TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
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EDITORIAL
Why the
delay in
paid leave?
We have written before about how unfor-
tunate it was that late in the 2021 legislative
session a bill popped up to delay Oregon’s paid
family medical leave program.
It was created by the Legislature in 2019.
Families would be able to get paid time off —
not only for births and deaths — but to care
for others when they need it. Some employers
already offer that. The bill was a way of guaran-
teeing it to more people by January 2023. Gov.
Kate Brown thanked state Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend, for his leadership in helping to get the
bill passed.
But why was implementation delayed? The
state’s Employment Department said it couldn’t
get it ready by the beginning of 2023. It was
pushed back to September. That means, as The
Oregonian pointed out, “tens of thousands of
Oregonians stand to go without approximately
$453 million in paid leave benefi ts they could
have accessed in the fi rst eight months of 2023.”
Gov. Brown declined an interview with The
Oregonian to explain her staff’s oversight of
launching the program. Despite indicators the
launch was off track, her offi ce didn’t ensure the
launch stayed on track and neither did legisla-
tors. A local legislator did try. Former state Rep.
Cheri Helt, R-Bend, did attempt in 2020 to shift
the program’s oversight to the Oregon Bureau
of Labor and Industries, in the hope it had the
capacity to keep it on track. She also proposed
setting up a legislative committee to monitor
the program. Those good ideas went nowhere.
Maybe with the pandemic and the disrup-
tions it caused there was little hope the pro-
gram would launch on time. But legislators and
Gov. Brown don’t appear to have done enough
to try. The Oregonian’s article on this topic is
worth reading if you have access: tinyurl.com/
noORleave.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of
the Baker City Herald. Columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the opinions of
the authors and not necessarily that of the
Baker City Herald.
Biden’s diplomacy is dangerous
By ELI LAKE
President Joe Biden’s administra-
tion has gone out of its way to signal
toughness toward Russia’s military
buildup on Ukraine’s border. Biden
himself said on Wednesday that he told
Russian President Vladimir Putin that
if he ordered an invasion, the U.S. was
prepared to unleash economic conse-
quences on Russia “like none he’s ever
seen or ever have been seen.”
Those economic consequences would
probably include excluding Russia from
the Swift system for international elec-
tronic payments, and possibly a reimposi-
tion of U.S. sanctions on companies work-
ing on the construction of the Nordstream
2 pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Biden has also threatened to increase
weapons shipments to Ukraine and
bolster the defenses of vulnerable NATO
allies on Ukraine’s border.
It remains to be seen whether any of
this will dissuade Putin from invading
Ukraine. But even if it does, Putin’s troop
buildup has already earned him some
initial concessions: Along with his warn-
ings, Biden has offered Putin what the
White House is calling “diplomatic off-
ramps.” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national
security adviser, on Tuesday described
these off-ramps as support for the largely
moribund peace process based on the
Minsk agreements in 2014 and 2015, and
an invitation for Putin to engage in con-
sultations with NATO over his concerns
about the alliance.
These off-ramps risk letting Putin
believe that he can erase Ukrainian
sovereignty through diplomacy. The
Russian president has already pressed
Biden, according to the Kremlin’s readout
of their Tuesday conference call, to give
him assurances that the U.S. would
oppose allowing Ukraine into NATO.
Putin’s diplomats have also favored an
interpretation of the Minsk agreements
that would grant Russian-backed separat-
ists in Luhansk and Donetsk nearly full
autonomy from the central government in
Kiev, while denying that any of its forces
are in those regions.
Kurt Volker, who served as former
President Donald Trump’s envoy to the
Ukraine peace negotiations, told me that
he made it clear that the U.S. interpreted
the Minsk agreements to mean that Rus-
sia would have to withdraw its forces and
dismantle the illegal militias it supported
before Ukraine would give Luhansk
and Donetsk any special political status.
Russia’s view of its obligations under
the agreement “would actually undercut
Ukraine’s sovereignty and reward Putin
for the attack on Ukraine that he started
in 2014,” Volker said.
The Biden administration has not
publicly offered a detailed view of how it
interprets the Minsk agreements, other
than to say it supports the negotiations
and, more generally, Ukrainian territo-
rial integrity. The administration has also
said it hopes to use those negotiations
to de-escalate tensions within Ukraine
and pursue a possible cease-fi re or other
confi dence-building measures.
Nonetheless, offering NATO consulta-
tions and renewed U.S. attention on the
Minsk process is itself a concession to
Putin. To start, it pretends that Russia
has been a good-faith actor in peace talks
for the last seven years. But Ben Hodges,
the former commander of the U.S. Army
in Europe and the Pershing fellow at the
Center for European Policy Analysis, said
Russia has undermined the agreement
in recent years by thwarting European
attempts to monitor fl ashpoints in the
Ukrainian war. To this day, Russia denies
its forces are in Luhansk and Donetsk
and says it cannot withdraw troops that
are not there.
As for NATO consultations, Russia’s
position is well known: It wants assurance
that Ukraine and other former Soviet re-
publics will never be allowed to join the al-
liance. Hosting a high-level meeting with
Russia about Ukraine’s possible future in
NATO will only sow further doubts about
how much the West is willing to risk to
protect what is left of Ukrainian sover-
eignty. It would also give legitimacy to the
demands of Putin, whose goal is to break
up the alliance, not accommodate it.
