A4
Opinion
wallowa.com
October 31, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
Cynics are
everywhere,
it appears
T
wo things happened in our community this past week
that set the conspiracy theorists’ tongues to wagging.
Wallowa County discovered a vendor error in print-
ing and mailing ballots in three precincts and the sewer backed
up at Enterprise Elementary School.
Within minutes of the news of each breaking, Facebook
posts began appearing alleging that the county was somehow
incompetent or worse in collusion with someone to “fix” the
election. And Enterprise School District was somehow com-
plicit in trying to sicken our children through gross negligence.
Honestly, if I could get away with it, I would pull the plug
on the Chieftain’s Facebook page and never look back. I can’t
tell you how frustrated and sad these unreasonable posts make
me. I’m sure a lot of you feel the same way.
Have we sunk to such a low level of trust in our county that
everything that happens is the result of a sinister plot? How
about “someone made a mistake.”
Mistakes happen. Every day. Most of us do our best to
assess the situ-
ation and take
steps to make sure
it doesn’t happen
again. But to say
Paul Wahl
that the school
district or City
of Enterprise is
I DON’T KNOW IF
somehow negligent
because the sewer
THIS IS HAPPENING
system backed up is
ridiculous.
BECAUSE OF
Perhaps I have
FACEBOOK OR IF
more empathy
for organizations
IT’S ALWAYS BEEN
because we are also
pasted to the wall
HAPPENING AND
when the Chief-
WE DISCOVERED IT
tain makes a mis-
take. If something
ONCE FACEBOOK
is inadvertently left
out of an edition,
APPEARED ON
we are immediately
THE SCENE.
accused of having
some sort of ulte-
rior motive and are somehow part of a sinister and evil plot.
Never the case. If we plan to refuse to publish an item, the
person submitted it will receive a full and swift explanation as
to why it will not run. We don’t play that game.
Neither does the county nor the Enterprise School District.
Like us, their employees don’t have time to sit around and
foment plots. To suggest otherwise is to offer a totally unin-
formed opinion.
I’m not saying I agree with everything done by the county
and the school district or any other public bodies, but my first
stop is at their door to hear their side of the story.
Wouldn’t you like to be treated accordingly if it were you?
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” really
takes on a fresh meaning in these situations.
I don’t know if this is happening because of Facebook or
if it’s always been happening and we discovered it once Face-
book appeared on the scene.
Suddenly, anyone can accuse anyone of anything, no matter
how heinous or despicable. And 95 percent of Facebook read-
ers will take it at face value and spread the misinformation as if
it were gospel.
I think Facebook has made us all stupid.
This Facebook-fueled rush to judgment on whatever the
topic of the day is not helping bring our county or our nation
together. Good people who work hard each day to perform
their jobs are being caught in the backwash.
Why are we so quick to assign motive to everything that
happens in our community? Are we really that cynical?
I hope not.
WAHL TO WALL
WHERE TO WRITE
Washington, D.C.
Salem
The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20500;
Phone-comments: 202-
456-1111; Switchboard:
202-456-1414.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D — 516 Hart Senate Office
Building, Washington D.C.
20510. Phone: 202-224-5244.
E-mail: wayne_kinney@
wyden.senate.gov Web site:
http://wyden.senate.gov Fax:
202-228-2717.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley,
D — 313 Hart Senate Office
Building, Washington D.C.
20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. E-mail: senator@
merkley.senate.gov. Fax:
202-228-3997.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R
(Second District) — 1404
Longworth Building,
Washington D.C. 20515.
Phone: 202-225-6730.
No direct e-mail because
of spam. Web site: www.
walden.house.gov Fax:
202-225-5774. Medford
office: 14 North Central,
Suite 112, Medford, OR
97501. Phone: 541-776-
4646. Fax: 541-779-0204.
Pending Bills: For infor-
mation on bills in Congress,
Phone: 202-225-1772.
Gov. Kate Brown, D —
160 State Capitol, Salem
97310. Phone: 503-378-
4582. Fax: 503-378-8970.
Web site: www.governor.
state.or.us/governor.html.
Oregon Legislature —
State Capitol, Salem, 97310.
Phone: (503) 986-1180.
Web site: www. leg.state.
or.us (includes Oregon
Constitution and Oregon
Revised Statutes).
