EDITORIAL
Bush’s pardons only
raise mote questions
Crime doesn't pay, unless you're a "patriot,” At
least, that seems to be the philosophy of President
Ceorge Bush, the law and order president, and is the
reasoning behind he. pardoning former government of
ficials who were iinplh ated in the lr;tn-(lontra scandal.
Bush gave the Christmas eve pardons to former
Se< rotary <>f Defense. ( aspar Weinberger, former Asms
tant Secretary of State. Klliolt Abrams former National
Security Advisor, Robert Mi Pariane; and three CIA of*
firials. Clair Ceorge Alan Hers and Duane Clarridge
Bush said the six men "have already paid a high
price," for their involvement with IranContra. Appar
ently. King to Congress, committing perjury and to
verily sidestepping federal
law takes its tf)ll on a per
son, especially alter
spending the ] >.ist siv
years dodging prosocu
tion
Of those pardoned,
throe have pled guilty to
lying to (Congress
McFarlane. Fiers and
Abrams (ieorge was con
victed on two ( mints of ly
ing to Congress. YVeinber
ger and Clarridge were
scheduled to go on trial
Apparently, lying
to Congress,
committing
perjury and
covertly
sidestepping
federal law takes
its toll on a
person.
fur perjury this year.
Hush has continued to proclaim his ignorance of
the Iran-Contra deal, but recently discovered notes of
Weinberger's and Hush’s suggest otherwise.
Hush may have been motivated to issue the par
dons in an effort to prevent the Weinberger case from
going to trial. In mu h an event. Rush would likely have
been called upon to testify, and his involvement in the
scandal would have been revealed
Hush compared his pardons to those issued by An
drew Johnson, who pardoned Confederate soldiers, and
Jimmy Carter, who pardoned Vietnam draft dodgers
Curiously, he avoided comparisons to Gerald Ford s
pardon of Ric hard Nixon.
Presidential pardons are absolute, and no further
prosecution of the pardonees will ever occur. Hut if. as
Hush claims, no crimes were committed. why was it
necessary to issue the pardons'
I lad his i ase gone to trial, the i bailees of an acquit
tal for Weinberger were pretty good. In any event, his
guilt or innocence would have been ciearK and openly
established. Hut now. he. as well as the oth/rs will for
ever have the cloud of assumed guilt hanging over
them.
Perhaps George summed it up best in his testimony
to the House Intelligence Committee in 19B7 when he
said, "This is a business th.it works outside the law
That ominous testimony seems to be holding true and
has been reinforced by Hush’s pardons
( Ini’tirt I Kills
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QUITTING TMe F^P- The LAW *CWP AW'NI5TpaTk>N
COMMENTARY
Poor tax structure fuels OCA
By Jason W Moore
As iht* fit over Ballot
Measure '» gripped the
state s attention, ai tion on
the Base problem? driving Ore
gon'* descent into socio-eco
nomii oblivion remained pain
fully inadequate
It is not a pretty pic turn
Oregon's days as a rusoun e-de
pendent economy are limited,
the promotion ot "high-tec h"
industry has largely tailed, our
si hot)!* and universities are tie
mg stripped and shut down,
and the most hasu human ser
ve es are or soon will lie on
the i hopping bloc Ik
Politic ally . the Marne is little
I tetter from the proto-fascist
Oregon Citizens Allianc e to the
dramatic rise in hate crimes to
tin* dismal lac k ot funding for
education and human services
On top ot all that is the gradual,
and under present conditions
unstoppable, disintegration of
the national is ononis
This desperate- situation (all
the more desperate be< a use so
many continue to ignore it) is
not without hope Defeating
Measure o. supporting Measure
7, and helping the* Democrats
rec apt lire the Oregon House
were the Best opportunities in
the November elcs turn
The elcs tion, at (test, repre
sented only the chance for a
few feeble steps toward a fess
solutions Demot racy is not
about spending a few minutes
in a voting booth; it is about de
bate. action and education
Democrat s has never Ixsm a
gift what sve have ssas svon
through militant politic a I strug
gle that, without exception,
took plac e outside "the proper
c hannels "
The election was important,
but yye need to look at the i lass
forces that shape our politic s
Oregon is a largely "middle
class" state, the degree of sin
icss ac hieved by the OCA
serves as a Barometer not just of
the' power of the Christian right
nationally , hut of the likelihood
that upstanding middle-class
folks will turn right and not left
in times of soc ial and economic:
crisis.
