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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2019)
OPINION Wallowa County Chieftain A4 Wednesday, December 25, 2019 VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN The spirits of giving and hope are alive and well in Wallowa County W e live in uncertain times. We might consider this the best of times, the worst of times, the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness, the epoch of belief, the epoch of incredulity, the season of Light, the season of Darkness, the spring of hope, the winter of despair. We have everything before us, we have nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way. Or so it seems to us now, and seemed to Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cit- ies, written in 1859 and quoted with a little creative license above. While the national, state and the local economies seem prosperous, and here in Wallowa County we have an enviable and superlative rural health care system, we also know that here, work can be hard to fi nd, and needed health care can be beyond our means. If we are blue, we worry that our voices will not be heard at home. If we are red, we fear being drowned out by the big-city west side. Although life here is far from per- fect, in this small community there is an abundance of compassion and caring that warms the soul even on the bleakest, most disheartening of days. That is especially true during the winter holiday season. This gen- erosity comes from those most gen- erously endowed with grace, empa- thy and kindness--qualities that money can neither buy nor generate, although it can and does endow the time and Ellen Morris Bishop The annual Christmas Basket drive engages many facets of the county both as volunteers and as donors. This year, more than 175 Wallowa County families received a full Christmas dinner and gifts for their children. This is only one of the hundreds of large and small volunteer and donor eff orts that keep us all connected. means for ample expression. The Christmas Baskets that the Elks, realtors, and so many others in Wallowa County provided this week are among the most recent exam- ples. There are many more. They include the large and small donations of money and time that maintain our Wallowa County quality of life. They are helping fund the hospital’s new 4X4 ambulance. They include those who buy big boxes of fruit to support the FFA, who volunteer their time for 4-H, and who orchestrate the Wal- lowa County Fair. There are those who donate their time to put on Chief Joseph Days every year, who make winning-bids on hand-made chaps to fund mammograms for those in need. They include donations of all sizes that will carry the Campaign for the East Moraine over the top, parents and friends who bake cinnamon rolls and help deliver them so the Enter- prise 6th grade can make its fi eld trip to the coast, volunteers who keep Fer- gie running, volunteers who make the Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog race hap- Impeachment: Part of the Constitution’s checks and balances his article is the fi rst in a two part series about impeachment. On December 18th, 2019, Donald J. Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He now stands alongside presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clin- ton with that stain on his offi cial record. As part of their elaborate and inge- nious system of checks and balances, our nation’s founders empowered the House of Representatives to impeach a president or other federal offi cial for “treason, bribery, and other high Crimes and Misdemean- ors.” The founders awarded this power to the fi rst branch of government – the legis- lature – as a check against potential abuses by the second branch of government – the executive – or even against the third – the judiciary. But as an additional restraint on the legislature, and to ensure that this seri- ous measure could not be used frequently or frivolously, merely over policy dis- agreements, the framers also provided that “the people’s house” — the House of Rep- resentatives – would have to be joined by at least two thirds of “the upper chamber” — the Senate – before an impeachment majority could be followed by a convic- tion, and thereby, a removal from offi ce. This system of checks and balances has withstood the test of time admirably in the two hundred thirty years since the adop- tion of the US Constitution. Over that period, notwithstanding all sorts of parti- san squabbling, and even through the divi- sions of a civil war, impeachment proceed- ings have been conducted only four times in our nation’s history. President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House of Represen- tatives in 1868 on the basis of eleven charges that might now seem arcane to modern observers. They stemmed primar- ily from Johnson’s decision to replace a very conservative Secretary of War while Congress was on recess and without their advice and consent. Knowing his opposi- T POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY John McColgan tion to that Cabinet member, Congress had even passed a law designed to protect his station, and they did not appreciate it when Johnson used an end run maneuver to out- fox them. The House approved all eleven articles of impeachment. In the Senate, however, only three of the eleven charges were ever voted on, and each was defeated by a single vote. There were 27 states and 54 Senators at that time in our nation’s expansion, and each of the articles fell short of a 2/3 margin by a vote of 35-19. Fast forward more than a century to the Watergate break-in of 1972, which led to a special Senate investigation and pub- lic hearings in 1973. That summer, mil- lions of Americans – like me, a college bound student with an interest in Govern- ment – were glued to our television sets to watch history in the making. Most of Nixon’s top White House aides testifi ed under oath, and Senators on both sides of the aisle appeared appropriately concerned that the cover-up of this botched burglary might well have been worse than the orig- inal crime. The investigation by the special Sen- ate Committee coincided with the appoint- ment by the US Attorney General of a spe- cial prosecutor, Archibald Cox, whose work uncovered further revelations about criminal complicity within the White House. Meanwhile the media, particu- larly the Washington Post, pursued the story with relentless reporting. In Octo- ber of 1973, an embattled President Nixon ordered his Attorney General, Elliot Rich- ardson, to fi re Cox, but in defi ance of Nixon’s orders, both Richardson and his deputy Attorney General, William Ruck- elshaus, refused and resigned instead. This series of presidential actions by Nixon came to be known in the press as “the Sat- urday Night Massacre.” Public and political outrage over Nix- on’s interference prompted the House to launch impeachment proceedings against him in late October. By July of 1974, fi ve articles of impeachment were