What is an unserious office holder?

Willamette Week deserves some credit in reporting on the Oregon Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate primary like it’s a real race. The incumbent, Jeff Merkley, is widely loved by his party’s base. Yet, retired electrical engineer Paul Damian Wells is running against him. Willamette Week endorsed Merkley, and managed to do so without saying Wells isn’t a “serious” candidate.

Contrast that with a recent opinion from Oregon District Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai in Oregon v Kennedy, where his first sentence reads, “Unserious leaders are unsafe.” It speaks poorly to the impartiality of a judge to use that choice of word. No doubt there are many legitimate reasons to disagree with the policy choices of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the legality of his administration of policy, but a judge’s opinion is more credible when he sticks to matters of law rather than opining on the seriousness of the officeholder.

Eric Shierman lives in Salem and is the author of We were winning when I was there.