A4 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022
BAKER CITY
Opinion
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Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
Do we trust the feds to
define ‘disinformation?’
T
hat the Biden administration has created what it calls
the “Disinformation Governance Board” — that’s the
offi cial title, not some right-wing exaggeration — all
but demands a reference to George Orwell.
We can’t know at this point whether this board within the
Department of Homeland Security will in any way resemble
the Th ought Police in Orwell’s novel, “1984.”
But even if this new apparatus has nothing in common
with Orwell’s dystopian setting, Americans ought to be a
trifl e concerned that the federal government, with its limitless
resources, deems “disinformation” — a noun for which there
is nothing like an absolute defi nition — a topic so serious as to
warrant expanding the already gargantuan government.
Th e Department of Homeland Security’s announcement of
the new board, on April 27, seems innocuous.
Th is is hardly surprising — no one expects the bureaucrats
to admit it if they intend to try to suppress information lest it
get to Americans.
Yet if this new board is so wholesome, then why, as of April
29, had Homeland Security offi cials declined an interview
request from Th e Associated Press?
Th e offi cial announcement about the board stated that “the
spread of disinformation can aff ect border security, Ameri-
cans’ safety during disasters, and public trust in our democrat-
ic institutions.”
Th is is certainly true.
(Although the federal government struggles mightily with
border security regardless of disinformation.)
Homeland Security said it would immediately focus on false
information allegedly intended to encourage illegal immi-
grants to try to come to America, and monitor, as Th e Associ-
ated Press put it, “Russian disinformation threats as this year’s
midterm elections nears and the Kremlin continues an aggres-
sive disinformation campaign around the war in Ukraine.”
Th e obvious problem here is that we are, apparently,
expected to trust that federal offi cials can discern between
“disinformation” created and distributed by foreign agents,
and what an American says on his podcast or posts on his
social media accounts.
Or, for that matter, what a major American newspaper
publishes.
Th e distinction is vital.
In October 2020 the New York Post reported about a laptop
that belonged to Hunter Biden, the president’s son, and that
allegedly contained information showing business dealings
between both Bidens and Ukrainian leaders.
Many people dismissed the Post’s stories as either unproven
or — and here comes that word again — “disinformation.”
Among the skeptics is Nina Jankowicz. She is the executive
director of the Disinformation Governance Board. In 2020 she
told Th e Associated Press, in an interview regarding the Post’s
reporting, and referring to the laptop itself, “We should view it
as a Trump campaign product.”
Yet subsequent reporting by other newspapers, including
Th e New York Times and Th e Washington Post — albeit
a year and a half or so later — corroborated some of the
Post’s reporting.
Put simply, the person in charge of the Biden administra-
tion’s “disinformation” agency branded as disinformation
stories published by the New York Post. Stories that are accu-
rate. It is reasonable, then, for Americans to wonder just how
Jankowicz, and the board she will be running, would deal with
future reporting that they brand as “disinformation.”
Th e simple answer, of course, is that they can’t do anything
at all — unless they have as little respect for the First Amend-
ment as Jankowicz seems to have for the New York Post.
Her dismissal of the Post’s stories isn’t the only reason to
question not only the creation of this board, but specifi cally
giving her the authority to operate it.
Jankowicz has also written books examining how people
use social media to harass others. Th is is an unfortunate truth
about online forums, to be sure. But while the federal govern-
ment has a legitimate reason to ensure that Americans have
accurate information in an emergency — the need to evacuate
during a wildfi re, for instance — there is no justifi cation for
trampling on the Bill of Rights to deal with some cretins on
social media.
Th e federal government obviously is capable of distributing
information whenever it chooses — there’s no need to create a
new board to accomplish that.
But responding to disinformation, with the goal of refuting
it, is a vastly diff erent thing than suppressing Americans’ opin-
ions — the diff erence between public relations and unconsti-
tutional censorship. It ought not be lost on anyone that this
new agency’s name includes the word “Governance.”
