From The Heart, The Mouth Speaketh

Commentaries of a two-bit local politician and sometimes journalistic hack

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Location: Prineville, Oregon, United States

Scott Cooper lives in a small town in Oregon. While mostly a history buff, he can be convinced to read literature, fiction and just about anything else.

Monday, December 01, 2003

Let’s Bring Back the Whigs

By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
published in the Powell Butte View, December 2003
http://www.centraloregonian.com

One party understood the value of moderation.

Although most of us know nothing about them, there was a time in American politics when the Whig Party was as well known and influential as Republicans and Democrats are today. Unfortunately, the party was short lived, emerging on the American political scene in 1834 and gone by 1856. That’s a pity, I’ve been thinking lately that if Whigs were still around, I might become one.

In fact, I’m a Republican, as much because I was raised in a home where both my parents were Republicans as for any other reason, plus I generally tend to side with Republicans when economic issues are at stake. Still, like a lot of Oregonians who lean toward moderate, centralist policies, I often feel like a “fish out of water” when I listen to leaders of both major national parties stake out some of their more extreme positions.

That’s where the attraction of “Whiggery” comes in. Unlike the polarizing politics that characterize our national and state political scene today, the central core of Whig politics tended toward a search for compromise. They sought a middle ground among factions representing different interests within the country, and they were commited to spreading prosperity throughout the country by aggressively investing in physical infrastructure to serve the American economy.

Now that’s a philosophy I could get behind.

The Whig platform was based on the idea that the federal government should take an active role in promoting and protecting the national economy. Primarily they supported construction of major infrastructure (roads, canals and railroads). They also sought to protecting domestic industry (through high tariffs). And they advocated for centralized economic management by a national bank (which we now call the Federal Reserve.) Whigs also brokered several compromises in an effort to try to prevent the Civil War, which they correctly foresaw as devastating to the economy and the ability of regions with differing economic interests to forge a national consensus.

Echoes of Whiggery exist today in American political parties: Like Republicans, Whigs favored business-oriented policies designed to continually rev the national economic engine. But like Democrats they also believed in policies which protected wages and jobs for the working man. Where Whigs differed from both the major parties is that any true Whig would have taken a dim view of debating on the national stage divisive issues such as gay marriage or rabid environmentalism. They believed the national agenda ought to be kept narrow, focused on the economy and national security. They believed the nation’s statehouses and town halls were best suited to resolve the breadth of issues which occupy much of Congress’ time today.

Whigs also took a middle-of-the road approach to national security, the theme of which is still popular today. While Whigs believed that defensive actions were sometimes necessary to defend American borders (the Mexican-American war, for example), they generally shied away from military conflict. They believed as they did that the costs associated with engagement on foreign soils inevitably cost dollars and lives far in excess of the value they returned—certainly a position that has an eerie resonance today.

It seems to me that the Whig approach to governance might be just the thing we need in Washington today. If Whigs were in charge, the federal government might be more likely to spend its time debating bills recently introduced by our own Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Greg Walden proposing the placement of a federal forest research center in Prineville instead of arguing whether the dime ought to bear the portrait of Ronald Reagan or Franklin Roosevelt. (Two bills on this non-issue were actually proposed in the Senate the day I wrote this column.) I don’t think Whigs would have joined Senate Republicans in their “pillow fight” a few weeks ago when Republicans kept the Senate in session all night in an effort to literally exhaust Democrats into approving the president’s judicial nominees.

Unfortunately for me and perhaps for the country, I can’t join the Whig party because it no longer exists. Whigs were dogged by political disaster. Although they managed to elect two of their nominees as Presidents, Benjamin Harrison and Zachary Taylor, both died shortly after they took office. The party was finished after 1852 when their party leader, Henry Clay, unexpectedly died just before the election.

Despite this ignominious end, and some rather troublesome positions the Whig’s took toward the end of their political life, I think there is a kernel of wisdom in the Whig’s philosophy. The American people have more common sense than most politicians and parties give them credit for. Governments rise and fall on the strength of their efforts to revitalize the economy and protect the country, not on their stands they take on how other people ought to live their lives. Although he wasn’t my favorite President, Mr. Clinton was right when he directed his campaign staff to adopt a tightly focused message: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It’s a message I wouldn’t mind hearing any major political candidate repeat today.

It seems to me that what’s lacking in national politics today is the moderate voice of the ill-fated Whig Party. It’s a pipe dream to think that the Whigs will ever come back, but perhaps its not impossible to think that partisan politicians in the nation’s capital might someday develop some common sense and start incorporating some of the Whig’s put-the-people-first philosophy into their rhetoric.

That would be a welcome change.

