Praise for news
Kudos to the Columbia Gorge News team for their excellent reporting and coverage of the regional news.
There is a comfort for me to sit by the fire in my easy chair and read the newspaper instead of dialing up and reading a computer.
Your coverage of the news has been refreshing these last few years. Keep it up!
Jim Nielsen
Trout Lake
Trying to stay calm, part 1
I was particularly upset and worried this morning to hear of the latest bully antics by the Trump administration and the control billionaire Elon Musk’s team took of the U.S. Treasury’s payment system, thus essentially gaining access to the checkbook with which the United States handles about $6 trillion annually and to all the financial information of Americans and American businesses with it. (Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letter From An American,” Feb. 2).
One tactic I’m using to stay sane in this unprecedented and crazy time of true governmental chaos, fear and spite is looking for heroes — local heroes to be exact. I stumbled across two this afternoon (Monday, Feb. 3). The first involved the huge throng of folks who lined Tucker Road waving the Mexican flag, playing beautiful music, and smiling and waving at passersby. The numerous drivers honking in support of their message was as beautiful as it was loud.
After driving by the folks on the street, and honking with wild abandon, I made a quick stop at Rosauers market. Items in hand and standing at checkout I noticed the checker patient and taking her time, smiling at the petite woman directly in front of me, her gray hair in a neat bun and bundled up against the cold day. When I realized the woman was hearing impaired and they were speaking in sign language, my heart swelled with emotion. It was obvious the customer was exceedingly happy and thanked her for the kind interaction. And when tears threatened to flow the checker said go ahead and cry those tears of emotion, so I did.
Experiencing collective peoples’ actions — people standing up and loudly voicing support of immigrants and their contributions, and the kindness of one person to another — made me realize today I gratefully hit the hero jackpot.
Susan Baldwin
Hood River
Fascism in America
Well, here we are again. Voters in this country reelected Trump, who proceeded to staff his cabinet with wealthy oligarchs, making it the wealthiest cabinet in the history of this country. In a few weeks, literally everything in this country has gotten worse for anyone who isn’t ultra rich. Elon Musk, wealthiest man in the world, forced the resignation of a head bureaucrat at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which was already suffering staffing shortages at air traffic control, leading to a tragically avoidable midair collision which Trump then went on TV to blame on diversity. How does he know that diversity was the blame for this? Because he has “common sense.”
The people who accept subpar wages, and no institutional protection, to pick your fruit, and are statistically a boon to the economy because of those low wages, are now being deported en masse by ICE, who also can now go into places of worship and schools to arrest said individuals.
Let’s not even get into attacks on trans people and bodily autonomy. Have the price of eggs gone down? Has the price of fuel gone down?
Meanwhile, you have Elon Musk throwing Nazi salutes on TV and showing up at Nazi rallies in Germany.
The truly crazy part to me is that I know many Republicans who voted for Trump who also have special needs kids. Did you think for one solitary second about what his policies would do to them when you went to the polls to cast your vote?
Fascism has come to America, and it’s wrapped in an American flag and holding a Bible.
Benjamin Sheppard
Hood River
Editor’s Note: Benjamin Sheppard is not affiliated with Sheppard’s Orchard and Vineyard Equipment.
Business praise
We went to Bistro Flix, aka Andrews, last night. Yes, they have reopened! It was wonderful being back there. Good pizza, very nice staff. Please support this Hood River icon. Perfect venue for our cold, gray, winter nights!
Susan Lannak
Hood River
Wrong focus
In a recent column, conservative writer David Brooks asserted how the senators of both parties are failing Americans during the cabinet nomination hearings of Trump’s incredibly incompetent nominees. During the Department of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s hearing, the questions had little to do with the actual defense of our country. Republicans focused on the” wokeness” of the DOD, and Democrats focused on Hegseth’s multiple personal demons.
There were no questions regarding the actual realities of our world: NATO leadership has assessed that the West is not prepared for the rapidly developing potential for a world war. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are creating an alliance, suggesting that the world will witness multiple significant invasions and wars at a time. The Chinese are developing advanced technology that suggests it is preparing for both invasion strategies and “the groundwork for a first strike nuclear capability against the U.S.,” and the “weak U.S. industrial base has hollowed out American resilience” (We Deserve Pete Hegseth, New York Times, Jan. 15). In a 2023 assessment, the RAND Corporation of the U.S. military’s power and influence concluded that our defense strategies and abilities can no longer meet the demands and challenges of the defense of our country.
Hegseth didn’t bother to learn the most basic information about the DOD, and the senators failed to expose this fact. Trump’s incompetence will not make America great again; all of his nominees and his lack of interest in America as a country will make us a weak and vulnerable country, politically isolated from other democratic countries.
