A4
East Oregonian
Thursday, March 21, 2019
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Walden off the wall
U
.S. Rep. Greg Walden has
become very good at walking
a fine line during his town hall
meetings in Eastern Oregon. A tight-
rope, even.
He is adept at reading the room,
picking his steps to find a uniting mes-
sage and staying on balance even as
some constituents attempt to knock
him off.
In 2017 he was questioned hard for
his support of repealing the Afford-
able Care Act, an attempt that ulti-
mately failed in the U.S. Senate. Now
the pressure is coming from the other
direction as he split with the Repub-
lican president and much of the party
on the emergency wall declaration, a
stand that also may ultimately fail. He
admitted as much during the town hall
in Hermiston on March 15.
In both cases, Walden has defended
his position as being the best for the
United States.
When it comes to President
Trump’s emergency declaration to
secure funding for a border wall, we
commend Walden for his commitment
to keeping executive powers in check.
It’s a task we hope every member of
the U.S. House takes seriously, though
in general we see little appetite for it
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden congratulates Pendleton High School senior Kirk Liscom on being ac-
cepted into the United States Naval Academy during a town hall meeting Friday in Hermis-
ton.
when the member’s party matches the
president’s.
The resolution was to nullify the
emergency declaration on the grounds
that the funding hadn’t been approved
or appropriated by Congress. As
Walden put it, no one knows exactly
where the funding will come from,
and that’s not only bad policy but an
ugly precedent.
Walden’s vote — along with 12
other Republicans in the House and
12 in the Senate — wasn’t enough to
override Trump’s veto, which he deliv-
ered shortly before Walden spoke to
the audience in Hermiston.
One constituent grilled Walden
on why he would turn his back on
the president. Walden was careful in
his answer, but ultimately admitted
he disagreed with the president and,
frankly, the constituent.
Near the end of the meeting,
another constituent stood up to tell
Walden his explanation had changed
his mind on the matter. Count that as a
win for any politician.
Politics and personalities aside, we
hope this clash drives change in exec-
utive power and privilege. It is imper-
ative that presidents have the abil-
ity to make fast decisions in a true
emergency, when Congress is not in
session.
Trump failed to secure the funding
when both the House and Senate were
in Republican control. He again failed
to secure the funding through nego-
tiation with Democrats, even after a
35-day government shutdown. Testing
his presidential powers is not a sur-
prising move for Trump, who advo-
cates for fewer checks on his power.
Congress must show resolve. No
president should be allowed to go
around the proper and democratic
channels to further their pet beliefs,
whether it’s border security, climate
change, gun control or any other cam-
paign promise.
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.
YOUR VIEWS
Lay responsibility
where it’s due
Regarding the March 19
column, “Playing the Blame
Game,” I’d like to offer
an alternative to the word
“blame”: responsibility.
While it doesn’t lend itself
as well to catchy headlines,
it’s an apt way to frame the
conversation.
The actions of the
shooter in New Zealand
(it’s not necessary to name
him unless one is trying to
thumb their nose at the sur-
vivors and officials who
specifically requested that
he not be named) didn’t
happen in a vacuum. The
rhetoric of our public offi-
cials absolutely shapes
our environment — and
the words of world leaders
travel the world, even to the
“opposite side.”
By definition, leaders are
people we look up to. They
have a responsibility to call
out white nationalism and
white supremacy for what
it is. It’s not an idea that
“many fine people” on one
side of a balanced argument
hold. It’s not “less than sen-
sitive candor.” It’s racism
and religious intolerance —
neither of which are Amer-
ican values. Both need to
be condemned clearly and
unequivocally. It’s not about
being “politically correct,”
it’s about being a decent
human being. Doing any-
thing less creates an atmo-
sphere where people with
white nationalist and white
supremacist views feel
emboldened.
Yes, the shooter is
responsible for his actions.
But each of us is responsi-
ble for helping create a civil
society that encourages the
better actions of its citizens.
Standing up against racism
and religious intolerance
isn’t a “myopic narrative,”
it’s something we should
demand of our leaders and
of ourselves.
Roberta Lavadour
Pendleton
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editor Daniel Wattenburger,
211 S.E. Byers Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801, or email
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published. Unsigned letters
will not be published.
