EDITORIAL
Don’t pardon those
in Iran-Contra loop
Caspar Weinberger, secretary of defense under
Ronald Reagan, was indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal
shortly before the presidential election. That action by
special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh has It'd to Walsh
being accused of playing politics
Sen. Hob Dole, R Kan., wants revenge and has
called for Bush to pardon Weinberger and anyone else
who may have been involved in Iran-Contra.
If Rush desires to end his presidency in a positive
light, he will ignore Dole's plea and allow the drama to
be played out.
Weinberger allegedly has files that suggest Hush
knew more than he let on when he was questioned by
uongress. misn nas
claimed he was "out of
the loop." but Weinber
ger's notes may indicate
otherwise.
A pardon is simply
not in Bush’s best inter
est Obviously, his mo
tivation would be
called into question. If
he truly was out of the
loop, what is he afraid
of? If he's innocent, let
it Ik: proven.
If the highest levels
of our government
conspired to skirt
the system of
checks and
balances, a
dangerous
precedent will have
been set
Bush could lx; cut
ting his own throat by issuing a pardon. If everybody
involved in Iran-Contra suddenly became exempt from
prosecution, they would have no reason not to abide
by Congressional orders and turn over all pertinent in
formation to Walsh.
Such an action would leave Bush on his own. He
would not be exempt from prosecution, and would be
left to fry by himself. It is the threat of going down to
gether that has kept the conspirators silent for so long,
and it is Bush’s only hope for not being prosecuted.
However, then? is a more important reason for not
grunting pardons, and that is justice. If the highest lev
els of our government conspired to violate Congres
sional orders and skirt the system of checks and bal
ances. a dangerous precedent will have been set
The government is divided into three separate but
equal branches. Not only is it illegal lor one brunch to
assume independence from the others, but it is a viola
tion of the basic principles our government was found
ed on. Surely Bush has no Intention of violating those
principles he claims to hold so dear. Or docs he?
When Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Nix
on’s reputation was inalterubly tarnished. Not only hat!
he apparently broken the law. but he was going to get
away with it simply because he was president.
Bush will suffer the same stigma should he pardon
those who were in the Iran-Contra loop, and the Ameri
can people will again be left with the foul taste of cor
rupt government in their mouths.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
Nmi Id tor
Edit cm i«l Editor
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Entarlairvnant Editor
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THE SHOES
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V/
SPIKE]
Racism defined
Thanh Dong (Vietnamese
Student Association) and Sven
Orozco (MtiChA) say minorities
am incapable of racism [ODE,
Nov 16).
"Racism Is power ('systemat
ic discriminatory practices')
plus prejudice (ITS. Commis
sion on Civil Rights. 1970),"
say Dong and Orozco. "We —
ti»e minorities therefore can
not be racist Racism is the
whites’ problem."
It seems multiculturaiists
have revised the English dic
tionary along with western civi
lization history books Croups
and committees cannot change
the meanings of words simply
iKrause they do not serve their
special interests.
A< tually, racism is a belief
that race determines behavior,
is an important factor in shap
ing one's culture and that some
races an' superior or lesser than
others
Dong and Orozco said I have
been "brainwashed by the
'white man's ideology' " for ex
posing some multiculturaiists
as racists in my commentary
("Multiculturalism's mixed
message". ODE. Nov 10)
However. Martin Luther
King, )r would have criticized
Jeffries. Souljnh, Jackson and
Coleman just us he criticized
racist blacks of his day. In his
"Letter from Birmingham fail."
King warned of the dangers of
radical Afro-centrists: “(The
black nationalist movement) is
one of bitterness and hatred,
and It comes perilously dose to
advocating violent*."
In spite of King's wisdom,
many blacks accused him of bo
ing indoctrinated by the white
power structure. Do Dong and
Orozco think King was just an
other Undo Tom?
Ryan Black attar
English
Paradigms
We all have our sol of para
digms with which to view the
world and justify our actions.
We do whatever is necessary to
hold fast to these paradigms be
cause to challenge them would
be to question our identity and
existence.
Often the paradigms wn have
am instilled by society through
the channels of family, mass
media, and yes, through educa
tion Other times they are self
induced to protect our insecur
ities With time the paradigms
calcify, hindering light to pen
etrate and wo become oblivious
to the dot ay occurring inside.
We have evolved into a soci
ety readily critical of others, yet
never enough of ourselves. Or
have wo always been this way,
deriving our identities from the
other7 Hegel says there is no
"self," for we essentially are a
mirrored creation of the other.
This dialectic may propagate
and justify any form of discrim
ination, for we can always
blame the other for our actions.
The "self," essentially, is the
paradigms we uphold, the lens
es with which we view the out
side and the same ones we
should use reflecting ixick in
side These lenses must ix> con
tinually cleansed, always al
lowing light to filter in from
various angles and forcing us to
judiciously question the pre
scriptions we are dispensed.
Without our persistent efforts
in cleaning our lenses we ran
never see, let alone mend our
cavities that may have putre
fied all along. And unless we
can first be critical of ourselves,
we can never eradicate bigotry
and the forces of oppression
that were deemed "inevitable ”
Go Yoahtda
Graduate student
Educational Policy and
Management
Tasteless
( congratulate the Emerald on
the sheer tastelessness of its
Tuesday, Nov. 17 edition. I
really think you've ouldono
yourselves this time. Placing
the article of the woman who
committed suicide next to an
article describing corpses in
gory detail was superb! Your
utter crassness and lack of sen
sitivity should be applauded.
Not only that, the picture was
exquisitely repulsive as well. I
found it even more disgusting
lhan the one printed in The
Register-Guard on the same
day.
Having the two men looking
down at the bloodstain left by
the woman and by inference
the article directly below it,
"Curious students spend Friday
the 13th with cadavers." bor
ders on tabloid brilliance. Why
the physiology story wasn't
printed on Monday remains a
mystery, but in the meantime, a
retraction and apology from the
Emerald Is appropriate.
It really is a shame that the
Emerald isn’t sold at news
stands. Tuesday’s edition
would have put even the Wet*A
ly World News to shame for its
embarrassing coverage of a very
tragic event.
William Taylor
Journalism
Morbid
I feel your publication used
poor judgment and bad timing
by running your story about ca
davers in the same issue as
Monday morning's suicide
(ODE. Nov. 17).
The photo of an open cadav
er on Pages 4 — beneath the tail
end of the tragic suicide article
— was exceedingly morbid and
in bad taste. Too often ethics
play a back-burner role In thu
three-ring circus of ihe media
world.
And judging from your publi
cation. (Emerald editor) Pal
Mulach has a great future ahead
of him in the Associated Press.
Ryan Johnson
Anthropology
Peep show
Whon I die. I plan to leave
my body to science in hopes of
inspiring and educating future
doctors and scientists.
Aftor reading "Curious stu
dents spond Friday the 13th
with cadavers." (ODE. Nov.17)
I might be changing my mind. I
have seen middle school stu
dents dissect fetal pigs with
more respect.
If all the students that attend
ed this opportunity with that
kind of "Freddy Krueger"
peep-show attitude, then obvi
ously someone is missing the
point.
Ellon Stonard
Music