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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2015)
OPINION A4 HERMISTONHERALD.COM SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015 EDITORIAL • COMMENTARY • LETTERS HermistonHerald VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 7 JESSICA KELLER EDITOR jkeller@hermistonherald.com 541-564-4533 MAEGAN MURRAY SEAN HART SAM BARBEE JEANNE JEWETT REPORTER mmurray@hermistonherald.com 541-564-4532 SPORTS REPORTER sbarbee@hermistonherald.com 541-564-4542 REPORTER smhart@hermistonherald.com 541-564-4534 MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT jjewett@hermistonherald.com 541-564-4531 STEPHANIE BURKENBINE MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT sburkenbine@hermistonherald.com 541-564-4538 To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising or subscription information: • call 541-567-6457 • e-mail info@hermistonherald.com • stop by our of¿ces at 333 E. Main St. • visit us online at: www.hermistonherald.com ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES Delivered by carrier and mail Wednesdays and Saturdays Inside Umatilla/Morrow counties ......................................................................................... $42.65 Outside Umatilla/Morrow counties ...................................................................................... $53.90 The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN 8750-4782) is published twice weekly at Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838, (541) 567-6457, FAX (541) 567-1764. Periodical postage paid at Hermiston, OR. Postmaster, send address changes to Hermiston Herald, 333 Printed on E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838. recycled A member of the EO Media Group Copyright ©2015 newsprint The return of satire D ecades after being dismissed by George S. Kaufman as a genre that “closes on Saturday night,” satire, like the measles and mumps, is making a comeback. And in many quarters, remains the most feared of the three conditions. Some experts hold to DVWULFWGH¿QLWLRQ³6DWLUH portrays a viewpoint, while intending something different.” The most famous example being Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” the essay in which he advised Ireland’s poor to alleviate their poverty by selling their babies as food for the rich. At least we assume he was kidding. Hopefully no besotted chefs replicated his ingredients list. Another example is the CIA’s assertion that “we don’t torture anybody,” when obviously what they meant was “yeah, we’ve been torturing people since way before we assured you we weren’t. And we’ve gotten pretty good at it.” You could say the CIA is America’s only straight up satirical organization. Proof that satire can exist without laughs. Modern satirically has loosened up to embrace many forms of humor: sarcasm, cynicism, scorn, contempt, bile, ridicule and recently, an endless fascination with body SDUWVDQGÀXLGV$Q\WKLQJ to spotlight perceived injustice. Tweak the nose of pomposity. Kick arrogance in the groin. Seth Rogen and his stoner buddy, that darn Franco JX\¿UVWWKUXVWIXQQ\RQWR the front pages with their movie, “The Interview;” a farce about assassinating the President of North Korea. Which you could say, the President of North Korea did QRW¿QGDPXVLQJ<RXFRXOG also say armadillo snouts make inferior shot glasses. Despots and extremists have the sense of humor of asphalt. With the emphasis RQWKH¿UVWV\OODEOH$QG\HV that’s an example of using a body part as humor. So, in response, North Korea orchestrated a monumental hack of the studio releasing WKH¿OP'RLQJGDPDJHWR the economy and scaring the bejesus out of Wall Street. Letters Policy WILL DURST RAGING MODERATE Cagle columnist We know this happened because the CIA said it didn’t. The fracas was exacerbated when Hollywood celebrities went to the mats defending free speech while imploring the public to boycott websites exhibiting their pilfered emails, revealing them to be petty snarks. This is known as irony, a brother to satire. A greater tragedy is the thousands of Americans tricked into watching this cinematic opus under the guise of nationalistic pride. “Laugh, or the terrorists win.” Then in January, the world witnessed the ghastly murders of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo staffers by lunatic Muslim assassins. Who claimed to be offended by a cartoon. Which confused many US citizens. France has satirical magazines. America has Spongebob. It’s a trade-off. It’s sad. Call yourself a satirist in America today and folks think you have goat legs. And play the pan ÀXWH(VSHFLDOO\ZKHQ\RX consider the grand tradition of American political humorists- Twain, Bierce, Mencken, Rogers, Bruce, Krassner, Trudeau, Carlin, Hannity and the Cheneys. The teachable moment