OTHER VIEWS
Truth comes to light in Bezos spectacle
S
ometimes stories are
per, and also writing a
simpler than they’re
much-discussed personal
made out to be. That
statement published on
appears to be the case
Medium.
with Jeff Bezos.
“This statement that
When the National
(Bezos) has released
Enquirer reported
tonight is absolutely
that Bezos, the Ama-
extraordinary,” MSN-
zon founder who is the
BC’s Lawrence O’Don-
B yron
y ork
nell said on Feb. 7, “and
world’s richest man, was
COMMENT
I think it is a gigantic
having an extramarital
moment, actually in this
affair and had sent racy
history of our digital
texts, including photos of
communication, which everyone
his penis, to his girlfriend, Bezos
has known has been at risk for
assembled a high-priced legal and
quite a while, that any one of us
PR team to mount an aggressive
could be hacked. We could have
defense.
private things revealed through
All of a sudden, sympathetic
stolen emails, stolen texts, that
commentators began suggesting
Bezos had been hacked. There was sort of thing. And here is some-
one who stands up and says, I’m
word that a “government entity”
not going to take it anymore.”
had gotten hold of the texts and
“The Saudi connection
photos. There was dark specula-
tion of international intrigue, that aspect of the allegation from
Saudi Arabia might have used
Jeff Bezos,” said CNN’s Chris
the Enquirer to target Bezos, who Cuomo, also on Feb. 8. “Bezos
owns The Washington Post, in
says ... that you had (National
retaliation for the Post’s coverage Enquirer chief David) Pecker
of the murder of the columnist
go to the White House with a
and Saudi regime critic Jamal
Saudi guy that he was trying to
Khashoggi. And of course, Pres-
raise money from. The dinner
ident Trump played some sort of
was a reward from the president.
behind-the-scenes role.
The Khashoggi reporting that
Bezos orchestrated it all,
The Washington Post did would
using his security consultant to
really bother the Saudis, the Sau-
feed information to his newspa-
dis wound up giving Pecker the
money. Pecker’s now going after
Bezos, who owns The Washing-
ton Post, maybe this has some-
thing to do with the Saudis,
maybe even the president.”
And so on. The Bezos team
spun quite a story. But holes
quickly appeared in their
handiwork.
In early March, The New York
Times published a detailed look
at how the long-married Bezos
came to be involved with his girl-
friend, former Los Angeles local
news anchor Lauren Sanchez. As
the two got together, the paper
reported, Sanchez was not shy
about sharing intimate details of
the relationship with her friends.
“By last year, they were hav-
ing an affair,” the Times wrote.
“Three people in Ms. Sanchez’s
extended social circle said she was
giddy and in love, showing amo-
rous texts to a number of Brent-
wood and Beverly Hills moms.”
Sanchez was not particularly
discreet in handling the reveal-
ing texts and photos Bezos sent
to her. And then there was, in the
Times’ description, Sanchez’s
“fame-hungry brother-manager,”
Michael Sanchez, described as a
“loose cannon” and an “incorrigi-
ble gossip even in a town full of
them.”
Now, The Wall Street Jour-
nal reports that Michael Sanchez,
“a talent agent who has man-
aged television pundits and real-
ity-show judges,” sold the Bezos
texts to the Enquirer for $200,000.
Imagine that. Mogul sends
deeply private texts to gossipy
L.A. girlfriend who has gos-
sipy, fame-hungry brother, and
somehow it gets out! No Saudis
required.
It is not unusual for men
caught sexting with women not
their wives to claim they have
been hacked, or that their texts
have been stolen. Remember that
Anthony Weiner tried the same
thing. But few have the resources
of Jeff Bezos, and few could rely
on so many media commentators
to spread the story.
At the same time, the Bezos
spectacle also attracted the atten-
tion of more serious journalists,
who found out that the real Bezos
story is much simpler than all the
Saudi speculation. It is, in fact,
an old story, of people acting
foolishly in the course of an extra-
marital affair. All the money in the
world couldn’t change that.
———
Byron York is chief political
correspondent for The Washington
Examiner.