Constitutional crisis
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other,” John Adams said.
Donald Trump has allowed the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to wreak havoc. Their violent, cruel behavior is not legal in many cases, definitely not moral, and does not keep faith with the religious teachings I am familiar with, nor with the Constitution. They choose to escalate and inflame rather than to calm and moderate. Now the military has been called to help them, breaking the law again, the Posse Comitatis Act. Does anyone care?
We see videos of sobbing children being ripped away from their mothers without explanation by masked, unidentified wannabe warfighters, and families broken up at graduation ceremonies. We see agents trampling crops in California, or prowling Home Depot parking lots, to capture workers. We see ICE smashing car windows to remove suspected misdemeanor immigration violators, glass shattering right in their faces. We see DHS completely ignoring the rule of law, and the constitutional requirement for due process, by deporting people without any type of hearing. We read about foreign tourists being detained in ICE facilities, sometimes for days, without reason, from countries like Germany and Canada, among others. We just saw a U.S. Senator, conducting constitutionally mandated oversight in his home state, being forcibly thrown to the ground and handcuffed, only to be released an hour later. For what? What is the crime? We have a president calling for the arrest of a sitting governor? Why? He couldn’t say what law had been broken. It does not seem to matter.
These people are not following the law or the Constitution, even as they boast of their law and order cred. They are manufacturing emergencies, uprisings, and attacks with a barrage of lies and propaganda in order to clamp down on all Americans’ freedoms eventually. They are the new brownshirts.
Jennifer Ouzounian
Hood River
Autocracy
In areas devastated by prolonged war, reports of crime, cruelty and human tragedy gradually and sadly become routine (consider Gaza and Ukraine, for example). Our own country isn’t at war — not yet, anyway — but many Americans are gradually becoming inured by reports of Donald Trump’s misdeeds that should rattle us to the core.
With each passing day, there’s growing evidence that Trump has nothing but contempt for our country’s democratic ideals. His contempt is manifested by deportations and imprisonments of immigrants without due legal process, deployment of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to threaten Americans with the use of military force, dismantling of federal agencies that provide important public services, disregard of the U.S. Constitution, attempts to suppress free speech and freedom of the press, rejection of scientific evidence in favor of political propaganda, and corruption in which the Trump family enriches itself financially from the presidency. In doing these things, Trump and his toadies are simply following a playbook that has been used repeatedly by autocrats worldwide.
Trump regards himself as a king, and in a July 1, 2024, decision, the Republican-dominated U.S. Supreme Court fostered this view by decreeing that all official acts of the president are above the law. Presumably, this means that Trump can order the murder of any of his critics and not be held legally accountable. Thus far, Trump has hastened the deaths of people he dislikes only indirectly through the policies he imposes, but that pattern could change.
Some Americans are happy with this turn of events and are pleased to live under autocratic rule. Those of us who favor democracy, however, need to push back with as much effort as we can muster.
If inspiration for defending democracy is needed, read the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the founding documents of our country. Also read Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address. These brief speeches demonstrated profound wisdom, humility and empathy — qualities totally absent in Trump.
Richard Iverson
Hood River
Trump crypto
If you want to know someone’s true allegiances, the saying goes, “follow the money.” That phrase couldn’t be more apt in describing Donald Trump’s behavior. Trump raked in tens of millions of dollars for a gala dinner he held last month for the top investors of his cryptocurrency. Around the same time, he shut down a Department of Justice team that investigates cryptocurrency fraud and pardoned crypto executives who’d pled guilty to crimes. Forbes magazine estimated that Trump has profited by nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency during the past nine months.
The Trump organization has reaped billions of dollars in deals with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, including a Qatari golf course and beach villas venture expected to yield millions in fees. Vietnam has cleared the way for a $1.5 billion Trump golf course.
Meanwhile, if his proposed budget gets enacted, the top 10% of earners will receive an extra $12,044, a 2.3% annual increase to their current income. The bottom 10% would lose governmental benefits worth an average of $1,559 (Congressional Budget Office). The rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer. In addition, he’s slashing funds for medical research, education, housing, etc. in order to free up cash to give to the rich folks.
If you funnel big bucks his way, Trump takes care of you quite well. If you don’t, well, tough luck, eh?
