A4
East Oregonian
Saturday, December 21, 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
tip of the hat to this week’s
announcement that the
state’s unemployment rate fell
below 4%.
There are always plenty of provisos,
and statistics can mean a lot of things
to a lot of different people, but the
news recently about the state’s unem-
ployment rate is a welcome sign as the
new year approaches.
It means, essentially, that a lot of
people in the state are working and
that should mean good things for the
future.
The economy is humming, appar-
ently. The unemployment rate for the
nation is 3.5%, a historic low.
The key question — as always — is
how long will such significant unem-
ployment lows continue, but for now,
we all should stop and take a collec-
tive breath. The nation, in terms of
employment and the economy, is in a
good place now.
A tip of the hat to all of the indi-
viduals now in the running to
replace U.S. Rep. Greg Walden.
Walden announced earlier this fall
that he will not run for re-election
for the 2nd Congressional District,
which covers a huge swath of Oregon,
including Eastern Oregon.
Recently, former Union County
Commissioner Jack Howard threw his
hat into the ring for the position. He
joins fellow GOP candidates Jason
Atkinson, Cliff Bentz and Knute
Buehler.
Three Democrats, John Holm, Raz
Mason and Isabella Tibetts, are also
running.
Whoever wins, all of these individ-
uals should be lauded for stepping up
and getting involved in the political
process.
A kick in the pants to the flu. Yes,
the familiar malady is back and it has
reappeared with a vengeance. So far
EO file photo
Job seekers mingle with potential employers during a job fair in June at the Hermiston Com-
munity Center. Oregon’s unemployment rate has sunk below 4%, the lowest level in more
than four decades, according to state economists.
more than 1,000 Oregonians have
been struck down by the virus. None
of us can do very much about the flu
virus, but we can protect ourselves.
That means getting the flu vaccine.
Area residents can get the vaccine at
a number of places and it is a proven
and effective measure to fight off the
virus. A few minutes out of the day
to get a flu shot will pay off down the
road. So, get your flu shot.
A kick in the pants and a famil-
iar reminder that winter weather is
here to stay, so that means while we
travel this holiday week we should all
be extra careful on the roads. Win-
ter weather can arrive unexpectedly
and create real-time hazards for all of
us. Don’t let a winter storm spoil your
Christmas-time plans. Keep a watch-
ful eye on the weather forecast and,
most of all, slow down.
FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE
Looking to the light
this Solstice
W
OTHER VIEWS
Trump’s accomplishments
can’t be impeached
I have empathy for letter writers like Bernie
Sanderson (Republicans worshipping Trump,
East Oregonian Dec. 11, 2019). Ninety percent
of pundits, AP news articles, news media and
the entertainment industry excoriate the presi-
dent of the United States daily and mercilessly.
Is it any wonder that Americans that ingest this
deceit are angry, bitter, deceived and desperate to
support any effort to erase the will of 63 million
Americans?
America is bitterly divided, perhaps even
greater than pre-Civil War. Instead of calming the
anti-Trump/Republican rage and antagonism, the
American press and media and Democrat party is
fanning the flames of impeachment discord and
division. They could care less about Americans.
Since Donald Trump was elected Nov. 8, 2016,
America has become the economic envy of the
world. The Dow Jones has gained 10,000 points, a
57% increase. The S&P has gained 500 points, up
40%. Nasdaq is up 29%. The U.S. economy grew
at 1.6% during Obama’s last year.
Under Trump the economy has doubled that
output. There were 266,000 new jobs in Novem-
ber alone. Unemployment in America is at a
50-year low and all time low for African-Ameri-
cans. The press and media — shameful silence.
What has Trump done to facilitate this resur-
gence that Obama said was impossible? Trump
has honored his campaign promise — a novel
idea. He has leveraged America’s world-best
economy to compel trading partners to deal
forthrightly with us. Under Trump and against
Obama’s energy regulations, America is now the
world’s leading oil and energy exporter. Trump
scrapped Clinton’s economy-destroying NAFTA
and forced Canada and Mexico to agree to a fair
trade agreement. Under Obama, China was put-
ting America in debt bondage and stealing our
world-leading technology. Trump’s policies have
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.
brought China’s economy to a standstill, forc-
ing them to renegotiate a fair trade agreement.
Obama sold out America with a traitorous nuclear
accord with Iran, empowering them to spread
Islamic terrorism throughout the world.
