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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Tuesday, October 29, 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 Same day registration could improve turnout S tate Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaver- ton, believes Oregonians would be better served if they could reg- ister to vote right up through Election Day. The change, he argues, would improve voter turnout, and that’s not a bad thing. The state constitution requires would-be voters to have registered “not less than 20 days” before the next elec- tion. They also must live in Oregon for the six months preceding the election, and Hass does not propose changing the residency requirement. But, as Hass notes, the 20-day requirement may have made sense when it was enacted in 1986. The era of modern technology had not yet taken hold, and county clerks favored the Ballot Measure 13 that established the 20-day registration cutoff. Voters agreed, though elected offi- cials, the League of Women Voters and other groups all opposed it, argu- OPB Photo/Bradley W. Parks, File State Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, believes Oregonians would be better served if they could register to vote right up through Election Day. The change, he argues, would improve voter turnout, and that’s not a bad thing. ing that the registration deadline would reduce voter participation in elections because fewer people would be eligi- ble to vote. A Bend Bulletin editorial about the measure noted that in 1986, some 71,000 voters registered in the 20 days before the general election, and in 1980, more than 100,000 registered in that same time period. Supporters of the measure argued the deadline would cut fraud and save money, and the measure passed handily. Yet, Hass is correct in noting that technology has advanced so much since 1986 that it no longer takes 20 days to verify that those who have reg- istered are, in fact, entitled to vote. He would let voters decide the matter, and, assuming they approved the change, he would charge the secretary of state with establishing what documentation to use to establish voter eligibility. Hass wants to be his party’s candi- date for secretary of state in 2020, and he no doubt sees changing the regis- tration deadline as something that vot- ers will favor. But he’s also likely right in his belief that same-day registration will get more Oregonians to the polls. It’s a change worth trying. OTHER VIEWS The word Trump should never use W YOUR VIEWS Taxes should be paid by all, not just a few I’ve been very pleased to see let- ters to the editor written against the Hermiston school bond. Does Hermis- ton need school expansion? Yes, with- out question. The problem is who pays for it. We live in a state without a sales tax, a state that has one of the most progressive income taxes in the coun- try — meaning, only a very small percentage of the population actually pays any tax. Now we are supposed to be on board for yet another bond that increases property tax assessment. The story that it doesn’t increase taxes is smoke and mirrors, and not true. Because a bond was to be paid off, thus reducing property tax, but this reduction doesn’t occur, it is still a tax increase! I for one was looking for- ward to paying less property tax! The problem in Oregon is that the very few are expected to foot the bill for everyone else. The need for addi- tional schools is almost all due to immigrant population increase. Of this population, only a very small percentage own property, thus not funding the school bond in any way. These are just facts, not a political statement. I will be voting against the bond proposal not because it’s not needed. I will be voting against it because the state of Oregon must find a way 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. to have everyone contribute to its expenses, not just the few. Jeremy Anderson Hermiston Pelosi a poster child for political destruction Perhaps what Congress should be worried about is Nancy Pelosi. I sug- gest that she be investigated for trea- son against the United States. I am neither Democrat nor Republi- can. I am just a retired U.S. Navy sub- mariner. It appears to me that Pelosi does not care about America, she is solely obsessed with impeaching Trump. Some may not agree with me when I say that I have seen every presi- dent since Truman, and Trump is the best of that group. Impeaching Trump would have several bad consequences, one being the end of the USA as a global power. We do have many ene- mies in this world. I guess she forgot about that (or just does not care), and does not care that the weakness she intends for us would be devastating to our position in the world. George Washington said politi- cal parties will be the destruction of this country. Pelosi is a poster child for what the father of our country was suggesting. William Laffen Umatilla hen I hear the word “lynch,” I imme- the word. diately think of the black experience Some are frustrated that people are reacting of torture, persecution and dehu- strongly about the use of the word. They point manization that was so prevalent in the first to Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, who more than 20 years ago used it to describe the Clinton half of the last century in the American South. impeachment. Where, they ask, was the out- I also think of the murder of Leo Frank, a Jew- rage for that? I agree that Nadler and the liber- ish business owner who was convicted of rap- ing young Mary Phagan, had his sentence com- als are hypocritical in screaming about Trump’s muted, but was kidnapped by an angry mob use of the word now if, as I suspect, they had no problem using it to describe a white victim — from his prison cell and hanged from a tree. their white victim — back then. But yesterday’s I think, too, of the 11 Italian men who were Democratic hypocrisy does not excuse Trump lynched in New Orleans after having been today. Conservatives who chafed at being called acquitted of killing an Irish police officer. “deplorable” by Hillary Clinton can’t seriously This Jewish man and these Italian men dismiss the president’s use of lynch- shared one very fundamental char- acteristic with the legions of African ing as a big nothing-burger. Americans murdered by racists: They When I posted about this on my were not considered white. Jews were Facebook page, some of the friends I most respect implied that I was being “others,” and Italians were considered oversensitive. They wondered why one step removed from blacks on the I was being “triggered.” They asked racial spectrum. That’s our history. me if it was wrong for Clarence According to Merriam Webster, Thomas to use the phrase “high-tech which provides a race-neutral defi- C hristine nition of the word, to lynch someone lynching” to describe his Supreme F lowers is defined as “to put to death (as by Court nomination process that was, COMMENT hanging) by mob action without legal according to many people — includ- ing me — an exercise in character approval or permission.” assassination. But we all know that there is nothing “race I shouldn’t have had to remind them that neutral” about the word. the odds Justice Thomas had relatives who’d When Billie Holiday sang her masterpiece been lynched were significantly higher than the “Strange Fruit,” a song that made famous a odds that President Trump’s family lived that poem written to protest American racism, par- ticularly the lynching of African Americans, tragedy. we know that she was not singing about anyone The point is this: Some words have pro- found historical meaning. I think abortion is other than a black man. If 14-year-old Emmett mass genocide, but I cringe when people call Till had been white, his whistling at a white woman would not have ended with him swing- it a holocaust. There was one Holocaust, and ing from a tree. That’s just a fact. that word is taken. The same thing with lynch- ing. Being annoyed that a partisan crew is mak- I bring this up because last week, President ing your life hell doesn’t give you the right to Donald Trump tweeted that an impeachment appropriate someone else’s dark tragedy. inquiry against him is a lynching. Call it railroading. Call it a witch hunt. Heck, Trump is well known for saying things off I’d even agree. the cuff and “shooting from the hip,” some- thing that delights his most loyal supporters. But leave the word lynching alone. But invoking the word “lynching” to describe ——— Christine Flowers is a syndicated freelance his current situation is offensive and tone deaf. columnist. It overlooks the historical connotation of CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES U.S. SENATORS REPRESENTATIVES Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 Greg Barreto, District 58 900 Court St. NE, H-38 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 Greg Smith, District 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1457 Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us U.S. REPRESENTATIVE SENATOR Greg Walden 185 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6730 La Grande office: 541-624-2400 Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us 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