A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Stage is set
for Buehler
vs. Brown
K
nute Buehler
has proposed 10
gubernatorial debates,
crisscrossing the state. Gov.
Kate Brown should accept his
offer.
Oregonians throughout
the state deserve the firsthand
opportunity to evaluate the
ideas, aspirations and leadership
skills of their next governor.
Even better would be to
include Independent and third-
party candidates in some of
those debates so as to more
fully reflect Oregon’s political
spectrum.
There is irony in Buehler’s
debate proposal. Until winning
the Republican gubernatorial
nomination last week, he largely
had been absent from the GOP
debates and joint appearances.
That strategy worked, enabling
the more moderate Buehler to
triumph in a GOP field crowded
with conservative candidates.
Brown, who faced only token
opposition in the Democratic
gubernatorial primary, called
for Buehler to join her in three
debates and at least two joint
appearances before newspaper
editorial boards.
By nightfall, Buehler had
upped the ante to 10 debates,
saying Brown’s proposal was
yet another example of her not
being bold enough. Yet one
question for voters to ponder is
whether Buehler as governor
would be the bold, potentially
decisive politician who emerged
on election night or the reticent,
off-stage candidate of the
Republican primary.
In any case, Brown and
Buehler have much to discuss in
front of voters.
This election is an evaluation
of what Oregonians could
expect from either politician.
But it also is a referendum
on Brown’s leadership since
replacing Gov. John Kitzhaber
three years ago.
That makes state
management — the governor’s
role as CEO — a dominant
issue. It won’t be enough
for Buehler to say he will
lead where Brown failed. He
must specify how he would
accomplish his goals, how he
would bring the state together
and how he would prevent the
management missteps of recent
years.
As for Brown, she has to
show that she governs for
the entire state, not just her
Portland political base. She
must own the missteps, as well
as the triumphs, of her tenure.
She must reveal what she has
learned on the job and how that
would serve Oregonians for four
more years.
Voters should hear the
specifics for how each candidate
would:
▪ Strengthen Oregon
education and help all Oregon
students achieve their potential.
▪ Confront the costs of the
Oregon Public Employees
Retirement System and public
employee health care.
▪ Overcome Oregon’s lack of
mental health resources and its
high suicide rate.
▪ Prepare for drought,
wildfires and a host of other
environmental issues.
▪ Bridge the economic,
technology and transportation
gap that separates rural and
urban Oregon.
Debates will be a waste if
all the candidates do is throw
jabs at each other. That is what
Buehler did six years ago in
running against Secretary
of State Brown. He lost the
election, but she got caught up
in parrying his jabs instead of
defining herself.
Oregonians want, need and
deserve robust discussions about
our state’s future.
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G UEST C OMMENT
‘We will never forget you’
By Mitch Sparks
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
One hundred and fifty years ago,
no family or community was un-
touched by the bloodiest conflict
in American history — the Civil
War. The four-year-long struggle
claimed the lives of over 620,000
soldiers — which is more Ameri-
cans than died in both World Wars,
Korea and Vietnam combined.
It was on May 5, 1868, that
the Grand Army of the Republic,
an early veterans advocacy group
comprised of Civil War veterans,
first urged Americans to observe a
“National Memorial Day” to honor
the dead of the Civil War.
The tradition has grown in the
150 years that have followed. To-
day, Memorial Day is a cherished
and protected na-
tional holiday — es-
pecially in Oregon.
Every year, hun-
dreds of thousands
of Oregonians at-
tend
ceremonies,
town parades and
Mitch
other solemn events
Sparks
to pause and remem-
ber those who have
given the ultimate sacrifice — from
the Civil War to the most current
conflicts in the Middle East.
It is estimated that nearly 6,000
Oregon service members’ lives
have been lost in the line of duty
since our state’s inception.
However Memorial Day is cel-
ebrated in your community, and
however different it may appear
from the simple ceremonies of a
grieving, post-Civil War America,
the sentiment remains the same. It is
that of a grateful nation to its fallen
soldiers: “Thank you. We will never
forget you.”
This Memorial Day, as we kick
off the start of summer and turn to
enjoy Oregon’s incredible parks,
beaches, rivers and mountains, we
invite all citizens to pause and truly
honor our fallen and our Gold Star
families. We stand on the shoulders
of all those who came before us and
will never forget the service and
sacrifice of all those who gave all.
Thank you all for your support of
Oregon veterans, and bless all those
still serving, at home and overseas.
Mitch Sparks is a retired Navy
veteran and acting director of the
Oregon Department of Veterans’
Affairs.
G UEST C OMMENT
What happened to Moral Majority
By Reg LeQuieu
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
A recent letter asks, “What
happened to the “Moral Major-
ity”? As a sympathizer with the
Moral Majority, allow me to sug-
gest some answers.
