Republican Vic Atiyeh, who guided Oregon through economic upheaval, dies at 91

[Thunderbeast]

1. At one time, Oregon actually had reasonable Republicans

As a lifetime Oregon Democrat, I have come to remember fondly the names of Oregon's rational Republican leaders. Vic Atiyeh, along with Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield, Bob Packwood, Norma Paulus and Gordon Smith represented conservative ideas that were focused on making lives better in this state. They were not ideologues. They were practical leaders; Not mean-spirited hacks. They had different ideas about how to improve peoples' lives, but their motives were not crass and evil.

These folks crossed party lines many times to advance policies addressing poverty, education, land use, the environment,and prosperity. I wish the party in Oregon and the country had leaders today like Mr. Atiyeh.

The current GOP chairman in Oregon, Art Robinson, is a rabid climate change denier that proposed (as a scientist) that nuclear waste could safely be distributed into the atmosphere by airplanes, and would provide health benefits to all of us on the ground.

WOW!