OPINION
Wallowa County Chieftain
A4
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
’Tis the season: NE Oregon’s political landscape begins to take shape
T
he season ‘tis upon us.
It seems to be here
too soon. We’re not
talking about the fact that
Enterprise has already decked
the halls with wreaths and
lights, or that we are bom-
barded with seasonal music
when we visit Safeway. Well,
we are, but there’s another
arrival as well: Eastern Ore-
gon’s political candidates.
The primary is not until well
after calving season, and just
at the nexus of branding and
turnout. It seems distant and
almost unfathomablyy out of
reach. Still, politics begins at
home and we might as well
peruse what’s on the menu
at this point. It might get our
minds off other things.
Northeast Oregon’s sea-
soned, tried and true represen-
tatives in Congress and in the
Oregon Legislature seem to
be stepping aside from their
posts. Perhaps it’s good to get
fresh blood and new ideas,
but it also somehow feels a
little like abandonment. First
Greg Walden became the 17th
House Republican to not seek
reelection in 2020. Then our
representative in the Ore-
gon House, Greg Barreto,
stepped aside. No-one has
expressed much interest Bar-
reto’s seat. But four have fi led
for Walden’s.
Greg Walden has served
since 1998, and in the current
political climate, seems like a
Martin Falbisoner/Wikipedia Commons
U.S. Capitol Building, East side, Washington D.C.
well-tempered moderate. He
understands his district and
for whatever you think of his
political tenor, generally has
upheld the needs of the con-
servative majority of his con-
stituents pretty well. Walden’s
seniority provided him – and
us--with a responsible voice,
serving as the chairman of
the powerful House Commit-
tee on Energy and Commerce,
Subcommittee on Communi-
cation and Technology, and
Subcommittee on Energy and
Power. That seniority and
experience will vanish with
the congressional newcomer
who replaces him.
As of Nov.19, there are
four announced candidates to
replace Walden. On the Dem-
ocratic side there’s John Holm
of Medford, who seems to
mostly have spent his career
as a political strategist in
Minnesota, as well as run-
ning comic book stores and
regular bookstores, and Raz
Mason of Klamath Falls,
who ran for the same seat in
2018, fi nishing 6th of 7 Dem-
ocratic candidates in the pri-
mary. Mason holds a mas-
ters degree from Harvard, is a
Navy veteran, and has worked
as a long-haul truck driver.
Democrats seem to have a
long haul at this point to fi nd
a credible, competitive candi-
date. On the Republican side
there’s the somewhat famil-
iar face of Cliff Bentz, and
the less-familiar countenance
of politically ambitious Jason
Atkinson of Ashland. Atkin-
son, who has worked as the
director of a ski school and a
radio talk show host, entered
the political arena in 1998,
wining a seat in the Oregon
House for District 51 (Jack-
son and Josephine Counties),
and then successfully ran for
the Oregon Senate from the
same area. He ran for gov-
ernor in 2006, and then was
elected to the Oregon Senate
from southern Oregon’s Dis-
trict 2 in 2008. He declined to
run for another term in 2012.
Atkinson has two claims to
fame. First, in 2008 while
repairing a friend’s bicycle, he
took a small bag off the bike
and casually dropped it on the
fl oor. That prompted the 0.38
cal Derringer that was in the
bag to fi re, sending Atkinson
to the hospital in serious con-
dition. Secondly, he champi-
oned the Klamath Basin Res-
toration Agreement (KBRA),
which was supported by local
communities, governments,
tribal groups, environmental-
ists, and fi shermen, although
viewed with suspicion by the
Klamath tribe. The succes-
Yes, race matters, nationwide, even in Wallowa County
R
ace--yes, it matters
And immigration too. If
we think about it, we, as indi-
viduals, families, communities, and
a nation are confl icted about both
race and immigration, and always
have been. This came to mind this
week with news that White House
advisor Stephen Miller was exposed
as having advocated blatantly white
nationalist literature. This is the same
Miller who designed many of the
president’s border and overall immi-
gration policies: the anti-Muslim
travel bans, border policies on sepa-
rating children and families, etc.
I say we are confl icted about
immigration and race because most
of us in this country trace our-
selves—proudly—to immigrant for-
bears. My family arrived from Ger-
many and Norway in the late 1800s
and early 1900s. When I lived in
California, many of my Mexican
classmates and neighbors lived in
ancestral places and houses, when
they were part of Mexico! Any-
one who can trace ancestry to Afri-
can-American slaves has, along
with the Mexican-Americans cited
above—and many more in Arizona
and New Mexico—been “Ameri-
can” in family much longer than I
have. “Immigrant” is a confl icted
term!