here is how imperative it is we encourage artists to stay on the offensive. To mock and scoff and taunt for the sake of democracy. They should be stopped on the street and thanked for their service. Laugh, or the terrorists win. Patriots on both sides of the political spectrum need to rally and support our brave perpetrators of mockage and scoffsome taunterating. And to do it even after the CIA says it’s okay to stop. Especially then. Je Suis Charlie. Je Suis Hebdo. — Copyright © 2015, Will Durst, distributed by the Cagle Cartoons Inc. syndicate. Will Durst is an award-winning, nationally acclaimed political comic. Email Will at durst@cagle- cartoons.com The Hermiston Herald welcomes original letters for publication on public issues and public policies. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. Phone numbers will not be published. Letters may be mailed to the Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main, Hermiston, OR, 97838; or emailed to editor@hermistonherald.com Putting suspicions to rest B efore Hermiston City Council members direct city staff to prepare documents to revise the city charter, they VKRXOG¿UVWKDYHDQHDUQHVW discussion about the merits of appointing the municipal court judge versus having residents continue to elect that position. At Monday night’s City Council meeting, City Manager Byron Smith will report on recent presentations to various service organizations on the matter and the feedback he received. According to the council agenda, he will then recommend that the municipal court judge position be appointed, with the provision that this person be an attorney. Before any vote is taken, Smith and/or the council should address some of the questions that have, thus far, not been satisfactorily answered, such as why it is in Hermiston residents’ best ZRXOGDOORZFLW\RI¿FLDOVWR avoid accusations that they HERMISTON HERALD are doing this arbitrarily; Editor or because they don’t trust residents’ ability to elect a interests that the municipal municipal court judge based court judge be appointed on past choices; or because and not elected. Hopefully, they don’t like the current an explanation will include municipal court judge. solid, unambiguous Perhaps these suspicions rationale, as well as are unfounded and not examples of why the current the case at all. Of course, system is not working and nobody can really know for how appointing a judge VXUHEDVHGRQFLW\RI¿FLDOV¶ would solve these problems explanations given so far or, at least, improve upon regarding the change. After them. all, “popularity contest” has This is reasonable been thrown out there as a and no less than what reason for not electing the Hermiston residents deserve, municipal court judge; not presuming, of course, city to mention, in the proposed RI¿FLDOVDUHQRWSXUVXLQJWKLV charter’s language, there is course of action arbitrarily. no guarantee that current As the old adage goes, “If Municipal Court Judge LWDLQ¶WEURNHGRQ¶W¿[LW´ Thomas Creasing — who so, logically speaking, there was recently reelected — must be something wrong would even get to serve out with the current system that the remainder of his term. warrants such a change. If The proposed charter just so, what is it? Not only do says the current judge will residents deserve a good serve until a new judge is answer, providing one appointed. JESSICA KELLER No explanation has been provided for this, either, so perhaps “popularity contest” is accurate after all, but not for the same reasons previously posed. The point is, currently, FLW\RI¿FLDOVDUHOHDYLQJ numerous blanks for VXVSLFLRXVPLQGVWR¿OOLQ themselves. Regardless, the best solution could be the one council members have disregarded before: letting residents decide for themselves if they want the municipal court judge to be elected or appointed when they vote on the charter in May. Not only is this the most democratic approach, it ZRXOGH[FXVHFLW\RI¿FLDOV from having to explain themselves, something, thus far, they have not been inclined to do. — Jessica Keller is the editor of the Hermiston Herald. She can be reached at jkeller@hermistonherald.