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Whatchamacolumn: Ron Noble: Democracy needs 'sensible majority'

## Noble
## Noble

It is a sad day, but that can change.

Protest and let your voice be heard? YES. Violence and criminal activity? NO.

Our country embraces the idea that differing opinions and ideals have equal voice. That includes different views on why and how the government – any government – should be involved in our lives.

How much individual autonomy and freedom do we sacrifice in the interest of the collective good? How much should we restrict the good actors in order to restrain the bad actors?

Our country embraces different values, opinions and solutions. It’s the thought that no one person or group has all the answers, and that by engaging and sharing our differences through debate, persuasion, peaceful protest and compromise, we are creative, innovative and collaborative in seeking that “sweet spot” of what, how and why the government should be involved.

This process of difference is not division; it’s the definition of our union.

But today we are divided. We no longer trust the systems that safeguard the continuity of our country. The Constitution and Bill of Rights, the balance between Federalism and State’s Rights, the Electoral College and our courts are parts of a greater system that ensures all voices are heard, not just the loudest; ensures all states have a vote, not just the most populous.

The irony is that today, this distrust is shared by both extremes. We see assault and criminal actions from both sides, each engaging in activities they accuse of the other.

But there is an option. Instead of picking sides, we could work together.

I believe there is a majority out there – a sensible majority of people with differing opinions who can engage and listen without vilifying each other. They may have different ideals, ideas and opinions, but they can work together toward shared goals: Listen to all voices; strike a balance in what type of government is needed; restrain bad actors without over-burdening the good actors.

I’m calling on that majority, the sensible majority. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Get involved. Listen and learn, let your voice be heard, and help us find solutions in the midst of our differences.

If we don’t, those differences will continue to divide our people and jeopardize our democracy.

As President Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

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Ron Noble was McMinnville police chief from 2006-14 after 18 years with Corvallis Police Department, and headed campus security at Linfield until 2017. In November he was elected to his third 2-year term as Oregon state representative for House District 24 ……… ***************

Comments

Mudstump

You can't work with people who have been brainwashed and lied to by the president (5+ years) and right-wing media (30+ years). Their minds are closed. They have been radicalized much the way al-Qaeda has radicalized its followers. It will take a massive deprogramming effort to reach these rabid followers. They aren't patriots...just losers following a loser.

tagup

Anyone that attempts to overturn a valid and certified election or block the constitutional duties of our elected officials by force are not only losers, they’re traitors......being a patriot takes a lot more than carrying a flag.

Mudstump

After my first post I read this editorial again and I thought deeply about it. The more I thought about it the more angry I got. If you truly want to talk this out Mr. Noble how about you denounce Trump and his lies strongly? How about stating that the election was fair and after much investigation and legal challenges there is no evidence of voter fraud? You could clearly state that Joe Biden is our next president. How about you counter Trump's lies? You could also denounce the Republican Party for enabling this monster in tearing down this democracy. Given the silence of republicans and the lack of any accountability for Trump's outrageous behavior and vile attacks on members of both parties...I think this starts with YOU. What are you doing or have done to stop this insanity? Firstly, you could talk to your colleague, Mike Nearman and ask him to stop letting insurrectionists/terriorists into our state capitol. You first...that's all I have to say.

Sponge

Your focus is too narrow, Mudstump. Rep. Noble was trying to encourage a broader view that tries to set aside the pointed partisan rhetoric that seems to take up so much space and energy. There is a time and place for specific criticisms of failed leadership, but the the tenor of this piece was to step back from the kind of invective that comes so easily with ruffled feathers, and to encourage reasonable dialog among divergent perspectives. Don’t attack the messenger for trying to take a higher road in a time of historic shame.

Jean

Repudiate Trump, first....then we can talk. What say you?

Jean

Over the past five years the Republican party has been radicalized by disinformation and demonization from the president. This agenda was then propagated by right wing media because they realized that they can make money off of it. Now the chickens are coming home to roost: They have created a white nationalist mob that's ready for a revolution based on the belief of a stolen election. How do Republican leaders like you fix this? Here's how: Condemn the insurrection at the capital; fess up to the lies you've been spreading about election fraud; stop attacking our institutions and our democracy; and congratulate Joe Biden on his victory; Only then can we begin to have a discussion on how to heal and try to repair this great nation. We are at a crossroads and the choice is Democracy or Trump.

