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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Saturday, August 17, 2019 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner ANDREW CUTLER Editor WYATT HAUPT JR. News Editor JADE McDOWELL Hermiston Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Tip of the hat, kick in the pants A kick in the pants to anyone planning violence or espousing hatred at this weekend’s rally in Portland. Already, talk about the upcom- ing rally in Portland that will show- case right-wing supporters and count- er-protestors on the left has reached the fever point. The rally, which is dubbed “End Domestic Terrorism” and is spear- headed by a right-wing group, is one of those peculiar events that narrowly defines one of our Republic’s greatest rights — to assemble. The right is so crucial that the Founding Fathers placed it in the very First Amendment to the Constitution. What often gets missed, however, is key words in the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment to religion or pro- hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble.” The two key words are “peaceably assemble.” And often rallies, such as the one in Portland planned for this weekend, turn into slugfests that leave behind more than just hurt feelings. We have the right to assemble, to rally and protest. We don’t have the right to rally, and then begin beating up people who we don’t agree with. Portland leaders are planning a major law enforcement presence on the heels of similar rallies in June and last sum- mer that turned violent, and the recent hate-driven shooting in El Paso, Texas. None of the city’s nearly 1,000 police officers will have the day off, and Port- land will get help from the Oregon State Police and the FBI. Mayor Ted Wheeler has said he may ask Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, to call up the Oregon National Guard. Hopefully the rally this weekend will be a peaceful affair. If it isn’t then law enforcement personnel are perfectly within their right — and our rights — to shut it down and make arrests. A tip of the hat to George Gritz who saved his friend, Richard Vern, recently. Gritz administered CPR when Vern collapsed outside a Hermiston AP Photo, File Counter-protesters prepare to clash with Patriot Prayer protesters last year during a rally in Portland. Portland police are mobilizing in hopes of avoiding clashes between out-of-state hate groups planning a rally Saturday and homegrown anti-fascists who say they’ll come out to oppose them. restaurant, essentially saving his life. Gritz didn’t hesitate and stepped up to help. That kind of devotion — and courage — deserves praise. If there is a key to this story it is a simple one — if you do not know how to do CPR yet, please find out how. A kick in the pants to advo- cates who want to rush to remove dams along the Snake River. Late last month, a forum, sponsored by the Washington State Democrats Ag and Rural Caucus in Spokane, reviewed the possible impact of the removal of four dams in the region and what impact that might have on the power grid. While a state away, the forum and the larger issue of dams is one that Ore- gon knows all too well. The final deter- mination at the caucus was that more work needs to be done to discover the cost and the impact of such a removal of dams. Whether dam removal anywhere is the right move is a debatable question and certainly one that can’t be rushed. Especially for residents of the North- west — who enjoy some of the cheapest power, much of it hydro — the question is one that can’t be dismissed easily. FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE In need of a miracle W OTHER VIEWS Let our wallets do the talking Bend Bulletin Y ou will likely pay more for your eggs in about five years. And no, we’re not talking about inflation’s impact on the price of food. We’re talking about a new Ore- gon law that just about guarantees the price of eggs will go up. The 2019 Legislature approved a bill that will require eggs sold in Ore- gon to come from hens that have been allowed to live their lives free of cages and overcrowding. Farmers who have to adjust to the new law, which doesn’t go into effect until 2024, will have to spend money to do so. Naturally, that cost will be passed on to egg-buying consumers. We’re all for treating chickens and other animals humanely. That said, it’s difficult to see why it’s up to the state of Oregon to lead the way in abso- 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. lutely everything, down to the hous- ing of chickens. The bill does include exemptions, including for producers of relatively few eggs (3,000 per year). While the Oregon Department of Agriculture will write the rules that make the law a reality, lawmakers gave ODA plenty of hints about what it wants, from scratching areas, perches and dust-bathing areas to unrestricted movement both indoors