KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TuESDAy, JuLy 19, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Be mindful
of summer’s
heat impact
N
o one can do much about the
weather except note its sever-
ity, and in the next few weeks
the region will enter one of its typi-
cally hot periods so area residents
should be aware of how to stay cool
and safe.
That might be a tall order for some.
Those of us who must work outside on
a regular basis do not have the oppor-
tunity to simply stop our labors and go
find some shade or an air-conditioned
building.
Others — such as those who lack
housing — also are in the bullseye
when it comes to extreme weather
conditions, whether it is dangerous
cold temps or a severe heatwave.
Hopefully, the region will not face
the kind of high temperatures it faced
last summer. Then, a seemingly
endless heat blanket descended on
the Pacific Northwest and baked the
region.
The tips to avoid an injury from
heat are simple and relatively easy
to adopt. Residents should wear
light, loose clothing, avoid high-en-
ergy, outdoor activities and, perhaps
most important, drink plenty of fluid,
including water.
It also is a good idea to keep a close
watch on each other to ward off a seri-
ous heat injury. An injury from heat
often can manifest itself in cramps,
headache or dizziness and confu-
sion. Those types of symptoms are the
body’s way of warning it is in seri-
ous distress, and they should not be
ignored.
These all seem like simple —
almost no-brainer — types of steps
and suggestions but as we roll into the
deep summer it can be easy to forget
that heat is as dangerous as extreme
cold temperatures.
In a way we all can get complacent
regarding how quick heat can sap our
body and then create a serious medical
situation.
We all want to enjoy the great
vistas and mountains our area offers
every summer. Finding a great place
to camp or spending a day out in the
woods is one of the key attributes
to our region, why it is such a great
place to live, work and play. But we
also want to make sure we are, and we
don’t underestimate how fast extreme
heat can injure.
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
A successful SCOTUS coup
ALEX
HOBBS
PASTURES OF PLENT Y
recently finished the new Patrick
Radden Keefe anthology “Rogues.”
A modern-day muckraker, Keefe has
spent his professional career chronicling
the lies and misdeeds of the worst among
us. As Keefe puts it, “grifters, killers,
rebels and crooks.”
Halfway through the book, I stumbled
across a familiar figure: Donald Trump.
Specifically how reality television maven
Mark Burnett performed a singular act of
prestidigitation by transforming Trump
from a Manhattan punchline to leader of
the free world.
Through carefully curated camera
angles, cutting room floor edits and
manufactured moments of corporate
authority, Burnett was able to pull off the
impressive grift of peddling Trump to the
masses as a worldly entrepreneur. Like
Louis Napoleon III reincarnated, Trump
began his lordship over the dispossessed
and immiserated much like the despotic
final French emperor — with spectacle.
After all, Louis Napoleon was a man
who Karl Marx described in his 18th
Brumaire as, “the serious buffoon who no
longer takes world history for a comedy
but his comedy for world history.”
Reading the Keefe piece was partic-
ularly nauseating not because it shed
light on the former president but because
last month, the three activist Supreme
Court justices appointed by our very own
serious buffoon, a man propelled to the
position of the presidency by a reality
I
television producer, helped set America
on a course of generationally irrevocable
damage.
Let’s look at the overturning of Roe.
The methodology used to adjudicate
this decision not only was shoddy and
predetermined but blatant in its hypoc-
risy. Significantly from Justice Clar-
ence Thomas, who claimed Roe should
be overturned because the Due Process
Clause of the 14th Amendment doesn’t
apply. That returning the right to abortion
back to state legislators doesn’t actually
place an undue burden on anyone. The
fact that democracy has been gerryman-
dered to near extinction in many states
is a mere technicality. The end justifies
the means. Granted, judicial review isn’t
supposed to hinge on majority opin-
ion. But it is, however, supposed to be
beholden to sound logic.
Thomas’ argument starts to unravel
with the tiniest amount of scru-
tiny because he will do anything, say
anything to satisfy his originalist world-
view. To this end, he applied the oppo-
site logic to Bruen, striking down “may
issue” gun laws, arguing they violate the
Due Process Clause. It’s worth noting
that states with may issue gun laws have
some of the lowest rates of gun violence
in the country. So which version of the
14th Amendment actually matters? At
this current moment, that’s essentially a
rhetorical question. To the conservative
justices, it doesn’t matter.
We now get to look on as Republicans
feign concern over families and Demo-
crats naval gaze. One has to wonder
what was stopping Republicans from
providing for families before Roe? Were
women and children held hostage in a
bid to overturn Roe? As lawmakers like
Marco Rubio would have us believe, now
that the final hurdle is cleared, like fire-
men beneath a burning building, legisla-
tors will hold out their arms and urge the
tenants of the flaming wreckage to jump
to safety.
No, we know this is patently false.
There will be no sudden realignment
for Republicans in post-Roe America.
No clamor to ensure mothers will bring
a child into a world unburdened. These
babies will be born into a country with
no guaranteed health care, no child care,
or parental leave and the highest rates
of maternal mortality among developed
countries. The endless tragic iterations of
why a mother might choose to seek abor-
tion care is a song that will go unheeded,
unheard.
We get to look on as sovereignty is
robbed from Native tribes, Environmen-
tal Protection Agency authority stripped,
Miranda rights undermined and habeas
corpus upended. Worse yet, the court has
granted cert to Moore v. Harper, a case
that could spell absolute catastrophe for
democracy: Whether or not state legisla-
tures are empowered to regulate federal
elections — not state judiciaries. States
could then theoretically pass laws in
which legislators can pick their own slates
of electors without regard to the popular
vote.
If this sounds like something Trump
and Ginni Thomas just tried to do —
you’d be correct.
What a happy bit of happenstance for
all the serious buffoons to come.
———
Alex Hobbs is a former educator turned
full-time homeschooling mom. She has a
degree in political science from Oregon
State University.
YOUR VIEWS
Idaho Power
lacks adequate
planning for B2H
For 13 years Idaho Power
Co. has been trying to rail-
road the 310-mile-long B2H,
Boardman to Hemingway
power lines through Eastern
Oregon. No one wants it, but
Idaho Power keeps pushing,
trying to outflank the public
and government agencies,
state and federal.
By the time they go into
service they will be archaic,
but Idaho Power gets around
10% of building cost bonus,
most of which will go into
stockholders’ pockets. Nor
does Idaho Power have an
adequate fire plan for when
the lines break and start fires,
as it did in Paradise, Califor-
nia, when PG&E ignited fire.
Death toll: 85 people.
Nor has weed control
from building the project
been properly addressed. The
power lines cross the Oregon
Trail numerous times, but
Idaho Power Co. could care
less about preserving them
or the heritage that goes with
them: Their plan is to place
their lines directly in front of
the $16 million Oregon Trail
interpretive center outside of
Baker City. The list goes on.
Whit Deschner
Pendleton
Quit throwing
falsehoods
To the nice gentleman from
Bend about showing proof of
citizen to vote. I totally agree
and it’s done that way, and has
always been done that way.
Show me one person who
was not a legal citizen to vote,
anywhere please. Have proof
and facts then I will ask you
why you haven’t reported that
person to the proper authori-
ties so that they may me prose-
cuted under our current voting
state laws. Quit throwing
falsehoods into our county, we
have enough problems to deal
with without you stoking a
burned out flame.
May God bless you, and
may God bless America.
Juan Chavez
Stanfield
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 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