Rick George
White Salmon
Trains in the Gorge
I can’t believe an editorial letter like this hasn’t been written before. Trains are burning down our Gorge. They have been ever since I moved here in 1983. I remember a fire that started from a train’s brake when I was windsurfing at Doug’s Beach 40 years ago. We all tried to put it out with blankets and towels. It then burned all the way up the Goldendale. The sheriff told us we didn’t see the train start it. Since then, I have seen trains cause nine fires. There are many, too many, more I missed. I’m thankful someone proved the Underwood Fire, and these current fires are train caused.
The problem is that people don’t know how easy it is for railroads to stop the destruction. For example, they could remove dry vegetation, have rapid-response water tenders, monitor the tracks for overheated brakes, maintain spark arrestors, conduct regular inspections, utilize automatic extinguishing systems, increase patrols at dangerous spots (like Rowena! I’ve seen four fires started there), use dynamic braking systems instead of friction, utilize cameras, maintain speed limits during drought, and so much more. It’s caused by overheated brakes. We can put a rover on Mars, but not stop trains from destroying our homes??
We as a community should no longer think that train fires are a fact of life. They’re not. We’re facing a powerful railroad lobby, but let’s get together and stop the burning. Our voices matter.
Louise Johnston
Underwood
EDITOR’s NOTE: The Oregon Department of Forestry announced the Rowena Fire was human-caused, but the source is still under investigation.
Thank you, Safeway
Safeway in Hood River provides an incredible service with their online order and pick-up service. The store employees who shop and deliver the groceries are absolutely wonderful. My groceries always are packed with care: Beautiful produce is chosen, eggs marked carefully, similar items packaged together, and it’s ready for pick-up on time! Whether the customer is a busy family, someone that’s sick, or someone that simply appreciates the service, thank you, Safeway for providing such a service to this community.
This morning as I was picking up an order, I had someone approach me and ask me if I felt bad for ordering my groceries. I firmly told her, “No. I greatly appreciate the service.” My encounter with the woman went on for a couple minutes as she continued to ask me pointed questions about my choice in grocery shopping.
I want to stress, that just like with any service — take-out/dining-out, coffee, drive through pharmacies and banks (and so many more!) — businesses provide these services because customers appreciate them and use them. Whatever reason a person chooses to use “convenience” services offered by a business is no one else’s business.
Again, thank you Safeway for providing the online ordering service. I appreciate the service and so many of my friends, all different ages (and needs), appreciate your service too!
Katie Haynie
Hood River
Editor’s Note: Rosauers also offers online ordering service and curbside pickup.
Working together
A group of us gathered in the gym of our small, rural K-12 school to learn about suicide prevention. Suicide isn’t an us-or-them issue, it’s an everyone issue that can best be addressed by working together. Kind of like our country and how the issues we collectively face are best addressed by working together.
The evening started with a shared meal around cafeteria tables. We were a diverse bunch, from ranchers to postal workers, grandparents to young parents, cowboys to construction workers, teachers to students. In a time of political upheaval, we came together motivated by a common concern, and a readiness to protect the well-being of another person
Another group of us gathered together for a Fire Adapted Community demonstration, provided by Mt. Adams Resource Stewards. Every place has its own homegrown hazard. Ours is wildfire. It’s not an us-or-them hazard, it’s an everyone hazard that can best be addressed by working together. Kind of like our country and how the threats we collectively face are best addressed by working together.
It started with good coffee and homemade cookies. We were a diverse bunch, from youngsters to elders, working folk to retired ones, loggers to therapists, longtime residents to newbies. In a time of political upheaval, we came together motivated by a common concern, and a readiness to protect the common ground we all call home.
In both instances, by the time we were done, strangers had became neighbors, and everyone felt better equipped to handle a situation we hoped never to face. We’d come together around a common threat, and left with a collective desire to work together for our common good.
The issues facing our country are real, and not us-or-them issues, but everyone’s. It is all so complex and messy that it’s hard to know where to start. Maybe, like most things, we start close in. Maybe the place to start is with shared meals around school cafeteria tables. Maybe the place to start is with good coffee and homemade cookies.
Will these solve the problems? No. But they just might get us moving in the right direction.
Molly Davis
Glenwood
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