s currently designed there’s not enough room for intake or to properly deal with people in mental health crisis. Legislators, county leaders, the sheriff and other community groups are putting their collective voice together to make a pitch for the $1.6 million needed for the upgrade. We’ve added our voice to that effort in the past, and are glad to do it again. OTHER VIEWS The rudderless West I OTHER VIEWS U.S. needs a truly independent AG The Washington Post n the current environment, the American people have to know that there are places in the govern- ment where the rule of law, not politics, holds sway,” William P. Barr said on Tuesday. “The Department of Justice must be such a place.” That was an important and reassuring message from President Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, who spent the day answering questions from the Senate Judi- ciary Committee. Mr. Barr, who served as attorney general once before, under president George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s, is a conservative Republican with views that not every American will embrace. But he came across as highly qualified and committed to the traditions, procedures and mores of the Justice Department. Mr. Barr expressed confidence in spe- cial counsel Robert S. Mueller III, pledged to ensure the Russia probe would not be under- mined without good cause and said he would seek to release as much information as pos- sible about Mr. Mueller’s findings. He also promised to prioritize securing U.S. elections. Much of the hearing centered on a memo Mr. Barr sent last June to Justice Depart- ment officials, in which he argued that Mr. Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey should not be construed as obstruc- tion of justice. Mr. Barr’s expansive view of presidential deference is concerning, but in his testimony he limited the extent of that deference. He insisted that the president would be guilty of obstruction if he coerced someone to change testimony, suborned per- jury or tampered with evidence. Mr. Barr “I 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. said he would not stand by and watch the president fire a prosecutor in order to end a legitimate investigation. Presidential tamper- ing in the administration of justice on behalf of personal interests would be “a breach of his constitutional duties” and “an abuse of power,” he said. At times, Mr. Barr seemed slightly out- of-time. He admitted ignorance of recent changes in electronic surveillance law. He defended his get-tough-on-crime past pro- moting stiff sentences in the early 1990s, and in the process appeared to claim that racial disparities in the justice system are less of a problem than many experts believe. But he said Congress was right to reassess harsh sentencing laws last year in the First Step Act, which he promised to faithfully apply. Similarly, he sympathized with for- mer attorney general Jeff Sessions’ permis- sive attitude toward overseeing local police departments. He nevertheless insisted that the Justice Department still has a role in polic- ing “pattern or practice” problems among local authorities. He should keep that in mind as he reviews the justice system’s record on racial equity. Mr. Barr decried the confusing and unset- tled state of marijuana policy in the United States, but he pledged no crackdown on those who have followed looser state laws and the Obama administration’s policy of noninterference. He repeatedly insisted that more barriers are needed on the southern border, but that is hardly surprising from a Trump nominee. “I can be truly independent,” Mr. Barr declared Tuesday. The Senate should quickly confirm him and hold him to that pledge. n August 1990, George H.W. Bush met were heedless when we became more con- cerned about the state of democracy in Iraq Margaret Thatcher in Aspen right after than in Iowa. Liberals were heedless when Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. The pair resolved not to allow Iraq’s “naked they embraced identity politics without ever thinking it could also be used against aggression” to stand, and it did not. This was how the West was supposed to work — them. Conservatives (again, like me) were heedless when we downplayed the signifi- and how, sometimes, it did. cance of the populism and scaremongering Today the U.S. and Great Britain infecting the movement via talk radio and scarcely govern themselves, never mind Fox News. shape world order. Theresa May, who as The heedlessness occurred on the other prime minister resembles Thatcher in no side of the Atlantic, too. European integra- respect other than gender and party, just tion is a blessing; integration without genu- suffered the worst parliamentary defeat in ine democratic accountability and nearly a century over her Brexit consent isn’t. Similarly, immigra- deal. Donald Trump, who as presi- dent resembles Bush in no respect tion is a blessing; immigration other than gender and party, pre- without assimilation is a curse. sides over a shuttered govern- Two generations of European ment, a revolving-door adminis- leaders allowed the former with- tration, a furiously divided nation, out requiring the latter, and then airily dismissed public discontent and a mistrusted and mocked as politically insignificant and superpower. B ret morally illegitimate. Now they The West is now rudderless. S tephenS are living with the consequences. To be rudderless puts you at the COMMENT What about the United States? mercy of elements. The elemen- tal forces of politics today are trib- Among many conservatives I alism, populism, authoritarianism and the know, the view of Trump is that chaotic sewage pipes of social media. Each contra- management, clownish behavior and ideo- dicts the West’s foundational commitments logical apostasies are irritants, not calami- ties, and prices worth paying for deregula- to universalism, representation, unalien- able rights, and an epistemology built on tion, tax cuts, and conservative courts. Really? These same conservatives spent fact and reason, not clicks and feelings. We are drifting, in the absence of mind and the past 30 years preaching the importance of judgment, good character, and respect will, toward a moment of civilizational for institutions in the person of the presi- self-negation. dent. They were right. What will they say When did the drift begin? Probably in when they find these attributes missing in 1989, when Francis Fukuyama published the person of a president whose policy pref- his landmark essay “The End of History?” erences and political affiliation they don’t and a decade of democratic complacency share? took hold. Why worry about the health and The West is not adrift in placid waters. fate of liberal democracy when its triumph With limited resources but ruthless meth- was inevitable and irreversible? Why teach ods, Vladimir Putin has gone about under- the benefits of free markets and immigra- tion — or the dangers of socialism and mining democracy from Kiev to Kansas. With equally ruthless means and far greater nativism — when history had already ren- dered a verdict? resources, Xi Jinping has raised the banner of efficient authoritarianism as the preferred And why do the tedious work of pre- serving the foundations of free government model of 21st century governance. when it is so much more interesting to rein- What does the West have to say in its vent it? own defense? Who does it have to say it? Complacency breeds heedlessness. Lib- And who will fix the rigging and reset the erals were heedless when they wrote off rudder in time for the next squall? Bret Stephens is a columnist for the New moral character as an essential trait of a York Times. good presidency. Conservatives (like me) 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 9780, or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