proposed and three were adopted by the House Judi- ciary Committee. The three charges were Obstruction of Justice, Abuse of Power, and Contempt of Congress. Meanwhile, even though President Nixon had allowed top members of his staff to testify under oath before Congress, he had been attempting to assert “Exec- utive Privilege” over conversations that had been secretly recorded by Nixon in the Oval Offi ce. But late in July, 1974, the US Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the tapes and transcripts needed to be released, and once they were, the evidence estab- lishing Nixon’s guilt became far more damaging, even in the eyes of his staunch- est supporters. By early August, it was clear to Repub- lican Congressional leaders that the House would vote overwhelmingly to impeach and that the Senate now easily had the 2/3 margin necessary to convict. Rather than face either vote outright, Nixon opted to resign from offi ce. He remains the only president in US history to do so, and regrettably for his legacy, under the cloud of disgrace. But it is worth noting, in light of our current time line in this process, that Nixon chose a scandalous resignation over the near certainty of both impeachment and conviction. And thanks to the fi rst act of his successor, the newly sworn-in Presi- dent Gerald Ford, Nixon was pardoned and exempted from further prosecution over his alleged crimes in offi ce. Part two of this series about impeach- ment will appear in John McColgan’s col- umn in January, 2020. pen each year. There are volunteers and contributors who keep us healthy. Volunteers and contributors who keep the arts running, who make Tamkaliks and the Homeland Interpretive Center happen. There’s Soroptimist, Rotary, Elks and Lions. People we never hear about who care for neighbors and friends, family members and strang- ers. People, including the Humane Society, who care for animals in need. People who just take good care of everyone and everything around them. The list goes on and on. It’s long. It would take the entire paper and more to thank everyone. So we’ll just do it here, on the editorial pages because we know there are other things in the Chieftain that you like to read, too. We need no reminding that, as Dick- ens waggishly noted, “A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.” So, from the Chieftain, thank you all, each and every one, for your gen- erosity, community spirit, and con- cern for one-another, this season, and year-round. Your energy brightens the gloom of winter’s long, dark shadow. It is the glue that holds the community together in uncertain times. As Fred Cratchit noted in Dickens’ A Christ- mas Carol, “I have always thought of Christmas time …as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleas- ant time. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or sil- ver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!” LETTERS to the EDITOR Our “Dictator” has done many good things To the Editor: Last week’s letter-writer accusing our President of having the “character of a Dictator” fails to explain what that “character” has done for this country. Since this “alleged Dictator” has occu- pied the White House, our GDP is up, our unemployment is down, our wel- fare recipient numbers are down, our NATO allies are paying their fair share, UN occupants of a New York building are paying more toward a fair share, etc., etc., etc. Is it possible that his nepotism has installed some assistance that actu- ally is capable of “running a business” as opposed to those with legal degrees that typically inhabit the White House and Congress? Also, if one were to take a hard look at nepotism, one should ask if it was involved when Hunter Biden’s father, our Vice President at the time, secured his son’s board positions on international companies for which he had not an inkling of experience. Just saying . . . . . . Maury Bunn Enterprise, OR WHERE TO WRITE U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 516 Hart Senate Offi ce Build- ing, 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. land, OR 97204; and 310 S.E. Second St., Suite 105, Pend- leton, OR 97801. Phone: 503- 326-3386; 541-278-1129. Fax: 503-326-2990. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R (Second District) — 1404 Longworth Building, Wash- ington D.C. 20515. Phone: U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313 Hart Senate Offi ce Build- 202-225-6730. No direct ing, Washington D.C. 20510. e-mail because of spam. Web Phone: 202-224-3753. E-mail: site: www.walden.house.gov senator@merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202-225-5774. Medford offi ce: 14 North Central, Suite Fax: 202-228-3997. 112, Medford, OR 97501. Phone: 541-776-4646. Fax: Oregon offi ces — 121 S.W. Salmon St., Suite 1250, Port- 541-779-0204. $26.6 million federal grant to expand preschool, early learning services SALEM, ORE. – The Early Learning Division was awarded a $26.6 mil- lion grant by the federal Administration for Children and Families to improve and expand programs to serve Oregon children and fami- lies from birth to age fi ve. The funds will be distrib- uted over three years ($8.9 million annually) and focus on children from historically underserved populations. “This investment will build upon the early care and educa- tion investments the state has been making to support Ore- gon’s children to be ready for the future,” said Early Learn- ing System Director Miriam Calderon. “The continuation of these funds will ensure parents have greater access to quality child care and pre- school, children birth to age fi ve build skills for life-long learning, and the educators who work with young chil- dren every day have the sup- port they need to match the importance of the work they do.” Some of the projects funded by Oregon’s Pre- school Development Grant Renewal include: Maximizing paren- tal choice and knowledge through enhancements to the state’s online child care safety portal and other par- ent engagement activities Professional development 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 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. 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 supports for the early learn- ing workforce Expansion of full-day pre- school and the Baby Promise program for rural communi- ties and children of color An assessment of men- tal health supports for early childhood, paired with a plan to expand services The grant opportunity is highly competitive – 46 states applied for a grant renewal and 20 states were awarded the funds. Projects in Oregon’s application are aligned with goals outlined by the Early Learning Coun- cil’s Raise Up Oregon stra- tegic plan. Oregon received funding in the previous grant cycle. Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offi ces Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County 1 Year $45.00 $57.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet Wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828