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
OTHER VIEWS
Good news with kids, viruses
relief, that their children were just
not getting sick.
This temporary disappearance of
most endemic pediatric viruses was
partly the result of behavior changes,
particularly the cancellation of
in-person meetings, group activi-
ties and travel plans. However, pan-
demic mitigations could not be the
entire explanation because the same
disappearance was observed in areas
where children attended school or
uninterrupted day care.
Eventually, with the onset of the
highly contagious omicron wave
last winter, more and more children
were infected with COVID-19, most
with mild symptoms. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
estimates that as of February 2022,
approximately 75% of children and
adolescents have been infected, with
approximately one-third of those
infections coming since Decem-
ber 2021. Including those who have
been vaccinated, there is now con-
siderable population immunity to
the virus in children.
In the past year, a rebound in
routine childhood viruses has oc-
curred during the intervals when
COVID-19 waves ebbed. The typical
viral respiratory illnesses are spread-
ing again, with the expected natural
cycle of waning in May and return-
ing in autumn.
Parents and teachers once again
confront maintaining public health
measures meant to avoid the spread
of viral illnesses with the priority of
the educational, developmental and
emotional needs of children. The
key is to offer kids routine protec-
tion against common diseases (stay-
ing home when sick, washing hands)
— not frantic overprotection against
one illness in particular.
The pediatric immune system is
programmed to encounter a new
virus and generate an initial im-
mune response. Anyone who has
spent time with toddlers is familiar
with their desire to touch and lick
everything. This type of explora-
tion plays many roles in child de-
velopment, and one may include
immunologic development.
Small children sample the viral
environment, which in turn en-
ables them to mount an immune
response. Children eventually aug-
ment the response with subsequent
exposures, eventually resulting in a
mature, adult immune system. It is
beneficial for children to be exposed
to routine viral illnesses that inevi-
tably spread and ultimately recede.
Acceptance of this reality will be im-
portant in preventing unnecessary
disruptions to children’s lives.
Viruses interact with each other
and with our immune systems.
Some of these interactions may be
advantageous for unknown reasons.
On occasion, wide spread of one
virus can crowd out other viruses,
a phenomenon known as viral in-
terference. This happened in 2009
when an incipient influenza pan-
demic was short-circuited by an en-
demic rhinovirus outbreak.
Was this what happened in the
first year of the COVID-19 pan-
demic? If so, the return of endemic
viruses and unpleasant, but benign,
colds may be an encouraging sign
that the COVID-19 pandemic is fi-
nally subsiding.
In the New Testament, Jesus says,
“Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the
kingdom of God belongs to such as
these.” As parents, pediatricians and
other professionals who love chil-
dren, we should guard against be-
coming overprotective. For children
to develop the robust immune sys-
tems required for healthy adulthood,
we must recognize that viral illnesses
are a necessary part of life.
Now, following Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine and NATO’s supplying
arms to Ukraine, our Secretary of
As I see it, U.S. foreign policy has Defense Lloyd Austin declared this
lost its way in the world, especially week that our goal in Ukraine is “to
see Russia weakened.”
our capacity for statesmanlike di-
To what end?
plomacy.
Following the collapse of the So-
Is Russia really our enemy? Do we
viet Union, we have for years pro-
not understand how unpredictable
moted eastward expansion of NATO and unstable war is, especially given
to Russia’s doorstep, while ignoring the grave danger of nuclear weapons?
Russian vigorous security protests.
Are we insane?
After visiting Ukraine, United Na-
tions Secretary António Guterres
stated, “The war is an absurdity in
the 21st century. The war is evil.
“There is no way a war can be ac-
ceptable in the 21st century.”
I say that if we had any sense we
would all work with the United Na-
tions to find an immediate, workable
resolution to the Ukraine war.
Marshall McComb
Baker City
BY CORY FRANKLIN AND MARY HALL
W
hether it is attending
school, being vaccinated
or transmitting the virus
at family gatherings, the role of chil-
dren in the COVID-19 pandemic
has been contentious and widely de-
bated, not just in the United States
but across the world.