Biden should be careful: The U.S. and
Europe have to deter Putin from starting
another war against his neighbor. But the
price of that deterrence cannot be Ukrai-
nian independence.
Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion
columnist covering national security and
foreign policy. He was the senior national
security correspondent for the Daily
Beast and covered national security and
intelligence for the Washington Times, the
New York Sun and UPI.
OTHER VIEWS
Why did CNN wait so long to dump Chris Cuomo?
Editorial from The South
Florida Sun-Sentinel:
CNN is no longer the Cuomo
News Network.
What took so long?
In the early months of the
pandemic, the Cuomo brothers
were riding high. As governor of
New York, Andrew Cuomo capti-
vated audiences during the day
with daily COVID-19 updates
and at night while sparring
fraternally with Chris Cuomo,
who hosted CNN’s highest-rated
evening program.
Chris Cuomo’s own case of
COVID-19 deepened the rapport.
The brothers stopped arguing
over who had been their mother’s
favorite child. Andrew became
the caring older brother. Ratings
doubled. The Associated Press
wrote that the program “gives
viewers sitting at home a glimpse
at the dynamics of a family other
than their own.”
Now Andrew Cuomo is the
former governor of New York. He
resigned as the state legislature
was prepared to remove him
through impeachment because of
sexual misconduct allegations.
In fact, Andrew Cuomo
should have resigned earlier
after revelations that he covered
up deaths in nursing homes.
He had ordered them to accept
COVID-19 patients. Cuomo wor-
ried that the truth of that bad
decision could have damaged his
$5.2 million book deal.
But at a time of record high
distrust in news organizations,
our attention focuses more on
Chris Cuomo and his former em-
ployer. For months, CNN allowed
him to violate basic journalism
ethics in dealing with his brother
even as the network’s employees
spoke up.
It’s important that Sun
Sentinel readers understand
these policies. At credible news
organizations, staff members
can’t donate to political cam-
paigns and can’t participate in
campaign events. We don’t advise
candidates. Doing so would be
grounds for fi ring.
Now let’s review what Chris
Cuomo did.
As noted, he essentially
produced infomercials for
Andrew Cuomo that could have
brought the former governor a
lot of money. After Chris Cuomo
joined CNN in 2013, the network
barred him from interviewing his
brother. That ban ended with the
pandemic.
Then, last May came the fi rst
revelations that Chris Cuomo
had worked to help his brother
defend against allegations of
sexual harassment. CNN at least
should have suspended him. The
network could have fi red him.
Instead, CNN offered Chris
Cuomo the chance to go on leave.
It was not a demand. Cuomo
refused. CNN President Jeff
Zucker said something about
“very unique circumstances.”
Similarly, Andrew Cuomo
tried to brass it out as the allega-
tions piled up. His defenses col-
lapsed when New York Attorney
General Letitia James released
her investigation into the former
governor’s conduct.
Fittingly, that report also im-
plicated Chris Cuomo. It became
clear that he had involved him-
self in his brother’s defense far
more than he had acknowledged.
Example: Andrew Cuomo’s
chief of staff asked Chris Cuomo
to “check with his sources” at
news organizations about other
women who might be ready to go
public with accusations against
Andrew Cuomo. “On it,” Chris
Cuomo responded.
Example: Chris Cuomo texted
the chief of staff to critique a
statement that Andrew Cuomo
had released.
Example: Chris Cuomo of-
fered to dig up information on
one of his brother’s accusers. He
texted the chief of staff that he
had “a lead on the wedding girl,”
referring to a woman who had
accused Andrew Cuomo of grop-
ing her at a wedding.
Example: Chris Cuomo sug-
gested that his brother dismiss
the allegations by saying, “Some-
times I am playful and make
jokes.” Andrew Cuomo did so.
Chris Cuomo tried to defend
himself by saying that brothers
help brothers. Elisa Batista is
campaign director at UltraViolet,
a gender justice organization.
“This wasn’t just brothers
talking about their lives, or even
about politics,” Batista said in
a statement. “This was a major
network news anchor actively
working to support the former
governor of New York in pushing
back against sexual harassment
allegations and denigrating
survivors of abuse.”
CNN is not the only network
to excuse egregious ethics viola-
tions by favored personalities.
Fox News’ Sean Hannity ap-
peared onstage with former
President Donald Trump at a
rally in 2018. Fox called it “an
unfortunate distraction and has
been addressed.” Hannity stayed
on the air.
Standards, though, apply
equally, regardless of political
slant. CNN staffers anonymously
called the coddling of Chris
Cuomo “super-hypocritical” and
“a disgrace to journalism.” Right
on both counts.
Zucker pronounced himself
“wounded” after learning how
much Chris Cuomo had deceived
CNN. The network suspended
Cuomo last week and fi red him
on Saturday. It surely didn’t help
that the man whose favorite
expression was “Let’s get after it”
faced his own allegation of sexual
misconduct, which he denied.
The brothers’ fates remain
entwined. Andrew Cuomo may
have to return millions from
his book deal. Chris Cuomo, his
ratings at CNN having cratered,
also left his SiriusXM radio show
and lost his own book contract.
The title? “Deep Denial.” Perfect.