ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
PHIL WRIGHT
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Tip of
the hat,
kick in
the pants
A
kick in the pants to Lifeways for
its attacks on Community Coun-
seling Solutions.
Umatilla County chose CCS over Life-
ways to be its new provider for mental
health and addiction services, and Life-
ways responded with an appeal that called
CCS underprepared, underqualified and a
danger to Umatilla County residents.
Time will tell how Community Coun-
seling Solutions does in its new role, but
committee members tasked with scoring
the two agencies’ proposals felt confident
enough in the Heppner-based provider to
bet more than $1 million a year and the
mental health of thousands of county resi-
dents on it. The county board of commis-
sioners has expressed unhappiness with
Lifeways multiple times through the years,
most recently in its handling of the closure
of Aspen Springs, and if the board wants
to try someone new, that’s fair enough.
We hope now their appeal has been
rejected, Lifeways will be a good partner
in helping with the transition, for the sake
of county residents in need of services.
A tip of the hat to Pendleton Fire &
Ambulance firefighters for their trip to
Big Bend Community College to make
sure personnel with the department stay
current on their aircraft fire certification.
We hope they never need to use that
training, but if the time comes, we’re glad
they are prepared.
A tip of the hat to the city of Hermiston
for deciding to move the parking lot and
playground at Riverfront Park to a new
location, outside the main flow of flood-
waters when the Umatilla River jumps its
banks.
The frequency and magnitude of floods
along the Umatilla River has increased
in recent years due to climate change,
and modeling from Oregon State Univer-
sity researchers predicts that trend will
continue across the Columbia Basin.
Hermiston and similar cities need to be
proactive in trying to mitigate future
damage.
A tip of the hat to Blue Mountain
Community College for its purchase of art
for all of its campuses by American Indian
artists, including from Crow’s Shadow
Institute of the Arts, a Umatilla Indian
Reservation print studio and gallery.
A community college should display
artwork that is meaningful and educa-
tional, not merely decorative. This
purchase honors the heritage of the land
BMCC was built on, and will hope-
fully spark new conversations about the
history of the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation and their
ceded territory.
EDITORIALS
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.
LETTERS
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:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
YOUR VIEWS
Has the U.S. turned to
tyranny?
Totalitarianism: A system of govern-
ment that is centralized and dictatorial
and requires complete subservience
to the state. Anyone noticing the trend
with Oregon and the United States? One
would have to be a rock not to.
Before totalitarian was a relativity
new word, it used to be called tyranny,
i.e., a concept or form of government or
political system that prohibits opposi-
tion parties, restricts individual oppo-
sition to the state and its claims, and
exercises an extremely high degree of
control over public and private life.
Anarchy: A state of disorder due to
absence or nonrecognition of author-
ity. Portland is in a state of anarchy due
to weak leaders and a weak governor.
There is no law and order. If we had
a governor like Tom McCall, Robert
Straub or Sen. Maurine Neuberger,
Portland would be the great city it once
was.
Our elected leaders now use the law
of contradiction, which implies that
Gov. Kate Brown could not simulta-
neously hold the COVID-19 pandemic
renders church services dangerous to
allow, and also that massive protest
marches are fine.
I have been to a couple of countries
that have reeducation camps, where
brainwashing is used to reeducate the
dingers of Bibles, guns and free think-
ing. Propaganda is used daily on most
of the news media and by our lead-
ers. Say it often enough and soon one
believes it. We do not need reeducation
camps, we have them in schools and
colleges. Remember Nika Khrushchev?
His speech at the United Nations, while
pounding his shoe on the podium, said,
“We will not bury you, you will bury
yourselves.” That was 1959. I was 13
and it frightened me.
I thought that our country was open,
trusting and right over wrong, that we
would never let that happen. Mistaken
I was.
Finally, I had no choice being born
white. I am not a white supremacist,
homophobe, sycophant or any other
gaggle of names and labels those
liberals throw at me. I have never met
anyone that chose their color of skin. By
the way, we fought a world war over the
polices that the United States are pursu-
ing now.
Just remember doublethink, i.e.
George Orwell’s “1964,” Arthur
Koester’s “Darkness at Noon,” Aldous
Huxley’s “Brave New World,” and C. S.
Lewis’ “That Hideous Strength.” These
should be mandatory reading, as once
they were.
Roesch Kishpaugh
Pendleton
Faith column humanizes
taboo subject
I’m a bit delayed in my reaction to a
column that appeared Thursday, June
3, but I would like to recommend it to
all East Oregonian readers. My friend,
retired Methodist pastor Matt Henry,
writes a monthly column, The Road
Less Taken, for this paper. In it, he tack-
les really tough subjects (Alzheimer’s
disease, grief) and he doesn’t hesitate to
open his heart to us, his readers.
In this most recent column, he
compared grief to his childhood
near-drowning. Through his words the
reader is immersed in the sensations
that accompanied that experience and
can begin to understand what deep grief
is like. As one who knows deep grief
first hand, I am so grateful to my friend
for offering this glimpse into a cultur-
ally taboo subject and emotions many
don’t understand.
Thank you, Matt, for such beautiful
writing and thank you, East Oregonian,
for publishing it. If you haven’t read the
column, I urge you to do so
Lezlee Flagg
Pendleton
Forest health issue needs
another perspective
I would hope that the East Oregonian
newspaper will publish another point of
view in response to the opinion on forest
health written by George Wuerther.
Forest health and timber harvest are
two very controversial issues. Normally,
there are two sides to every story. You
should seek out a person with creden-
tials to present the case for sound timber
harvest, and the many benefits it can
have on forest health.
Bruce Wilcox
Hermiston
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us