and out. All well and good, and expen- sive. Cage-free eggs are substantially more expensive than standard eggs, and organic cage-free eggs are more expensive still. Shoppers who want them should be able to buy them. But people who don’t want to spend the extra money shouldn’t be forced to spend it anyway or quit eating eggs. Lawmakers should have let con- sumers choose their eggs based on what matters to them, not what mat- ters to the folks in Salem. do-empirical language crafted to lock cre- hen I was invited to contribute a monthly column to the East Ore- ative people into cages of inferiority and gonian, former news editor Tim hopelessness.” Trainor suggested I follow the lead set by She was speaking in 1993. Sounds like other columnists — Matt Wood’s “From the 2019, doesn’t it? Tractor Seat,” J.D. Smith’s “From the Head- But used well, Morrison said, language waters of Dry Creek,” Lindsay Murdock’s “arcs toward the place where meaning may “From Sun Up to Sun Down.” lie.” And if we’re thoughtful, if we’re hon- est, “be it grand or slender, burrowing, Since my column would be about writ- ing, I named it for the places that language blasting, or refusing to sanctify; whether it can take us — “From Here to Anywhere.” laughs out loud or is a cry without an alpha- bet, the choice word, the chosen silence, I wanted to celebrate writers and Pendle- ton Center for the Arts’ First Draft Writers’ unmolested language surges toward knowl- edge, not its destruction.” Series, which brings Northwest writers to I know I’m not the only one who wanted share their words with us every month. to hear her say it one more time, But language can take us to “We die. That may be the meaning dark places too. The man who of life. But we do language. That drove for hours to “kill Mexi- cans” — the man whose AK-47 may be the measure of our lives.” style rifle killed 22 and wounded In times like these, when I’m another 24 in 32 seconds — used tempted to despair, I remind language to post his racist “mani- myself that writers are still “doing festo.” That was on August 3. On language” — and that though August 4 another mass shooting, Toni Morrison has died, her work B ette this time in Dayton, Ohio, with has not. Like many others, I will H usted re-read the novels that have moved reports of “hate lists” of people the COMMENT me, changed me. I’ll search for the gunman wanted to rape and kill. novels and essays I’ve missed. I These killings have left us stunned will keep letting Ursula K. Le Guin, who and fearful, dreading another fight about also left us at age 88, challenge me and guns, and, it seems to me, still not com- pletely willing to talk about misogyny and enrich my life. Grace Paley is still teaching white supremacy and the effect of words me, too. Just now I’m reading Luis Urrea’s like “infestation” and “invasion.” “The House of Broken Angels” and remem- bering that I can re-read John Okada’s And then on Aug. 5, we lost the brilliant “No No Boy” and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Toni Morrison, and this loss upon the other “Ceremony” and Maxine Hong Kingson’s losses was hard to bear. “The Woman Warrior.” I can celebrate and Toni Morrison knew exactly where share the words of Joy Harjo, who is Musk- the kind of language used to control and ogee-Creek and the first Native American manipulate takes us. “There is and will be to be named poet laureate. rousing language to keep citizens armed If you too have been devastated by the and arming; slaughtered and slaughter- ing in the malls, courthouses, post offices, news, check out her kitchen table poem, playgrounds, bedrooms and boulevards; “Perhaps the World Ends Here.” It will lift stirring, memorializing language to mask your heart. the pity and waste of needless death,” she Once Joy Harjo came to us, to BMCC said in her Nobel Prize acceptance speech. and Tamástslikt. Her visit felt like nothing “There will be more diplomatic language short of a miracle. to countenance rape, torture, assassination. I’ll keep reading, because just now I There is and will be more seductive, mutant need another miracle. I need to believe we language designed to throttle women, to can learn to use language to understand pack their throats like paté-producing geese each other rather than hate each other. with their own unsayable, transgressive That someday we may realize how much words; there will be more of the language of words — your words, my words, every- one’s words — matter. surveillance disguised as research; of poli- tics and history calculated to render the suf- ——— fering of millions mute; language glamor- Bette Husted is a writer and a student of ized to thrill the dissatisfied and bereft into T’ai Chi and the natural world. She lives in Pendleton. assaulting their neighbors; arrogant pseu- 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 the editor to editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