State Rep. Greg
Barreto, R-Cove (District
58) — Room H-384, State
Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E.,
Salem OR 97301. Phone:
503-986-1458. E-mail: rep.
gregbarreto@state.or.us.
Web site: http://www.
oregonlegislature.gov/
barreto
State Sen. Bill Hansell, R
(District 29) — Room S-423,
State Capitol, Salem 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1729.
E-mail: Sen.BillHansell@
state.or.us. Web site: www.
oregonlegislature.gov/
hansell.
Oregon Legislative In-
formation — (For updates
on bills, services, capitol or
messages for legislators) —
800-332-2313.
Time for columnist to address the real issues
We have read with interest the column
“Let’s Roll” on the opinion page. But who is
the intended audience?
“Let’s Roll” repeats the Fox News narra-
tive; perhaps that audience enjoys seeing their
biases confirmed in the Chieftain. But if it is
intended to convert the skeptical, it is unsuc-
cessful for these reasons.
The arguments lack logic. The final sen-
tence of the first column (Aug. 29) was, “Please
note this article was based on facts, logic and
verifiable history. Conclusion: Lock Her Up!”
Any high school course in critical think-
ing identifies this as a non sequitur. There were
no facts presented, nor a logical argument to
justify the conclusion. As to verifiable history,
Hillary Clinton has never been charged with
a crime.
The arguments are not factual and make lit-
tle sense. For example, “When Obama won,
Republicans never denied the legitimacy of the
election process.”
Is the author serious? The president is a
notorious birther who consistently denies the
legitimacy of the Obama presidency.
And, “‘Now Democrats have gone com-
pletely berserk trying to deny that Trump won
the election.” This is the straw man fallacy.
Few deny that he won the election. None of
the comments by Holder, Waters and Clinton
deny the election results; they suggest strategy
in response to the election results.
The pink pussy hat demonstrations and
Stormy Daniels controversy do not deny the
election results; they were demonstrations
against the decency of the man. “Let’s Roll”
losses credibility when falsehoods are claimed
as truth.
There are many important issues that a con-
servative columnist could address such edu-
cation, immigration, job creation and health
care. We recommend that someone with
“time to think” give these issues thoughtful
consideration.
Ron and Terry Polk
Lostine
Basic problem is human,
not Dems or Republicans
In response to last week’s “Let’s Roll”
column:
The point of view expressed does noth-
ing to fix the problem, instead it adds fuel to
the fire which is already burning pretty hot.
Instead, perhaps the author should be think-
ing of a solution.
Are we all a part of this insanity? Abso-
lutely! The problem is not the Dems or the
Republicans; the problem is humans. It is easy
to become blinded by one side so you do not
see the fault of your own.
What is happening in our country today is
a symptom of what our culture has become.
Our world is in major chaos, and until we see
our own individual part in this insanity noth-
ing will change.
Instead of pointing the finger and blam-
ing, we need to come together collectively
and respect each other. Not as a Democrat or
as a Republican, but as a human being. The
only way for us to heal as a country is to start
with ourselves.
There are a lot of angry people every-
where on the political spectrum and hatred is
contagious and growing. So, I ask all those
who read this: What is your roll in all of this
and what are you going to do about it to make
things better for everyone?
Karla Holme
Imnaha
LETTERS to the EDITOR
MEASURE 104
Time to close the taxing
loopholes pols prefer
In 1996, Oregon voters passed a con-
stitutional amendment requiring a super-
majority vote on all revenue raising legis-
lation. Politicians have created loopholes
to get around the state’s constitutional
requirement for a three-fifths supermajor-
ity to raise taxes on Oregon families and
small businesses.
Measure 104 will close the loopholes
and make sure politicians follow the State
Constitution. It also ensures that any leg-
islation that raises revenue requires a
three-fifths majority vote. This includes
fees or the elimination of tax exemp-
tions, deductions or credits –– making it
clear that Oregonians are fed up with pol-
iticians working behind closed doors to
increase taxes.
Oregon lawmakers voted for a billion
dollars in higher taxes within the past year
–– 10 cent gas tax increase, new payroll
tax and car sales tax, car registration and
title fees hike, truck mileage tax hike (up
25 percent), family health insurance pre-
mium tax ($330 million), small business
tax ($376 million) and hunting and fishing
license fee hike.