We are confl icted about color and
race because white has not always
been white enough. When Irish,
Greek, and Italian immigrants came
to America, most of them huddled
in ethnic enclaves in Eastern cities,
took jobs that proper white Ameri-
cans did not want (sometimes jobs
that had been done by slaves before
our grueling Civil War). The pro-
mulgators of Manifest Destiny, like
all but seven or eight of our 45 pres-
idents, were “Anglo-Americans”
who saw this country as the natural
heir to the British Empire, the new
arrow of Civilization.
Jewish immigrants have their
own sad stories of not being white
enough. In the run-up to WW II,
in 1939, a ship with 937 refugees
fl eeing Nazi Germany landed in
Havana, Cuba, where 28 passengers
were allowed to debark—The US
MAIN
STREET
Rich Wandschneider
and Canada then refused to allow
any departures, and the ship returned
to Europe, where the
Holocaust was unfolding.
Subsequent American actions
helped staunch the Nazi Anti-Se-
mitic Aryan nationalist movement,
and, in the process brought white
Italian, Irish, Scandinavian, German
and Jewish Americans together with
Anglo-Americans and called them
all white. Black troops served in a
segregated military through that war;
integration of the military occurred
in 1948.
Majority society’s attitudes about
ethnicity are most confl icted when
it comes to the original Ameri-
cans—misnamed from the begin-
ning, “Indians.” The Indians were
ravaged by European diseases, and
drastically reduced in population as
the country moved west and appro-
priated Indian lands through wars,
fraudulent treaties, and overwhelm-
ing numbers.
There were always partisans who
acknowledged these takeovers with
minor or major misgivings. Offi cial
policy—and the accepted attitude
of most Americans—became one
of “assimilation,” making Indians
white. The most generous advocates
for Indians thought their cultures
interesting and worthy of holding
in museums, but also thought that
the only way to save them was to
“kill the Indian and save the man” in
boarding schools and through poli-
cies that would make Indians farm-
ers, make them city dwellers, make
them white.
The Indian population of the
country has rebounded from a low
of 237,000 in the 1890s to over fi ve
million today—a population intent
on saving and advancing ancient lan-
guages and cultures. Maybe most
telling is the number of white Amer-
icans who now proudly claim a
half-Cherokee grandmother or some
other tie to the original Americans.
Confl icted on ethnicity.
Not Stephen Miller. The new
information about him follows an
election and three years of rheto-
ric from the president and advisors
that touches on—or settles squarely
on—race. I believe that the elec-
tion and support of this president is
fi rmly rooted in race. Italian -Amer-
icans and Anglo-Americans, who
once were divided by concepts of
race, have made up and married and
now fear the day when non-white
Americans will be a majority in the
country.
Yes, some religious conservatives
look past anti-immigrant policies
and continuing convictions of cor-
rupt offi cials to the appointment of
anti-abortion judges. And other tradi-
tional conservatives look past offen-
sive remarks and actions to tax cuts
and robust returns on investments.
But the hard core of support for the
current political regime is racial fear.
And that fear of becoming some
kind of minority in “our own land”
allows the likes of Stephen Miller to
advocate racist policies in the White
House and, importantly, engenders
a quiet acquiescence to overt white
nationalism and white supremacism
among a large number of Americans.
In Wallowa County and major-
ity white communities like ours, we
support our Mexican, Thai, and Chi-
nese restaurants, and hire Mexican
crews from outside the area to sheet-
rock our homes and work in our
fi elds, but fear the fl oodgates of new
immigrants and the tilt of the nation-
wide racial balance.
In Wallowa County and majority
white communities like ours across
the country, we support our Mexi-
can, Thai, and Chinese restaurants,
and hire Mexican crews from out-
side the area to sheetrock our homes
and work in our fi elds, but fear the
fl oodgates of new immigrants and
the tilt of the nation-wide racial bal-
ance. But we’re a nation of Indians
and immigrants that has tilted many
times; let’s learn our true history and
appreciate each other for who we
are and what we bring to the nation
today.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Letter to editor
Dawson
Now that I’ve entered the next
phase of life – being a grand-
mother, I feel a stronger sense
of responsibility to our land,
resources, and neighbor. I feel
compelled to take some kind of
action, even if just a letter to the
editor.
