The Liftoff: Twitter wars, finger pointing, and private military contractors in Oregon
PLUS: Schrader on horseback, Drazan on Fox News, a bad week for COVID, an update on Gov candidates, what's happening in Klamath, and transitions of notable Oregonians.
Welcome back to the Liftoff! I’ll cut to the chase: This has been a tough week for Oregon. State and local government continues to struggle amidst overlapping crises. This week, Oregon made national headlines for perceived failures. Our leaders exchanged sharp blows on social media, in press releases, and even on national cable news. Meanwhile: the Delta variant surges, wildfires rage, our water is being depleted, and gun violence continues.
There are also beautiful stories of success and community happening across Oregon—some of which have been highlighted on The Oregon Way and in the most recent episode (Apple and Spotify) of The Oregon Bridge with Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal.
One thing is clear: now is a perfect time to build community and revitalize Oregon’s civic culture. That’s what we’re trying to do—and we would love your ideas, help, and support. Invest just $10 per month to help us build this community.
1. Oregon in crisis; political leaders point fingers
With the Delta variant raging, things are looking bleak in Oregon—both in terms of public health and the health of our politics. A rundown:
First, from OPB: “Scary projections force Gov. Kate Brown to take action” (mask mandate). Next came the vaccine mandate for state workers. Then, it got more dire: the Gov. mobilized up to 1,500 troops from the National Guard to support hospitals who have no more capacity (a move that made The New York Times). Plus, this Axios headline reminds us it could get worse: “Pediatric COVID hospitalizations soar”
The Gov. is clearly pissed that it got to this point (again). She blames almost uniform inaction at the county level across the state. To quote Dick Hughes: “Gov. Kate Brown threw Oregon’s county commissioners under the COVID-19 bus”. The O, in a Sunday editorial, agreed with Brown and defended her actions: “Unfortunately, many [local] leaders seem more focused on the dissension that such requirements cause rather than the consequences of allowing COVID-19 to run unchecked in their communities.”
Oregon Republicans slammed the Gov.
Sen. GOP Leader Fred Girod: “The Governor has a serious credibility problem. She obviously has no clear standards for any decision she makes.”
House GOP leader Christine Drazan: “Running over free will is not leadership. I trust Oregonians even if the Governor doesn’t. She shouldn't be trying to control every aspect of their lives with mask and vaccine mandates.”
And, an even harsher message from Rep. E. Werner Reschke: “Now is not the time to blindly yield to those in authority and cower in fear. Now is the time to stand against the theft of your civil and religious liberties.”
Context from the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center July research: “People who identify as socially conservative are more than four times as likely to say they have not received a COVID-19 vaccine compared to those who identify as socially liberal (56% and 13%, respectively)”
To cap things off, from The Statesman Journal: “An estimated 1,000 people gather at Oregon Capitol to oppose mask, vaccine mandates”
Make no mistake: at the political level, this crisis continues to drive us further apart, rather than pulling us together. No leader in Oregon has been able to transcend the social, cultural, and political trends driving this division nationally.
2. Meanwhile, Rep. Lisa Reynolds ignites furor over “forced vaccines” typo tweet
Over a thousand twitter users were in an uproar over Rep. Lisa Reynolds’ tweets. In response to a user writing “we will not comply [with a vaccine mandate]”, she wrote a tweet that included the sentence “We will force vaccines.” The next day, she tweeted a correction, saying the first tweet included a typo (“will” instead of “will not”). Following the tweets, she was subject to intense political disagreement and—more frequently—vile personal attacks on the platform.
After that, her @RepLisaReynolds account, which includes a blue check mark and a link to her official government webpage, became private.
According to an ACLU website, “If social media is used by a public official to conduct government business, blocking members of the public from seeing the site or from posting comments may violate the First Amendment.”
By Sunday night, her account was public again—and the attacks continued, even on unrelated tweets.
3. More Twitter: The Oregonian vs. Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon
Next, a story that is gaining traction nationally. The Wall Street Journal published an editorial called “Dumbing Oregon Down” about the issue in the tweet above.
Oregonian reporter Hillary Borrud’s article and tweet inspired a backlash from House Education Committee Chair Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon (D-Woodburn). She responded, “It's disappointing The Oregonian keeps pushing this false narrative. Students still have to prove they can write & do math to graduate. This bill addresses equity in how we measure student success & included a diverse coalition of ed advocates.” She later called one statement in the article “completely false” and concluded by saying Borrud’s article “simply shows how we need more diverse voices reporting.”
House GOP Leader Christine Drazan went on Fox News to declare: “Democrats in Oregon have abandoned our kids.”
On the policy issue in question (Oregon’s “essential skills” requirement to graduate), there is a lot of context and nuance missing from the discussion. The requirement is supposed to ensure that students have a basic proficiency level in some of the nine “essential skills”. Many educators say that, in practice, the requirement didn’t actually accomplish its goal. Moreover, several states (red and blue) have removed “exit exams” for a variety of reasons. This is one of the many reasons why comparing high school graduation rates across states (e.g. “Oregon ranks 47th in graduation rate”) is an apples and oranges situation. It’s harder to graduate in Oregon than in many other states.