Oregon now ranks among the top 10
states in the country in terms of individual
tax burden, according to the Tax Founda-
tion. While Measure 104 won’t stop every
tax increase, it will make it a little harder
and ensure that there is broader bi-parti-
san support.
Measure 104 sends a message to pol-
iticians: It tells them that we want better
management of our tax dollars. There’s
currently no political will to make tough
decisions.
Measure 104 forces politicians to elim-
inate waste before they come back to us
for more money or find new ways to raise
taxes. Please join us in voting for Measure
104.
Rodney and Linda Botts
Joseph
MEASURE 106
Original ‘choice’ was
made by Gov. Brown
The “choice” of Gov. Kate Brown
was to sign House Bill 3391 in 2017,
a multi-million dollar bill significantly
increasing taxpayer funding for abortion.
HB 3391 was voted on by State lawmak-
ers as an “emergency” preventing the tax
bill from being referred for a public vote
in accordance with the State Constitution.
Taxpayers also pay for high insurance
premiums that include coverage for abor-
tion they may not want or need.
Fact: Oregon is the only state in the
United States with no limit on access to
abortion at any stage of pregnancy includ-
ing late term abortion of viable birth.
Fact: Oregon as well as every state in
country has Christian charities who offer
“free” and caring support to mothers of all
ages for alternatives to abortion.
Thanks to Oregon Life United, the
sponsors of Measure 106, all Oregon vot-
ers have a “choice.” My Choice is “yes”
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
M eMber O regOn n ewspaper p ublishers a ssOciatiOn
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
VOLUME 134
USPS No. 665-100
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Office: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
Publisher Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Editor Paul Wahl, editor@wallowa.com
Reporter Stephen Tool, steve@wallowa.com
Reporter Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com
General Manager Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Administrative Assistant Amber Mock, amock@wallowa.com
Advertising Assistant Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
on Measure 106 and a stop to taxpayer
funded abortions.
Susan Joy Barcik
Joseph
McLEOD SKINNER
Who does Walden really
represent anyway?
Greg Walden is not representing Orego-
nians. Who does he represent? Look at his
record.
He took $1,605,986 from the telecommu-
nications industry 1989-2017, more than any
other member of the House of Representatives.
So it is no surprise that he came out against
Internet neutrality and against the interests of
consumers like us. Since 2007, he collected
$851,042 from the pharmaceutical lobby with
$269,800 of that just since 2017.
He voted to repeal sections of the Afford-
able Care Act so that it would become
unworkable, leaving people with no health
insurance. He voted for a tax bill that runs up
the federal deficit and is a give-away to cor-
porations and the super-rich.
He voted to disallow states like Oregon the
ability to have their own new type of retire-
ment plans. He voted to repeal the rule that
energy companies disclose payments to for-
eign governments.
He voted to delay the implementation of
ozone standards. He voted against regulating
CO2 in our environment. He voted against
protecting our streams from mining.
He voted to authorize the importation of
polar bear parts from Canada into the U.S. He
voted to allow the import and export of ele-
phant ivory.
He voted to disapprove grants from the
National Science Foundation for scientific
research. He voted to repeal bank regulations
that were enacted to protect consumers from
another financial debacle.
He hides from his constituents and is
afraid to hold a public town hall. He has for-
gotten who he is supposed to be representing.
He is out of step with Oregonians.
Vote for Jamie Mcleod Skinner. She will
represent those of us in Oregon.
Mark Lacey
Joseph
JOHN HILLOCK
He is a tireless worker
for community causes
We own property in Wallowa County
and live here several months a year. One
of the first people we met here was John
Hillock.
Many winters ago, after a long day of
travel from Florida, we arrived at our old
double-wide trailer on a frigid wintry Fri-
day night. Our water lines were frozen at
the pump.
We called Enterprise Electric. John
answered and quickly came up the Slope
to help us. He didn’t know us from Adam,
but he didn’t hesitate to help a couple of
strangers. Since then, we have had many
encounters with John, both professional
and personal.
We know John to be a responsive, fair,
hard-working businessman, but more
importantly, he is a tireless worker for
community causes. His enthusiasm for
Wallowa County has motivated us into
supporting local endeavors.
See LETTERS, Page A5
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Wallowa County Chieftain
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