Editorial
Congress holds party
without inviting us
Should Congress proceed with the hefty pay hike it has
so generously promised itself, look for heads to roll during
the next elections.
Not that vve could hope for more integrity from a simple
political transfusion, but members of Congress seem to un
derestimate the memories of their constituents. We should
check to see if Congress has its car idling in the driveway.
Perhaps congressmen have adopted a "take the money and
run" mentality, and do not intend to extend their political
careers Otherwise, they should display a little more humili
ty. and a bit of sensitivity to those among the public who
have lost their jobs and their self-respect, but not their vot
ing power.
Recommendations by our own Rep. Peter DeFazio that
Congress should restrain itself also should be remembered.
DeFazio has promised to ignore any pay increase his col
leagues decide to approve, DeFazio has said .ill along that
Congress should not be willing to im rease its pay more than
it is willing to raise social security benefits, lie has said that
he will raise his own pay only by 4.1 percent, the amount
approved tor re( ipients of social security I he proposed
Congressional raise amounts to a boost in pay of 50 percent,
which follows on the heels of a 1f> percent raise Congress
voted for itself in FI87. For the record, DeFazio refused the
1087 raise, too.
Another point that Congress wants voters to overlook or
to forget: members of Congress already enjoy sizable ex
pense accounts not figured into the $80,000 base salary
about whic h they are weeping.
Hut while an $80,000 beefsteak with lots of gravy has
the rest of us salivating, some still defend higher salaries for
Congress Those in favor of fatter wallets for members of
Congress point to a reduced competitiveness with similar
lobs in the private sei tor her ause political salaries have not
kept par e with the salaries of corporate presidents, for in
stance Toward this argument, we only can say that public
office should hold no economic attraction for starry-eyed
corporate-ladder climbers anyway.
If Congressional jobs offer no financial incentive beyond
opportunities offered by a beefed-up resume, then voters are
saved from several of those candidates who may be closet
dog-kickers and baby haters who have their eyes on a new
Cadillac and a date with the California Prune Queen. In
stead. public service jobs would and should attract members
of the community who have a sincere interest in serving the
public.
If members of Congress can take all of the above into
consideration — not to mention the hundreds of thousands
of causes which are more deserving, are crying out for im
mediate help, and are being summarily ignored — then per
haps they will renegotiate their contracts with their own
consciences.
If they still want more money, they can trv out for the
NBA.
Precedent called for
with Bush subpoena
Expect lots of continued worming by Konald Keagan
and George Bush regarding their subpoenas in the Oliver
North trial Both the President and the President-elect will
try every way possible to bail out on this issue. But Keagan
soon will not have executive privilege for protection.
Bush, on the other hand, will lie able to laugh and point
to his new position as king of the mountain. But if the North
trial continues as long as some have projected, Bush, too,
could be out in the rain without his galoshes. Of course, he
could just pardon North and get a good chuckle out of the
entire activity.
Although little mention has been made about a North
pardon, raising the possibility is warranted. In spite of what
the majority of people in Eugene believe, many people in
the country consider Oliver North a patriot and a hero. Even
so, unless more people are somehow recruited to the ranks
of the North supporters in the coming months. Bush would
commit political suicide by such a maneuver, just as Gerald
Ford did when he pardoned Richard Nixon.
Legally speaking, no actual precedent has been set for a
situation quite the same. The legal system demands some
accountability on this one. Once and for all, the precedent
for presidential testimony should be set. After all. don’t the
i \ nil s alua\ s come out of the woodwork and tell us that po
litical corruption is alive and well in every administration?
We should expei t to have to subpoena the President, rather
than being surprised In it whenever it comes up.
BcurideJhae
tpaJtinlinelfcw
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Letters
Speculation
Mr Dawson, your summa
tion of racism and its destruc
tiveness to our society was very
well put in your letter "Racist
i Iimate" (ODR, Dec. 5):
"Racism is destructive and
oppressive both to its victims
and to its perpetrators. In the
face of tin* rising tide of racism
in this country, we must all ed
iu ate ourselves about racism
and refuse to tolerate it from
others.”
Yet. you based your persecu
lion of a group of people, the
Greek fraternities, on evidence
that was speculative. The two
gentlemen in question were not
actually known to lie members
of the Sigma Alpha Kpsilon fra
ternity. members of any frater
nity, or even American citizens
for that matter. The point being
that two people who appeared
to be Greeks are not a fair
means of judgment on the char
acter and worth of the entire
Greek system. Similarly, it is
not fair to judge a person's
worth by the color of their skin
or gender. There seems to be a
very severe contradiction be
tween your definitions/beliefs
and your analysis.
As a proud member of the
University's Greek system, I am
outraged and offended by your
naive and discriminatory re
marks toward this system. How
can you be so ignorant as to be
lieve that two people are repre
sentative of the entire Greek
system of approximately 3,000
people?
Yet. there is a much greater
issue to be addressed here. The
act of passing judgment based
on circumstantial evidence,
pertaining to an excluded inci
dent. and declaring it to be the
nature of a much larger constit
uency is prejudiced! Prejudice
is the foundation of racism!
Mr. Dawson. I write this in
hopes of educating you because
1 refuse to tolerate this from
others — for as things stand
now. you’re not only preju
diced. but a hypocrite too.
Tom Oberhue
Fraternity member
Cod of wrath
It is rare to come across a re
port so courageously honest
about the inhuman and petti
fogging role of the United
States toward the Palestinians
as that by Gary Murrell (ODE.
Dec. 6). if only someone had a
magic wand to sweep away the
delusions, prejudices and apa
thy of average Americans on
this subject, official Washing
ton couldn't persist in its
Pharisaical attitude.
Both ends of Pennsylvania
Avenue nurture this attitude.
Congress is tied to Tel Aviv by
golden chains. Jewish organiza
tions throw the politicians op
portunities for trite speeches
that are rewarded by fat hono
raria. In addition, the law
makers tremble in their boots
before Jewish voters — so much
more alert than their gentile fel
low citizens — and rabid fun
damentalists whose God of
wrath blesses the oppression of
the Palestinians just as He
blessed similar happenings in
the Old Testament
At the other end of Pennsyl
vania Avenue, Ronald Reagan
made the administration as par
tisan toward Israel as is Con
gross, ims resuueu m uw surry
spectacle of Secretary Shultz
first looking like Don Quixote
on his pseudo-peace mission,
and now barring Yasir Arafat
from the UN.
Y'et, lher<’ is hope. When
governments fail, citizens do
their own thing. Jews. Mus
lims. Christians, and agnostics
come together in a U.S. Interre
ligious Committee for Peace in
the Middle East — which has a
branch in Eugene — in which
Rabbi Kinberg and Dr. Munir
Katull play leading roles. Thus,
instead of cursing the darkness,
let us light a candle by support
ing this committee.
Finally, let us give credit to
those five American Jews who
braved Shamir's rage by meet
ing with Yasir Arafat.
A. E. Brettauer
Eugene
Insight
I'd like to thank G.A. Baker,
the "Republican student” for
sharing his extraordinary in
sight with those of us whom
are confused (Friday, Dec. 9).
Over the years I’ve spent an in
ordinate amount of time study
ing for poli-sci classes. It never
occurred to me to just make a
table of "strong-minded win
ners" and “weak-minded los
ers" as a foundation for past
American political achievers. I
suppose a subscription to Sol
dier of Fortune, a few ROTC
classes and a pledge pin would
also be beneficial for me. And
whew! Finals are just around
the corner. Thank you.
Matt Luster
Political Science
P.O. Bn 3159, Eugmt, Ort«on 974BJ
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