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Let voters choose municipal court judge time in my life when people my age were either off to college or already PDUULHG,ZDVQHLWKHU³¿VKQRUIRZO´ Editor, However, I made friends at the U.S. I read your insightful column and National Bank, where I went to work, wanted let you know that it also left and at the Methodist Church, where I CHARLES E. CLUPNY me wondering what the administra- enjoyed teaching Sunday school and FORMER CITY COUNCILOR OF STAN- singing in the choir. tion of Hermiston was doing. I was FIELD Being in a small town with my present when Mr. Byron Smith pre- HERMISTON-AREA RESIDENT desk located at the front counter, the sented the issue of ideas for updating new girl in town caught the attention Hermiston’s City Charter. The issue of Frank Harkenrider, a Hermiston regarding the appointment of judges native recently returned from his to the City of Hermiston struck me as Hermiston a good place to stint in the service and college. Eight strange. I have voted in every local, months later, we were married in a state and national election since earn- live for Harkenriders Editor, double wedding with my sister and ing the right to vote at the ripe young Unlike my husband, I was not KHU ¿DQFp +DUROG %UDVZHOO IURP age of 18. I am now 62. I take pride in researching the issues and candi- born in Hermiston, nor did I grow Texarkana, Arkansas. Now, 60 years dates to make the best, not necessari- up or attend school here. I moved to later, to coin a phrase, “the rest is ly the most popular, decision when it Hermiston in 1953 with my parents. history.” Frank and his dad owned I was born in Missouri and grew and operated the Union Oil Dealer- comes to elections. The good people of Hermiston deserve to continue a up in Colorado, where my father was ship. I quit the bank to raise our three tried-and-true system of electing in the newspaper business. Because girls. When they became school age, WKHLURI¿FLDOVZKHWKHULWEHWKHPD\- of World War II, the shortages and I went to work as bookkeeper for the or, city councilors or the municipal inability to get supplies made it im- Sanitary Disposal Service, where I judge. It is not a popularity contest. possible to continue his newspaper, worked for 28 years. Frank sold the , DV D YRWHU ZDQW WKH EHVWTXDOL¿HG so the Tri County Herald was closed, dealership, and I retired from SDI. and most objective person in the of- and my Dad went to work for the We both took on other part-time jobs, ¿FHRIPXQLFLSDOMXGJHFKRVHQE\DV government as an ammunition in- Frank deeply involved in city poli- many citizens that care to exercise VSHFWRU +LV ¿UVW DVVLJQPHQW ZDV LQ tics. Now, after serving on the City their right. Credit needs to be given Sidney, Nebraska, the second on the Council, with 10 years as mayor, for to the individuals wanting to update island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, more than 50 years, Frank has re- the charter. It is appreciated that the third to Rid River Arsenal, Tex- tired. We have enjoyed a comfortable some one person or group of persons DUNDQD7H[DVDQG¿QDOO\WR8PDWLOOD life and many good times and friend- would like to make it easier for the Ordnance Depot, “somewhere in the ships here. Thank you. Thank you citizenry and themselves with regard sand-blown desert area” of eastern Hermiston for just being Hermiston. BEVERLY BELLUS HARKENRIDER to choosing judges. My answer is no Oregon. Hermiston was quite a cul- HERMISTON thanks, I will continue to bear the ture shock. I was very lonely at the burden. I hope a majority of people out there will also agree. Let the vot- ers do the choosing. Let the admin- istration serve the people they were elected to serve. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. ELECTED OFFICIALS STATE District 29: Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Umatilla Co., 900 Court St. N.E., S-423, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986- 1729. 101 S.W. Third St., Pendleton, OR 97801 (541) 278-1396. E-mail: ssen.billhansell@state.or.us. District 30: Sen. Ted Ferrio- li, R-John Day; 900 Court St. N.E., S-223 Salem, OR 97301, 503-986- 1950. 750 W. Main, John Day, OR 97845, (541) 575-2321. E-mail: ferr- ioli.sen@state.or.us. District 58: Rep. Bob Jenson, R-Pendleton; 900 Court St. N.E., H-480, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986- 1458. 2126 N.W. 21st., Pendleton, OR 97801, (541) 276-2707. E-mail: rep.bobjenson@state.or.us. District 57: Rep. Greg Smith, R-Morrow, 900 Court St. N.E., H-280, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986- 1457. P.O. Box 215, Heppner, OR 97836, (541) 676-5154. E-mail: smith.g.rep@state.or.us. FEDERAL U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden Sac Annex Building, 105 Fir St., No. 201, La Grande, OR 97850; (541) 962-7691. E-mail: kath- leen_cathey@wyden.senate.gov; (Kathleen Cathey, community repre- sentative); 717 Hart Building, Wash- ington, D.C. 20510, (202) 224-5244. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley One World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon Street, Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; (503) 326-3386; Dirksen 6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ 6'%% Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224- 3753. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District) 843 E. Main St., Suite 400, Med- ford, OR 97504, (541) 776-4646, (800) 533-3303; 2352 Rayburn +RXVH2I¿FH%XLOGLQJ:DVKLQJWRQ D.C. 20515, (202) 225-6730