Two years in, what have we learned
and what can we apply to the future
concerning children and COVID-19?
When the threat of COVID-19
emerged in early 2020, pediatricians
braced to provide care for a flood
of sick children across the coun-
try. A pediatric clinic is normally
a busy place, especially during the
protracted viral respiratory season,
October to May, when it is typical
for small children to annually expe-
rience as many as 10 colds caused by
endemic respiratory viruses.
Fortunately, in most situations,
healthy children recover from re-
spiratory viruses within a week with
supportive care and endemic human
respiratory viruses becoming per-
manent members of our viral eco-
system. But COVID-19 was an un-
known wild card.
It turned out to be a pleasant
surprise when it became clear the
coronavirus caused milder illness
in children than adults. For healthy
young patients, with rare exceptions,
this has essentially remained true
throughout the pandemic.
But there was another intriguing
and unexpected surprise as well.
In the first year of the pandemic,
COVID-19 turned out to be milder
in children, but colds, ear infec-
tions, wheezing episodes and stom-
ach bugs also seemed to disappear.
The frequency of common viral
illnesses expected in the youngest
patients plummeted.
Initially, it was believed that par-
ents were simply reluctant to bring
children in, but greater numbers of
parents reported, with considerable
█
Dr. Cory Franklin is a retired intensive care
physician. Mary Hall is a pediatric specialist
in private practice from Skokie, Illinois.
YOUR VIEWS
U.S. needs to work toward
resolution to Ukraine war
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden: The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500;
202-456-1111; to send comments, go to www.
whitehouse.gov.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. office: 313 Hart
Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington,
D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753; fax 202-228-3997.
Portland office: One World Trade Center, 121
S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204;
503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900. Baker City
office, 1705 Main St., Suite 504, 541-278-1129;
merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510;
202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717. La Grande
office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850;
541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.
senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (2nd District): D.C.
office: 1239 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730; fax
202-225-5774. Medford office: 14 N. Central
Avenue Suite 112, Medford, OR 97850; Phone:
541-776-4646; fax: 541-779-0204; Ontario
office: 2430 S.W. Fourth Ave., No. 2, Ontario, OR
97914; Phone: 541-709-2040. bentz.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol,
Salem, OR 97310; 503-378-3111; www.
governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.
treasurer@ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE,
Suite 100, Salem OR 97301-3896; 503-378-
4000.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen F.
Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem, OR 97301-
4096; 503-378-4400.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents
and information are available online at www.
leg.state.or.us.
State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem
office: 900 Court St. N.E., S-403, Salem, OR
97301; 503-986-1730. Email: Sen.LynnFindley@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem
office: 900 Court St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR
97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.MarkOwens@
oregonlegislature.gov
Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box
650, Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax
541-524-2049. City Council meets the second
and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council
Chambers. Councilors Jason Spriet, Kerry
McQuisten, Shane Alderson, Joanna Dixon,
Kenyon Damschen, Johnny Waggoner Sr. and
Dean Guyer.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541.
Jonathan Cannon, city manager; Ty Duby, police
chief; Sean Lee, fire chief; Michelle Owen, public
works director.
Baker County Commission: Baker County
Courthouse 1995 3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814;
541-523-8200. Meets the first and third
Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark
Bennett, Bruce Nichols.
Baker County departments: 541-523-8200.
Travis Ash, sheriff; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster;
Greg Baxter, district attorney; Alice Durflinger,
county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby, county clerk;
Kerry Savage, county assessor.
Baker School District: 2090 4th Street, Baker
City, OR 97814; 541-524-2260; fax 541-524-
2564. Superintendent: Mark Witty. Board
meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m.
Council Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655 First
St.; Chris Hawkins, Andrew Bryan, Travis Cook,
Jessica Dougherty, Julie Huntington.