A Glass Half-Full: An Optimist’s View Of Crook County

By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
published in the Central Oregonian, December 2003
http://www.centraloregonian.com

There's a lot to be thankful for in this county.

Most of the time, I and the other columnists who fill this space devote ourselves to serious discussions of the problematic issues that face our world, nation, state and community. Budgets and choices are the stuff of which columns and journalism are made. But somehow that just doesn’t strike the right note this holiday season.

What seems more appropriate to the season is to stop and remember all the things that make our community a great place to live. With that in mind, I offer my top reasons to appreciate our community this holiday season:

Employers
Topping my list this year are the solid employers, those people who make sure we have the resources to enjoy the season. It’s true that this hasn’t been the best year we’ve seen in terms of job availability, and some people have truly suffered during down economic times this year. But it’s a fact that the vast majority of us did keep our jobs and our benefits. In Crook County, we have nearly 500 businesses to thank for that. Les Schwab, Clear Pine, American Pine, the school district, hospital, BLM, Forest Service and local governments rest firmly at the top of the list of largest employers, but every one of our businesses makes a difference in the quality of someone’s life. In counting your blessings this season, let’s stop and be thankful for them, each and every one.

The Spirit of Volunteerism
I often wonder if any government in the nation demands more of its citizens by way of volunteer participation than Oregon. Even our legislators are more or less volunteers. In Crook County, it requires some 98 people just to fill the elected positions in our county on courts, councils, sewer, water and road districts, fire districts, etc. And that doesn’t begin to count the number of volunteers who serve in appointed positions for no pay. Add to that, the enormous numbers of people who participate in service clubs, churches and various athletic groups (for kids and adults) and before too long it begins to appear that at least half our 20,000 residents must be engaged somehow in community building. Occasionally, I read an article about the death of volunteerism. Some commentator worries that as people spend more time with their computers or hiding in their fenced backyards we are losing our sense of community. I submit that people who worry about such things have never been to Prineville.

Public spaces
We’ve all had our share of arguments about how the federal and state lands—forests, deserts and reservoirs—that surround us ought to be managed, and our public parks, golf courses, fairgrounds and cemetery have all come under fire in the letters-to-the-editor column. But if we stop a minute, we have to admit we’re far luckier than many communities in having these facilities. I saw a study a few years ago that showed that Crook County has 6 acres of park ground for every 1,000 residents. That’s compared with 2 acres per thousand in most communities. How many citizens of New England or the Midwest can drive 20 minutes to select their own Christmas tree, or spend their weekends camping amidst the magnificent ponderosas or admiring petroglyphs in the High Desert?. To really put it in perspective, think about this: about half our county—some 1,500 square miles—is available for our recreational pleasure. That’s the entire state of Rhode Island, and that doesn’t begin to count the recreational pleasures that await us across county borders.

Cultural Facilities
OK, so there’s no movie theater in Prineville. And the Ochoco Inn burned down in 1962. Woe is us.Let’s not forget that we do have a fantastic library that runs at about two-thirds the per-capita cost of libraries in Portland or Eugene or even Bend. We have a museum labeled by one guidebook as one of the best small museums in the state. Our auditorium at the high school is the envy of many schools our size, and the newly formed Prineville Performing Arts Association is showing great promise at filling it with world-class performers. Our beautiful Courthouse (handsomely decorated this holiday season by the Ochoco Garden Club), was declared the most beautiful building west of the Mississippi when it was constructed, and continues to be the most photographed public building in Central Oregon. If you think those are small things, try life in Burns, Lakeview, Ontario, or Vale or even Madras or Warm Springs or LaPine. Things in Prineville could be a lot worse!

Medical facilities
The biggest crisis in America today, say some, is the lack of quality healthcare. As medicine as become more regionalized in large, institutional settings, the ill and indigent too often find that hospital care is more than an hour from family and friends and healthcare is delivered by people they’ve never met. For some, the distance and the paperwork obstacles involved with entering the hospital can mean life or death situations. It is well known that the presence (or absence) of a hospital means the difference between a successful economic recruitment effort and a failure. We’re fortunate in Prineville not only to have a hospital, but also one which is entirely community-supported and which doesn’t require a tax subsidy. Although we often take it for granted, it is one of our greatest assets.

I’m sure in my holiday list of things we ought to be glad about, I’ve left out something vital. The downside of any newspaper column is that the columnist who writes it is human and makes human mistakes, including omissions. My apologies in advance to those who feel they should have been listed here.

The point is that this holiday season there is as much or more to be thankful for as there is to regret not having in our community. Call me an optimist, but I think we live in a great community, and as we approach a New Year, the future is bright.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.