First, a little history: During
my lifetime, four presidents have
been philanderers — Presidents
Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton and
Trump. Kennedy, unfaithful to his
wife both before and during his
short presidency, was protected
by his security details in an age
the press neither inquired nor dis-
closed.
President Clinton wasn’t so
fortunate. He, evidently, was a
more predatory violator of his
victims while governor of Arkan-
sas, victims who eventually came
forward — especially after the
Lewinsky scandal in the White
House — and made their experi-
ences public. The responses of the
parties involved are interesting to
review.
First, President Clinton lied
about his involvement. Second,
Hillary launched all out attacks on
the women who made the accusa-
tions in an effort to destroy their
reputations. That helped me see
her true colors, that she was not
a supporter of inconvenient truths.
Since the press is liberal political-
ly, it generally supported Presi-
dent Clinton, even going so far as
to suggest that his sex life was his
private business and had no bear-
ing on his role as president of the
United States. The Moral Majority
was very critical then, so the ques-
tion is asked, “What happened to
the Moral Majority?”
I don’t offer this historical per-
spective as an excuse or a ratio-
nalization.
We now have a president who
reportedly had a one-night stand
some 10 years ago. But I do ask:
What choices do we have? Cer-
tainly not someone with the very
questionable ethics of Hillary
Clinton and her secular progres-
sive-socialist political leanings
— a person who has been lying
about why she lost since the day
she lost. But even embarrassing
personal “practices” are just one
aspect of a presidency; the other
aspect is a president’s policies.
By way of illustration, Presi-
dent Obama’s personal practices,
at least as husband and father,
were exemplary; his policies as a
secular progressive-socialist were
destructive of our liberties.
It was actually the policies of
the Republican Party the Moral
Majority supported rather than the
policies of the Democratic Party.
Many of us favored other Repub-
lican candidates during the pri-
maries; when it became apparent
that Donald Trump had gained the
nomination, the Moral Majority
still voted Republican. Allow me
to present just two reasons that
were at the top of our list.
Abortion: President Trump de-
clared himself to be pro-life. By
contrast, Hillary Clinton in partic-
ular — and the Democratic Party
in general — virulently support
abortion, Clinton apparently right
up to the ninth month of gestation.
Medical science increasingly af-
firms that life begins at concep-
tion — something Christianity has
known for thousands of years.
Secular science writer Bill
Bryson summed life up succinctly
when he wrote of our cells: “And
every one of those cells knows ex-
actly what to do to preserve and
nurture you from the moment of
conception to your last breath.”
The second policy position
was the vacancy on the Supreme
Court. The Republican Senate
took the position that the new
president — whoever that turned
out to be — would have the priv-
ilege of nominating the replace-
ment for the late Justice Scalia.
As a candidate, Trump openly
declared that he would nominate
a constitutional originalist rather
than (by implication) a secular
progressive. The basic differences
are these: Originalists believe the
constitution should be interpret-
ed — and applied — according
to what the framers intended its
various clauses and amendments
to mean.
Secular progressives believe
the constitution is a “living” doc-
ument that should be interpreted
according to the “needs” of the
time. That would make the un-
elected Supreme Court another
legislative body that could make
the Constitution say what they
wanted it to say.
Does the Moral Majority wish
that President Trump’s personal
morality in the past was equal to
his public policies in the present?
Are we pleased that he has aban-
doned his past and not brought
those practices into the White
House as Kennedy and Clinton
did? Yes, absolutely.
And we are all hoping that he
can be as successful in eventually
denuclearizing the Korean Penin-
sula as he has been with the econ-
omy and unemployment.
Reg LeQuieu lives in Mt. Ver-
non.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Road kill and
common sense
To the Editor:
Regarding Grant LeQuieu’s let-
ter to the editor, May 16, concern-
ing a run-in with an Oregon state
wildlife officer. The officer should
be aware of the ordinance in Grant
County concerning road kills.
In the early ’90s, two road kill
trials in Grant County Circuit Court
resulted in not guilty verdicts. In the
second trial, the judge emphatical-
ly stated, “I’m restoring common
sense to Grant County. Not guilty!”
A countywide initiative resulted
in a 90 percent passage of a road kill
ordinance, making it legal to utilize
a road-killed game animal. Since
then, no one has been cited for tak-
ing road kill.
It took the state of Oregon nearly
25 years since then to adopt a road
kill resolution to address the tens of
thousands of road-killed animals in
Oregon. Grant County has had as
many as a thousand deer killed on
roads each year.
Referring to the circuit judge’s
admonition about common sense,
it should be used by everyone, es-
pecially those in a position of au-
thority.
Dave Traylor
John Day