Sue Kusch
White Salmon
DOGE concerns
On Friday, Jan. 31, Elon Musk and a group of other private citizens, operating under the name “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), gained access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment system (“Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System,” New York Times, Feb. 1).
Musk’s team now has access to a system that processes trillions of dollars annually, impacting millions of Americans. This access allows them to monitor and potentially influence the flow of government funds, including Social Security benefits, Medicare payments, tax refunds, and payments to government contractors.
The DOGE team is not a recognized government entity, and its members have not been subject to Congressional oversight or approval. We should all be extremely concerned about this development for a number of reasons, including:
1. Lack of Congressional authorization: Granting such broad access to a group of private citizens without Congressional approval sets a dangerous precedent and potentially violates the separation of powers by bypassing Congressional oversight and approval.
2. Data privacy: The treasury’s payment systems contain highly sensitive personal information. We should all be deeply concerned about the potential for misuse or unauthorized access to this data by a non-governmental entity.
3. Accountability: Without formal oversight, it is unclear who is responsible for the actions of the DOGE team and how they will be held accountable for their decisions.
4. Precedent: This action sets a precedent that could be exploited in the future, allowing private individuals and corporations to exert undue influence over government operations.
I urge other readers to write their U.S. House and Senate Representatives to take immediate action to address these concerns. Protecting the integrity of our government and the privacy of its citizens is paramount. We should expect our representatives to take this matter seriously and act swiftly to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of taxpayer dollars.
Kate Bennett
White Salmon
Land trade story ‘dismissive’
The Jan. 29 Columbia Gorge News article “Exchange” regarding Cooper Spur was detailed and informative, and included an excellent timeline graphic. I read through the article with interest and to the end — where, disappointingly, I found this: “Environmentalists in the pursuit of quaintness on one side. Economic and recreational interests on the other.”
This seems dismissive of what appear to be legitimate concerns about the impact of a development the size of the one proposed at Cooper Spur.
Patricia Arnold
Trout Lake
‘Deafening silence’
The Spokesman-Review’s Feb. 2 lead article described the deafening silence from congressional Republicans, true of Washington state’s only two Congressional Republicans, Michael Baumgartner and Dan Newhouse, in their response to Donald Trump’s unprecedented destructive and dangerous executive orders during his first two weeks in office.
This silence was especially evident in Baumgartner’s long Jan. 31 email message, his first to constituents since Trump’s orders commenced.
So is Baumgartner closely following in the steps of his retired predecessor, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who he calls his mentor? She exemplified the conspicuous cowardice of congressional Republicans in not standing up to Trump during the last half of her legislatively inconsequential 20 years in Congress.
No longer needing votes, might McMorris Rodgers now redeem herself with long-awaited courage by standing up to Trump to help save our democracy? I doubt it but hope I’m wrong.
As Republican conservatives, Baumgartner, Newhouse and McMorris Rodgers all believe in limited government.
Barry Goldwater, Everett Dirksen, Howard Baker, Mitt Romney, and Liz Cheney personified talented Republican conservative lawmakers during their stints in Congress. All believed in limited government.
But Donald Trump is no Republican conservative — a dizzying flurry of disastrous mandates in pursuit of dictatorship is not limited government.
Norm Luther
Spokane
Flood the zone
All we have to do is flood the zone! Steve Bannon said this in 2019 to support his opinion that the media is the opposition party to the president’s agenda and the way to deal with that is to hit the media with a barrage of things everyday and they will not be able to cover them. He called it “muzzle velocity.“ Since people largely learn about what the government is doing through coverage in the media, the media cannot keep up. When you think about these first couple weeks of the new administration, you get to see the idea of “muzzle velocity” in action. Flooding the media IS the point! To overwhelm the system IS the point! Your congress people need to hear from you! Call daily to urge them to do their job in calling out the largely illegal attempts by this administration to garner power in the executive branch and remind them that you are counting on them to provide the opposition that a healthy democracy requires. And, by the way, Trump’s attacks on Mark Milley is what a witch hunt really looks like! No mention of any law that Milley violated but Trump’s minions are going after him anyway (Pentagon strips Gen Mark Milley of US security detail and clearance, BBC News, Feb. 1).
Kathy Gay
The Dalles
‘R.U.D.E. 2025’
It’s gonna be a RUDE awakening, even for the unwoke.
Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (R.U.D.E.) is what pseudo-President Elon Musk calls it when one of his rockets or his cars explodes unexpectedly (though, if you expect one of them to explode, it’s just a bomb, right?). So now he is applying those same principles as he blasts through our government structures. Just like with his cars, he has a cavalier (some would say callous, opportunistic, or Wild West ) attitude toward the risk to others. He has told his devotees that the self-driving capabilities of his cars were fully functional, allowing THEM to do the beta testing, killing hundreds and saving him both money and years of testing (“Why Tesla’s ‘Beta Testing’ Puts the Public at Risk,” New York Times, July 30, 2021).
I would be cautious about signing up early for his astronaut program, given that attitude, just as I am concerned (OK, fearful) that his illegal approach to disassembling our government will lead to a much more massive loss of life here and around the world. The Artificial Intelligence that he plans to employ to sort out monetary efficiency has no real concern for human life or the quality of that life, much like “The Market,” meaning the global business model, which is only concerned with maximizing profit and disregards individual wants, needs, and suffering. Musk also might not care about the consequences of his actions on all of us because he plans to escape to Mars on one of his rockets, since he clearly thinks this world is going to hell (with his help!). The movie “Elysium” might give you an idea of what his world view is like. The rich are in a cozy rotating “moon” above the polluted earth, with the desperate masses scrambling to produce goods for them. Not a pretty picture for the rest of us!
Mark Browne
White Salmon
America First?
The latest bizarre announcement from President Trump has the U.S.A. taking over Gaza and removing its citizens to “build the Riviera of the Middle East.” He’s also threatened Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal. This is “America First?”
No doubt other crazy orders will continue to spew forth. Americans are being steamrolled by a diabolical deluge of unconstitutional and illegal Presidential Orders that crush our civil rights, strip our privacy and financial protections, damage long standing trade partnerships, starve and sicken children worldwide, harm American farmers and small businesses, shut down information about looming health risks, and eliminate fraud fighting agencies (“What is an Executive Order and How Does it Work,” ACLU, Feb. 4).
Other orders gut vital intelligence and security forces by firing experienced law enforcement agents and employees. Now it’s OK to defund the nation’s police? We are so vulnerable right now.
Employees of agencies are ordered to report (rat out) co-workers if any hint of something resembling DEI is learned about. These tactics have been used in China, East Germany, Cambodia, Russia, and even here during the McCarthy era. It does not end well.
Elon Musk is a very dangerous person. Musk holds billions of dollars in contracts with the US Government. He hasn’t divested from a single one of his companies. It’s one huge conflict of interest. Republicans yawn.
He and his little band of amateur tech bros now have complete access to the computers of the U.S. Treasury, and are reportedly using AI coding agents — a major security risk (“A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System,” Wired, Feb. 4). Computer code generated by AI could introduce security vulnerabilities (aka viruses or Trojan Horses) that might expose the banking data of Americans or national security information — or crash the system. Musk and his crew of youthful geeks haven’t taken an oath to serve or protect our Constitution. They are not a “Department” of anything. They have no legal authority. They potentially control other accounts and financial systems the USA depends on to keep functioning. This includes Social Security and Medicare payments. They’re a private force of unelected, unvetted, unsupervised, unqualified and unaccountable people. All with Donald Trump’s full knowledge and blessing.
Unbelievable.
Johanna Roe
Underwood
Authoritarian takeover
Our Republic was formed with three branches. Legislative elected members of Congress, which make laws and authorize funding, the Executive branch which is supposed to enforce laws and the Supreme Court which interprets the rule of law. This separation of powers helps prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.
Congress is supported by Government Accountability Office, Government Printing Office, Library of Congress, Congressional Budget Office and U.S. Capitol Police.
The Executive Branch relies on Council of Economic Advisers, Council on Environmental Quality, National Security Council, Office of Administration, Office of Management and Budget, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Office of Policy Development, Office of Science and Technology Policy and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and is sworn to uphold the Constitution.
I’m not a legal scholar, but it seems that various Executive Orders have exceeded the president’s authority. He cannot unilaterally decide to remake the government. We have pathways for change through the Congress where our elected officials make decisions. I implore members of Congress to right the ship and not give up your power! The Supreme Court has already allowed the president to act above the law.
I am concerned that creating a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has not been approved by Congress who would ordinarily have granted funds for this. Congress already had the Government Accountability Office to make sure funds were used for approved purposes. Furthermore, putting an unelected private person in charge of deciding what programs are to be funded, takes away the power of the purse from Congress, not to mention the compromise of our personal information including financial details and the power to control the U.S. checkbook. Stopping payments that Congress has approved is ignoring our obligations and laws. This amounts to a coup and an authoritarian takeover of the Republic.
If we are no longer being represented, I might suggest we should no longer be taxed. It looks like a monarchy/oligarchy to me.
Kalama Reuter
White Salmon
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