OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
Looking for common ground in a divided nation
T
his Friday, Sept. 11, marks the
19th anniversary of the terror
attacks that toppled the World
Trade Center and left one side of the
Pentagon in smoking ruins.
While Sept. 11, 2001, is a dark
moment in our nation’s
history that left scars on
our collective psyche, it
is easy to romanticize the
sense of unity and patri-
otism that followed that
Jade
day. Muslims in Amer-
McDowell
ica feared for their lives NEWS EDITOR
as they faced hostility
and paranoia, but for most of us, the
memories that stick out are American
fl ags fl ying from every front porch as
we sang “I’m proud to be an Ameri-
can” at candlelight vigils.
Once again, in 2020, our country is
facing a crisis of historic proportions,
but this time, there is no sweeping
sense of national unity. Social media
is a never-ending parade of people
bickering in the comments and post-
ing infl ammatory rants about why
“the other side” are all evil and stu-
pid. People have mostly abandoned
local newspapers in favor of smirk-
ing, seething cable news commen-
tators. A couple of weeks ago saw
people resort to literally, not just met-
aphorically, screaming at each other
from opposite sides of the street
during protests in Hermiston.
We can’t even agree about the
postal service, for goodness’ sake.
It feels like if tomorrow President
Donald Trump said he doesn’t think
pineapple goes on pizza, some of my
Staff photo by Jade McDowell, File
Members of the Hermiston High School football team set up the Avenue of Flags at the
Hermiston Cemetery in May 2017.
Republican friends would be posting
commentary about why pineapple
is a communist plot to destroy our
country and must be banned imme-
diately from all pizzas, while some
of my Democratic friends would be
posting about why pineapple is an
essential component of our democ-
racy that must be mandated on every
pizza.
This is not how democracy was
meant to function. Human beings
don’t naturally fall into just two dis-
tinct categories of thought, where
everyone either believes everything
in Column A or everything in Col-
umn B.
George Washington, in his fare-
well address to the nation, spent
much of his speech warning that no
alliance to a political party or geo-
graphical region can be an adequate
substitute for the nation working
together for the good of the whole
body.
“One of the expedients of party to
acquire infl uence within particular
districts is to misrepresent the opin-
ions and aims of other districts,” he
said. “You cannot shield yourselves
too much against the jealousies and
heartburnings which spring from
these misrepresentations; they tend to
render alien to each other those who
ought to be bound together by frater-
nal affection.”
COLUMN
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
Taking the time to share my mind
O
ne thing the novel coronavi-
rus has given me is time —
an abundance of time.
Rather than sleeping the pandemic
away, I have engaged in activities that
I normally wouldn’t take the time to
do. Some are frivolous
and fun, while others I
had hoped would make
my voice heard.
I haven’t engaged in
area peaceful protests
— mostly because I’m
concerned about social
distancing. Also, I have Tammy
some philosophical dif- Malgesini
ferences regarding each cause. How-
ever, I have some serious frustrations
regarding fallout from the pandemic
and actions taken by our elected offi -
cials and leaders, as well as fellow
citizens.
I learned long before the ‘rona
hit that things are rarely solved by
expressing your opinion on social
media. Too often, those dialogues
turn into arguments and quickly result
in condescending attacks on people’s
character.
In April, I decided to email the leg-
islative co-chairs of the Joint Special
Committee On Coronavirus Response
— Sen. Arnie Roblan and Rep. Greg
Barreto.
A day later, I received a two-sen-
tence response from Roblan’s leg-
islative policy advisor. Although
not much, in retrospect, it at least
addressed me by name and was more
than the generic reply I received one
minute after clicking send to Barreto.
“Thank you for your email. Due to
the COVID-19 outbreak the Capitol
Building is closed to the public until
further notice and staff is instructed
to work from home. Your email has
been received,” said the response
generated from Barreto’s legislative
assistant.
I’m sorry, but lots of people have
been working from home — and they
are doing a better job than merely set-
ting up their email system to send a
cursory response.
But even that canned reply is more
than I received after reaching out
to the governor’s offi ce on Aug. 20.
After clicking “submit” on the web-
site, this message popped up:
“Thank you for contacting Gover-
nor Brown’s offi ce. Due to the heavy
volume of e-mails sent to Governor
Brown, we may be unable to respond
personally to each one, but please
know that your input means a great
deal to her.”
Somewhere along the line, I think
elected offi cials forget who they work
for. Everyday citizens are encouraged
to contact their representatives with
concerns. The message I received
loud and clear is that electric corre-
spondence is easily dismissed. If this
is the response everyone is getting,
then no wonder people are protesting.
And I have a bit of advice for
those participating in peaceful pro-
tests — you have to get closer to
those who you want to hear your mes-
sage. Holding a sign along Highway
395 in Hermiston has little impact
on policy or systems. Don’t get me
wrong, I don’t think it’s a waste of
time, as it serves to rally additional
support. However, to really effect
change, your target audience has to
hear you.
As for elected offi cials and lead-
ers who don’t have time to respond to
concerns of your constituents, maybe
you need to hire more staff. By the
way, I have experience and skills in
both verbal and written communica-
tion — and have proven results.
Case in point, after writing “Pan-
demic creates Pepsi panic” about my
problems fi nding Pepsi Zero Sugar,
I’ve had an outpouring of support.
In addition to several friends fi nd-
ing, purchasing and delivering soda to
my house, Dan Mooney, sales man-
ager for Pendleton Bottling Company,
reached out.
After my column made the rounds
at the local distributor and its regional
offi ce, they decided to provide me
with a couple of cases of Pepsi Zero.
Dan came to my house the following
day with the motherlode, along with a
bunch of Pepsi swag.
---
Tammy Malgesini, the former
Hermiston Herald community editor,
enjoys spending time with her hus-
band and two German shepherds, as
well as entertaining herself with ran-
dom musings and drinking Pepsi Zero.
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 35
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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He warned that political parties
would become engines for “cun-
ning, ambitious, and unprincipled
men” to secure power for themselves
before destroying the very engines
that built them up. He warned that
the focus would shift from improv-
ing the nation to “the alternate dom-
ination of one faction over another”
and that such animosity between par-
ties “agitates the community with ill-
founded jealousies and false alarms,
kindles the animosity of one part
against another, foments occasionally
riot and insurrection ... (and) opens
the door to foreign infl uence and
corruption.”
A wise man, indeed.
What we must ask ourselves, then,
is whether we are personally con-
tributing to this sort of divisive-
ness that has weakened our nation.
Are we focused on what we can do
together to make our community, our
state, and our nation a better place?
Or are we more focused on landing
insults? Do we care more about what
is right or about what will make our
side look good? Are we looking for
common ground or do we refuse to
believe anyone on “the other side” is
capable of having a good idea?
Are we providing a calm, fac-
tual voice of reason to those who are
searching for answers, or letting the
conversation be controlled by the
most extreme points of view?
Reasonable people are capable of
fi nding common ground with other
reasonable people. Let’s start there.
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DONALD TRUMP
The White House
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———
STATE REP. GREG
SMITH,
DISTRICT 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Email: Rep.GregSmith@
state.or.us
———
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STATE SEN. BILL
HANSELL,
DISTRICT 29
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•
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