4. What have the gubernatorial hopefuls been up to this week?
Some highlights from Dems:
Nick Kristof’s Oregon residency status got the Nigel Jacquiss treatment in WW. Meanwhile, his Twitter account (@NickKristof) continues to be the most active and interesting of potential gubernatorial hopefuls
Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle met with U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (and Congressman Peter DeFazio)
Speaker Tina Kotek went to a Bakers Union strike against Nabisco with Rep. Dacia Grayber
Treasurer Tobias Read published a climate change op-ed in The Portland Tribune
Some highlights from Republicans:
Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam campaigned in Coos Bay with some fiery rhetoric (“This mask thing has me really pissed off…It’s unbelievable to me we stand here a year and a half after COVID started and we’re looking at more lockdowns. No more.”)
Dr. Bud Pierce campaigned in Douglas County, blaming “failed forest management” for wildfires
Baker City Mayor Kerry McQuisten touts the endorsement of Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen, who wrote a letter to Gov. Kate Brown saying “Your mindless dictates will no longer be tolerated.”
5. An absolutely brutal summer for Klamath Basin; a trio of crises swirling
This summer has been rough for Oregon—but it’s been exceptionally painful for the people of the Klamath Basin.
RUNNING OUT OF WATER: Great local reporting from Alexandra Feller of The Herald News on the painful impact of the drought—and the resilience and ingenuity it has inspired. With 185 wells registered as dry, bulk milk delivery trucks are filling up people’s water tanks with water—set to continue through October.
COVID SURGES: A headline that speaks for itself from KATU: “Klamath Falls doctor compares COVID-19 hospitalization surge to ‘a tsunami’”
TRIBES DEVASTATED BY BOOTLEG FIRE: A devastating portrait of the aftermath of the Bootleg fire on the Klamath Tribes. An excerpt: “‘Our people still use these areas to hunt, gather, and pray with each other,’ said Chairman Gentry. ‘How will the trees, animals, water tributaries, and ecosystem fully recover?’”
NO FIRE RELIEF IN SIGHT: More from The Herald and News: “New fires grow in Lake, Klamath counties”
6. Schrader one of 9 moderate House Dems that could tank Biden’s infrastructure strategy
Congressman Kurt Schrader was one of nine centrist Democrats to sign a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying, “We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan [infrastructure bill] passes the House and is signed into law.”
Why does this matter? It’s the opposite of Pelosi’s plan: to first pass the massive, party-line budget reconciliation bill, then the bipartisan infrastructure bill. After receiving the letter, Pelosi doubled down on her plan. If she reversed the order, she could lose the votes of the Progressive Caucus.
This puts Schrader on essentially the opposite side of his colleague, co-founder of the Progressive Caucus Congressman Peter DeFazio, who previously rooted for the Senate talks to fall through.
Also, and we acknowledge this is apropos of nothing (but how could we leave this out?), Schrader is apparently riding on horseback across America this month.
7. Private military contractors, armed with AR-15s, deployed in Portland
First, some mind-blowing, must-read reporting from WW’s Tess Riski and Aaron Mesh. A private military contractor has been hired to patrol the street in Old Town with semi-automatic rifles. It’s a severe indictment of government failure. Here’s a quote from Jessie Burke, president of the Old Town Chinatown Community Association: “We’re having to do what the government used to do. We’re kind of running an underground government to keep things safe.” Fox News picked up the story.
In other news: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is almost certainly not going anywhere. The Total Recall PDX campaign is woefully behind its signature collection goal.
Some good news from campaign finance reform advocates in Portland: public financing actually shifted campaigns’ behaviors to focus more on small donors.
8. A week of transitions for notable Oregonians
Alyssa Chatterjee, former Deputy Education Policy Advisor to Governor Kate Brown, has been selected as the permanent leader of the Early Learning Division (ELD) after serving as acting head since May (the ELD is currently part of the Oregon Department of Education; it will soon be an independent state agency).
Legendary Oregon advocate for seniors Jane Netboy has died. The Lund Report features comments from former Gov. John Kitzhaber and Sen. Betsy Johnson honoring her legacy.
Following the untimely passing of Rep. Gary Leif, Roseburg has a new state representative: Christine Goodwin will fill the seat. Her past public service stints include South Umpqua School Board Member, Interim Douglas County Commissioner, and Douglas County Planning Commissioner. She edged out the political director for Alek Skarlatos and a local community college and development corporation board member. The mayor of Roseburg and the Douglas County GOP Chair did not make it past the PCP stage (fascinating).
Oregon Supreme Court Justice Lynn Nakamoto will retire at the end of the year. She is the first Asian-American to serve on Oregon’s highest court. She is also one of the few members of the LGBTQ+ community to serve on a State Supreme Court. Governor Brown will appoint her replacement.
9. Everyone knows “Greater Idaho” isn’t going to be a thing
Despite ballot measures and aggressive social media activism, it seems the overwhelming majority of Oregonians agree: “Greater Idaho” ain’t happenin’.
We are big fans of OVBC. We recommend you check out some of their July research, including on Extreme Weather/Droughts.
Thank you for reading.
Tips? Feedback? Ideas? Corrections? We want to hear from you! Help us keep Oregonians up to date. Email benjaminwbowman@gmail.com.
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