Trump saved America and the free world by
standing our great enemy down, not through arms
but through economic leverage. Who profited
from Trump’s America first policy? All Ameri-
cans, especially those who attempted to defame
and impeach him.
We voted for Trump because we were sick and
tired of traitors that put America last with horrible
trade agreements, overtaxation, government reg-
ulations and pro-socialist anti-American policies.
We are 63 million strong. Try to impeach that.
Stuart Dick
Irrigon
The fall of Rome is befalling the U.S.
I suggest that everyone who has an interest in
the fate of the United States read “The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire.” One will see the exact
same thing is happing in our country today.
Depending on which historian one reads, three
factors brought down the Roman Empire — mor-
als, taxes and slaves. Historians don’t always have
them in that order, however, all three brought them
to their demise.
The U.S. has lowered the moral bar. Taxes are
punitive; ours is a Ponzi scheme. We do don’t have
slaves, but we do have illegal immigrants and legal
immigrants working in our system for less wages,
which will eventually lead to no middle class. The
Romans had more slaves than citizens. I am not
implying that illegals are slaves, however, they dis-
rupt Americans from working.
Read the book and shed tears. History does
repeat itself.
Roesch Kishpaugh
Pendleton
inter Solstice. The dark-
log home outlined in red and blue
est day of the year, but
and green. We were overjoyed.
also the day the earth will
My sister is 21 months older
tip once again toward light. Slowly,
than I am — 21 steps ahead, I tell
slowly. In fact, the word solstice
her, to remind her that she has been
means “when the sun stands still.”
a guide and that I am still follow-
ing, the same way I did when she
It’s a fragile time. Life seems to
brought home books from her first-
hang in the balance.
Darkness is important. It’s a time grade class. By Christmas that year
she had taught how me to read and
to turn inward, be still. Darkness,
words had become purely
too, is part of life. But we
miraculous.
yearn for light. We coax it
As we approach this
to return to us with blazing
Solstice, she is dying.
fires, candles set on win-
dowsills, even fireworks.
All around me I see
people waiting for the light
The first Solstice lights
to return, children wait-
I ever saw were stars.
ing as patiently as they can
When I was born at the
for Santa Claus. And this
end of World War II, elec-
B ette
tricity had not yet come to
year, it feels as if every-
H usted
one is waiting — to see
my family in rural Idaho.
COMMENT
what kind of country we
December was a dark time,
are, what kind of coun-
with only a circle of dim
try we want to be. As the days pass,
light from the kerosene lamp or the
we will realize once again that the
kerosene lantern Dad hung in the
gift must always move, that sharing
barn before he climbed the ladder
is what makes life possible. People
into the pitch-black haymow to toss
will gather with friends and family,
down forkfuls of alfalfa for the cow
and for his beloved team, Shorty and and sing, and make festive foods to
share. We will all be lighting can-
Dolly. Somehow that light made the
dles — Christmas candles, Menorah
winter barn feel warm. As the milk
candles, Kwanzaa candles.
frothed in the bucket he squirted
And over our heads, those stars
some into the barn cats’ waiting
mouths and then filled their battered my sister and I knew as children
will burn brightly as ever. They may
pan, while I sat where he had lifted
be obscured now by the glow of too
me, on Dolly’s wide back, at the
many city lights, but they are there.
edge of the shadows.
We, too, are stardust. Joni Mitch-
But outside, the darkness was lit
ell was right about that. Our bodies
with those amazing stars, and the
Milky Way was a nearly solid path it are made of the constantly falling
dust of stars, our cells changing and
looked like I could climb.
replacing themselves with more of
All that was missing from those
the elements that come from stars.
lights was color, but my sister and
Some cultures teach that not only
I discovered color, to our great joy,
did we come from stars, we will
in neon. They were beautiful, those
orange and green signs outside Han- return there, too. “All goes onward
son’s Garage and Stoddard’s Elec-
and outward; nothing collapses,”
tric. I was just learning to talk when Walt Whitman wrote. How exactly
my aunt asked, in what must have
this happens is a mystery to me.
been bemused exasperation, “Bette,
Will my sister climb the pathway
what are we going to do with you?”
of the Milky Way? She is still my
I knew exactly what to say. “Take
guide.
me to town to see the lights.”
On this Solstice, once again I
Then came Christmas. Dad drove watch the skies.
us around the snowy streets on the
———
Bette Husted is a writer and a
way to our grandparents’ so we
student of T’ai Chi and the natural
could see the Peterson’s house on
world. She lives in Pendleton.
the hill above the post office, a big
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