In today’s world, it often costs
as much to repair something as
it does to buy it new. Person-
ally, that is upsetting to me but
it also makes me more apprecia-
tive of recycling. Here in Wal-
lowa County we are very for-
tunate to have a county with an
excellent recycle center, a landfi ll
for household waste, as well as a
hazardous waste facility.
There are three landfi ll loca-
tions: Enterprise, Joseph, and
Wallowa. All sites accept house-
hold garbage. Each facility has a
website, so check it out!
The Enterprise landfi ll on Ant
Flat Rd. is open Wed., Friday,
Sat., and Sunday 10 a.m-3:30 p.m.
Their website lists accept-
able “contributions”: https://
co.wallowa.or.us/public-works/
solid-waste/ant-fl at-landfi ll/
They accept household garbage
and many recyclables including
scrap metal, wood waste, tv’s and
laptops.
The county Recycle Center on
Fish Hatchery Road across from
Wallowa County Nursery is open
7 days a week, 24 hrs/day. They
accept: cans without labels. glass,
cardboard, newspapers, maga-
zines, most plastics (rinsed) and
In the article titled Enter-
prise ATV town hall draws few,
(November 13 issue of the Chief-
tain) the photograph’s cap-
tion incorrectly identifi ed Enter-
prise City Council Member Larry
M EMBER O REGON N EWSPAPER P UBLISHERS A SSOCIATION
Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group
USPS No. 665-100
P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828
Offi ce: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore.
Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921
Contents copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
other items.
The Household Hazardous
Waste operation is located in
Enterprise and available every
fi rst and third Wednesday between
10-noon by making an appoint-
ment
(541-426-3332).
Cell
phones, batteries, yard and house-
hold chemicals are accepted here.
There will always be a need for
our county services and respon-
sible recycling. There is also
tremendous value in the ser-
vices offered by other organi-
zations such as thrift stores and
repair shops. Additionally, let’s
inspire to support companies
that offer lifetime guarantees and
free repairs and practice policies
that promote a better tomorrow.
Together we can make a differ-
ence and leave this world better
for our grandchildren.
Leigh Dawson
Joseph
Letter to Editor:
Hathorn
Dear Sir:
Your article entitled “Enter-
prise ATV town hall draws fi re”
(Chieftain edition 11/13/19)
reported that Dennis Burt who
was quoted in that article, is a res-
ident of Enterprise, OR.
Well, perhaps if Dennis lives
in an Enterprise PO Box. But he
doesn’t. His actual residence is
located (on Joseph Hwy, Joseph).
4 Pinochios for Dennis. 1
Pinochio for the Chieftain!
Scott Hathorn
Joseph, OR.
CORRECTIONS
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
sor, the Klamath Hydropower
Settlement will spark the
removal of four dams on the
Klamath River next year. The
other announced Republican
candidate, Cliff Bentz, is far
more familiar to many of us
in background and reputation.
He grew up on ranches in
Drewsy and Fields. He holds
a law degree from Lewis and
Clark, with specialty in water
rights, property rights and
agricultural law. He served
in the Oregon House repre-
senting District 60 beginning
in 2008, until appointed to
the Oregon Senate in 2010.
Famously, or perhaps infa-
mously, Bentz was one of the
11 Republican senators who
vanished rather than provide
a quorum for passage of Bill
2020, the infamous carbon
cap and trade bill.
Will there be more U.S
House District 2 candi-
dates? On the Republican
side, Knute Buehler, Mike
McLane, and Bend’s Tim
Knopp have been bandied
about as potential candidates..
Democrats are more stoic,
with Jamie McCleod Skinner,
who came closer--though not
very close — than any pre-
vious Democrat to defeating
Walden in 2018, aiming for a
run at Oregon’s Secretary of
State job. The fi ling deadline
for Walden’s seat is March 10.
It’s still only November. Stay
tuned.
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ellen Morris Bishop, editor@wallowa.com
Publisher, Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Reporter, Stephen Tool, steve@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
Administrative Assistant, Amber Mock, amock@wallowa.com
Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Christman as Bruce Bliven. In
the same article, Dennis Burt was
incorrectly noted as an Enterprise
resident. Mr. Burt has a Joseph
address. The Chieftain apologizes
for these errors.
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Wallowa County Chieftain
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