OPINION
Wallowa County Chieftain
A4
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
The elephants
in the room
A
s the Oregon Leg-
islature prepared
to start work this
week, its leaders were
saying all the right things
about working together,
respecting rural Oregon
and doing what was best
for the state as a whole.
But, as the saying goes,
“only time will tell.”
VOICE of the
CHIEFTAIN
In the Oregon House,
the Democratic and
Republican leadership
have a more collegial
relationship than in the
past. In the Senate, it
seems prickly.
Democrats gained
supermajorities in the
House and Senate, which
enables them to pass tax
increases without need-
ing any Republican votes
— if all Democrats stick
together, which is never
a sure thing. Some leg-
islative issues, such as
potential changes in sen-
tencing laws, have an
even higher threshold
for passage. In any case,
Democrats cannot con-
duct business unless
enough Republicans are
present for a quorum.
Through the leader-
ship of Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Sa-
lem, the Senate has acted
as a moderating influence
on proposals emanat-
ing from the more-liberal
House. But the Novem-
ber elections swung the
Senate to the left, and
Courtney worries about
how he will balance the
expectations of progres-
sive Democrats with the
need to work collabora-
tively with Republicans.
“We cannot do this,
Democrats, without
Republicans. You gotta
understand that,” Court-
ney said at the annual
Associated Press Legis-
lative Preview on Friday.
“We cannot do this with-
out Republicans. Without
the elephants in the room
— another way to put it —
the donkeys can’t do it.”
The question is
whether the 90 legislators,
as well as Democratic
Gov. Kate Brown, will
give more than lip service
to that collaboration.
The early signs are
positive. They almost
always are at the start of a
legislative session.
Legislators went
through civility training
last week. Equal numbers
of Democrats and Repub-
licans will serve on the
joint legislative commit-
tee charged with improv-
ing the Oregon Capitol
culture and overcom-
ing the specter of sex-
ual harassment. Courtney
appointed non-urban and
urban senators — Dem-
ocrats Betsy Johnson of
Scappoose and Eliza-
beth Steiner Hayward of
Beaverton — to jointly
serve as the Senate’s bud-
get leaders. He has intro-
duced Senate Bill 2, with
Republican Sens. Bill
Hansell of Athena and
Cliff Bentz of Ontario,
which could be a break-
through in providing
greater land-use flexibil-
ity in Eastern Oregon.
It might also be a
good sign that legislators
are still trying to write
the carbon cap-and-in-
vest legislation, which
progressives demand
and conservatives dis-
like. Some Democratic
legislators had long ago
insisted that the legis-
lation, known as Clean
Oregon Jobs, was ready.
Republicans have strived
to make it less oner-
ous for businesses and
consumers.
Most bills passed by
the Legislature are rou-
tine and have bipartisan
support. Few of those
will make headlines. But
many contentious pro-
posals — from taxes to
firearms — likely will pit
business vs. labor, rural
vs. urban and minority
Republicans vs. majority
Democrats.
Those are the bills
that will test legislators’
commitment to collabo-
ration, to civility — and
to the whole of Oregon.
What’s in a knife?
SHOOTIN’
THE BREEZE
Rod Carpenter
I
t’s interesting what does and
doesn’t turn some folks’ cranks.
For instance, I can admire nice
rifles all day, but for me a knife is just
a tool to get the job done.
Other folks seem to want every
knife they see. That doesn’t mean I
don’t appreciate the qualities of a good
knife, or the importance of having one
when you need it. You only need to
stand over one dead elk realizing you
left your knife in the truck to appreci-
ate how important it is.
We all choose our knives for dif-
ferent reasons. When most of us were
first allowed to have one, all that mat-
tered was that it was big. The bigger
the blade, the better the knife. After
carrying it around for a while and try-
ing to clean a fish or two with a seven
inch blade the light began to dawn, and
we began to realize that other qualities
may be important in selecting a knife.
Knives come in all shapes and
sizes. From folders to fixed blades,
clip points to drop points, gut hooks
and nowadays we can even replace
blades and never have to sharpen
again. With so many options, how do
you choose which knife is for you?
Well, in my experience, the best knife
is the one you have on you when you
need it. I have had the joy of cleaning
a deer with a 1.5-inch blade because
that’s what was in my pocket. It
wasn’t ideal.
For hunting I like a fixed, 3-inch
drop point blade. Folders are more
compact but are harder to clean. Three
inches is plenty of blade to break down
Contributed photo/Blue Mountain Eagle
Knives come in all shapes and sizes — from folders to fixed blades, clip points to
drop points, gut hooks and replaceable blades.
even the biggest animal, and the drop
point is ideal for skinning. I’m not a
fan of gut hooks. I can never get them
to work as well as advertised, probably
operator error.
I’m also not a fan of replaceable
blades. Honestly, because they are too
sharp. I cut myself enough as it is, and
I’m always a little afraid I’m gonna
leave a finger behind somewhere.
Also, I think throwing away all those
blades is kind of a waste.
My hunting knife today is a Buck
Micro. It is light, inexpensive and
meets all my needs. I have tried all
kinds for butchering game. Surpris-
ingly, I have found that a filet knife
works best for me. This is the one
instance were a long blade is a benefit.