As (oils get fewer and worse,
as the lack of social servic es
further squeezes the poor, as
education budgets are hacked
and as insecurity grows more
pervasive and profound, six le
ts will become unglued, load
ing to more (X'.A stylo politics
No on 9 efforts have done lit
tle to erode the OCA's support
among the threatened resouri e
ifependent working i lass and
their i ommunities. Because of
No on 9's basically defensive
posture, the ngitt is poised to
score big bv winning over
fear -of - fal ling" suburbanites
scared of losing what's left of
the Atnerii an I)ream
For the present, they xt>e the
(X'.A as too crude But just as
Fat But hanan articulated the
f.is< ist agenda belter than David
Duke, it is likely that a polltii al
(one will soon emerge to win
these pleasant suburbanites
over to the ultra-right s agenda
Ross Perot's campaign clearly
marked the appeal of i nn-do
authoritarianism to the middle
i lass
ft is critical to prop up the
<•1 onoim to forestall a middle
class turn to the rigid, and the
lx-st was we could have helped
out in this election was to sup
port the struggle for revenue re
placement and tax justice em
bodied in Measure 7. which
would have split the property
tax rolls between the homes in
which people live and commer
cial property Businesses would
pay their fair share and home
owners would get real tax re
lief. promised hut not delivered
by Measure 5.
Since 1990, as many home
owners saw their property taxes
increase, big commercial inter
ests like utilities, railroads and
banks received million-dollar
tax breaks Despite the stop
the tax” crowd's incessant fab
rications about victimized
small businessmen and poor,
elderly , apartment-dwelling
grandmothers. Measure 7
would have helped both small
businesses and renters
The former would have Ix-ne
filed from a healthier economy
spurred by education and so
cial service expenditures, and
the latter from a renter's rebate
program like the one abolished
in the last legislative session.
(Of course, many 'stop the tax”
supporters favor a sales tax that
hurls both small business and
the poor.)
By restoring about fit) percent
of the revenue lost by 1990's
Measure f>. Measure 7 would
have allowed for the exercise ol
some elementary economic
good sense. The Oregon Legis
lature could maintain and en
hance existing social services,
which, when combined with
fewer taxes on poor and work
ing people, would effectively
boost consumer spending at the
most important part of the
economy — the bottom.
We know there will be more
investment in a state with a rea
sonable tax structure and that
supports a quality educational
system and social services, il
one doubts the proposition,
look .it those states with the
lowest tax burdens and the
lowest levels ol social spend
tug, like Arkansas, where the
tup industries are chicken pro
c essmg and toxic waste
The struggle for tax justice,
embodied in Measure 7, goes
hand -in-hand with the fight
against Measure 9 II we arc* to
defeat the Ot A right, we need
to provide a degree of soc iuI
and »*c onomic security that is
impossible without fair taxa
tion to pay lor basic human ser
vices, including the right to an
education
Our responsibility did not
end on Elec tion Day The de
teat of Measure 9 or the- victory
ol Measure 7. as with anv pro
gressive electoral victory,
would have represented just
the beginning
If we wish to change Oregon,
we have to build soc ial move
ments that seek empowerment
first, not vague notions of elec t
mg more Democrats to office
Only then can we reassert c on
trol over our schools, our
neighborhoods unci communi
ties, and our workplaces. That
is where we can find democra
cy on Election Day and every
day after That is where we will
ultimately win or lose the
struggle for sex.ial justice.
Inson IV Moore is coed it or of
the Student Insurgent.
This i onwwntary originally
appeared in the Emerald on
Oc t 27