Mudstump

Sponge - I'm not attacking the messenger...I'm attacking the message. While opening dialog and listening to the other side are worthwhile goals, those days are gone, over and done with. After four years of Trump and his multitude of lies, attacks and criminality there is no dialog possible. When the republicans refuse to correct Trump and actually work to enable his lawlessness we can have no dialog.

Mr. Noble urges the "sensible majority" to not give up....I have to ask where is the accountability, remorse and atonement from the Republican Party?

What bothers me most about this opinion piece is that what Mr. Noble is asking is akin to asking a woman who has been beaten and raped to come to the table to understand her abuser. Ah, no thanks. Investigate, prosecute and send him to jail first and then we can talk.

Before any understanding can take place the abuser must first be held to account. There is no healing without justice and to ask for it absent investigations and prosecutions is dreaming. Mr. Noble will need to do more than just regurgitate platitudes.

The damage is done and it is on republicans to fix this. It was their circus and their monkey.

Sponge

Your problem, Mudstump, IS with the messenger. Precisely because of his party affiliation (and his assumed lack of denunciation of the party and its leadership), you are “attacking the message.” You conflate the message with the messenger and are unable to rise above your anger to find equity with either one. It is that kind of emotional shortsightedness that will hinder true dialog.

Mudstump

Sponge - Much of the Republican Party and Trump are literally attacking the United States government. We have congress people twitting the location of Pence, Pelosi and Clyburn to the seditionists as they entered the Capitol. You act like my anger is somehow misplaced. Every republican should be coming out strongly against this and yet we have two. Don't you see how wrong this is? Trump and his family should be investigated and prosecuted along with every single republican that enabled him to reach the point of insurrection. If Democrats did this you would be saying the same thing....and guess what..so would I.

Sponge

Mudstump, your anger is valid, and I share it for the same reasons you have articulated. My concern is that you seem unable to rise above it enough to share in the vision expressed by Rep. Noble, and primarily because of his party affiliation alone. Had the piece been written by a Democrat, I suspect your response would have been more tempered.

Mudstump

Sponge - What you don't understand is that I do share his vision. It's called finding middle ground and common ideals. I agree that if you drilled down you would find that most of us share the same desires, but we have also endured nearly five years or more of Trump who has lied to these people. They believe him and they follow social media which is designed to propagate the lies. It's a vicious circle that feeds itself. All the while, we have watched republicans support Trump and his vile attacks. Republican members have lied to their constituents. We continue to have further threats against the inauguration and this Thursday they are planning an armed protest in DC. Before we can find middle ground and come together the movement toward insurrection and a president that will stop at nothing must be addressed. Republicans need to find more than two people who will step up and tell the truth...say, "Trump is lying to you."...How about that for a start. No one wants to kiss and make up until someone is held account and tells the truth. This election was fair and wasn't stolen.

mepitts

Continue to admire Ron Noble as a voice of reason and attempted balance at a time of extremes. Thank you for your stand, sir.

Thomas

This is about far more than just the president. Just look at the budget that was proposed. Instead of giving the financial assistance to Americans in need Congress put in a bunch of other things that really from the outside look more like serving the interests of some corporations rather than the people.

I see the democrat and republican parties as two heads of the same system, and I am going to have a really hard time having faith in a first past the post voting system, which seems to statistically always converge into a 2 party system because the people are too afraid to vote for who they truly believe for fear they are "throwing away their vote".

Each party not taking each other's concerns seriously and demonizing each other instead of having actual debates. Congressmen changing their stance to object when they said they were going to, and have things investigated just because the capital got raided like they need to nanny us.

In addition to this treating Silicon Valley big tech corporations as a 4th branch of government letting them decide what can and can't be said to our peers online as we've outsourced our communication and community discussion needs to them. Letting them do mass surveillance on us and perform "analytics", manipulate our moods with hyper-targeted personalized propaganda. Driving our ability for meaningful discussion and tolerance of other views into the ground all in the name of optimizing for engagement.

Vet24

Very well said and thank you for your service to this state.

runnermagda13

Will you ever muster the integrity to speak the provable truth to Trump's Big Lie - the lie that incited the appalling and unprecedented terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol? Do you, Mr. Noble, lack the integrity to speak the truth about the November election? The truth: A fair & democratic election took place on November 3, 2020 - certified & affirmed by election officials in all 50 states. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won. Trump lost. When will you speak the truth to your Trump-loving supporters here in Oregon? Evidently you're too busy clinging to false moral equivalencies while you continue to support the incompetent despot, Trump and Trumpism. If you support Trump, you are no "moderate." You are just another Trump enabler.

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