Border walls and poker faces
A
s I write this column, the
federal shutdown is already
in its fourth week, which
makes it the longest one ever. I
hope by the time my column is
printed, the standoff will have been
resolved, but I am not optimistic
about that prospect.
In 1978, as I was moving into
my second year in VISTA (Volun-
teers in Service to America), I was
caught up as an innocent victim of
a federal shutdown. On that occa-
sion, the issue in contention was
taxpayer funding for abortion. Like
many other federal employees, I
missed a paycheck, but then prob-
ably because some administrative
work in Washington fell between
the cracks, I missed two checks and
then three. By the time the snafu
in my case was straightened out, I
ended up getting three months pay
all in the first week of 1979, which
put me in a higher tax bracket for
that year. The whole bungle cost
me several hundred dollars in
added taxes, over and above the
stress and inconvenience of hav-
ing to dig into my meager savings
to get by.
My story is just one example of
the trouble shutdowns cause in real
people’s lives. Right now 800,000
POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
John McColgan
federal workers, including TSA
agents who protect our airports and
Coast Guard members who patrol
our seas, are without pay.
President Trump’s economic
advisers are now admitting that the
shutdown is taking a much big-
ger toll on the economy than they
had previously estimated. And
this self-inflicted wound comes on
the heels of the worst fourth quar-
ter drop in the stock market in ten
years.
Even presidents with much better
records and purer political intentions
on the issue of immigration have
had difficulty advancing legisla-
tion to tackle a problem that is inher-
ently complex. But according to
data from a recent New York Times
article, a lot of progress has been
made in the past two decades. Illegal
immigration reached a peak at the
end of the Clinton administration,
and then with some bipartisan coop-
eration after 9/11, levels were cut
in half during the terms of George
W. Bush, and further reduced by
half again under President Obama.
In 2017, illegal immigration came
down even further until ticking back
up in 2018 to the levels achieved
during Obama’s terms.
So why the sudden crisis over
the need for Trump’s promised
wall? Keep in mind that President
Trump had a Republican House
and Senate to work with for the
past two years, including even the
first week when this shutdown
began. Yet he could not muster
enough support in his own Repub-
lican Congress to fund his wall, so
he decided to try to “get a win” by
precipitating a crisis and waging a
political war against the new Dem-
ocratic House over this issue.
This is reminiscent of the
migrant caravan, that over-hyped
previous crisis timed conveniently
to coincide with our recent elec-
tion, but which has mostly disap-
peared from the news since then. I
wonder how National Guard troops
who missed Thanksgiving with
their families feel about that polit-
ical stunt now, in light of a pur-
ported “invasion” that never really
materialized.
If President Trump wants more
than 5 billion dollars for a section
of border wall, he should make
LETTERS to the EDITOR
his case to Congress by introduc-
ing legislation, rather than shutting
down the government and play-
ing a very harmful and dangerous
game of Chicken. And if his inten-
tion was to lay the blame on Dem-
ocrats for the shutdown, then he
has already failed, because sur-
veys show that most of the public
point their fingers squarely at him
instead.
This entire episode has been a
gigantic political gamble and mis-
calculation by the president. And
now he has even backtracked on
his often repeated campaign prom-
ises that Mexico will pay for the
wall, as he tries to revise history to
claim that he never really said that.
It appears instead that we are
all paying for a wall that isn’t even
being built. And many of those
who really help keep us safe are
expected to continue working for
free, or to leave their good jobs and
find other ways to provide for their
families.
Our billionaire president does
not appear to understand or care
about the harm that he is causing in
so many people’s lives.
We are a better country than
this, Mr. Trump. We deserve better
leadership!
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
Publisher, Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
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.
It makes it so much easier to cut steaks
out of big elk muscles. The flexible
blade is also great for working around
bones.
I carry a multi tool when I go fish-
ing. One with relatively slender pliers
for removing hooks, scissors for cut-
ting line and a small blade for clean-
ing works well for me. I should proba-
bly carry one all the time, but they are
heavy, and I’m old.
Whatever blade you choose to
carry, keep it sharp. It really is true that
it’s the dull blade that cuts you.
We welcome your thoughts and
ideas at shootingthebreezebme@
gmail.com!
Rod Carpenter is a husband, father
and hunting fool.
Abandoned animals on
Alder Slope
I would like to request that people
quit dumping their cats on Alder Slope
and other populated rural areas. It may
look wild up here, but there are resi-
dences all over the Slope. We struggle
with a steady stream feral cats, mostly
unneutered males, arriving to attack
our gentle, neutered barn cats and steal
their food and shelter.
I am told by the local Humane Soci-
ety abandoning animals is illegal in
Oregon. You can check with them as
to what the penalty might be. I’m sorry
if you have a problem, but please take
your own responsibility and don’t put it
on others. Veterinarians will put down
unwanted animals for a fee.
Recently, my husband and I
observed a pickup which stopped a
few hundred feet from our house. As
we watched, the driver and a passenger
stepped out of the pickup. We observed
someone going to the rear. We then
saw a black cat running from the truck,
across the field toward our barns. A
black male cat has been at our house,
harassing our cats and eating their food.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sharon McEwan
Enterprise
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