EDITORIAL
Yeltsin wins game;
hard-liners hit road
The battle for control of Russia, at least for now, is
over.
If it was a chess game, no one emerged as grandmaster.
But it isn’t always necessary to possess a brilliant strat
egy and to execute it flawlessly. Sometimes, all you need
to do, amid all of the spectators and all of the critics, is
win. That’s exactly what President Boris Yeltsin did
when ho ordered an assault on rebel lawmakers holed up
in the Russian parliament building, declaring that the
time for talks was "over.”
Obviously. A stalemate had existed for two weeks in
the heart of the Russian capital, as members of the con
servative Supremo Soviet refused to adhere to a presi
dential decree ordering them to disband.
Yeltsin had earlior pledgod not to use force to resolve
the conflict, but his chief opponents, mostly hard-line
former Communists, made no similar promise. It was no
surprise, then, that they wore responsible for the first
appearances of bloodshed: minor incidents of violence
Saturday, as well as a riot Sunday, which allowed hard
line supporters to gain control of several buildings in the
vicinity of the parliament, including the principal offices
of Moscow'.
It was also not surprising when Yeltsin reciprocated,
ordering Monday morning’s attack on the parliament.
The principal rebel leaders, speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov
and Vice President Alexander Rutskoi, surrendered near
the end of the 10-hour battle, which left the White
1 louse, as the parliament building is called, smoking and
si arred by pro-Yeltsin tank blasts.
The hard-line bent of the parliament may have made
life difficult for Yeltsin, as he tried to push for much
needed social and economic reforms, but it seems hard
to justify the forced overthrow of a parliament simply
because it fails to rubber-stamp the president’s agenda.
What would Americans do if President Bill Clinton up
and told Congress to disband? At least, after the cheering
died down?
Such analogies are not very useful in this case, how
ever, because the relationship between the Supreme
Soviet and the president in Russia is nothing like Arnor
Ican-style "checks and balances." Gridlock in American
lawmaking is a necessary nuisance, delaying decisions
until a reluctant compromise is reached. Gridlock in
Russian lawmaking threatens tho very survival of the
state.
Yeltsin has promised elections for a now Federal
Assembly in December. Even if his actions in disband
ing the Supreme Soviet were un-constitutional, as even
he admits they are. there shouldn’t bo any harm in wait
ing a couple of months for the now legislature, replete
with more reform-minded lawmakers, to form.
It was unfortunate that so much blood had to be shed
before Yeltsin was able to maneuver his pieces into a
commanding position. Even in checkmate, his oppo
nents would scarcoly admit that they were beaten. Of
course, they knew all too well what would happen
should their king be taken and the game be lost: The vot
ers in Russia would never invite them to another match.
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For. DiFtMSS —
LETTERS
Lollipops
Everything is not jolly at Lol
lipops I am outraged that the
Emerald would treat the ohje<
tification of women as jolly and
fun (ODE. Sept 20). Admittedly,
the Ih>v who wrote the article did
inform us that one woman did
not think these bars objectify
women. Vet in the same para
graph. he compared the female
dancers to paintings being sold
at auctions.
He continued by claiming that
the women earned so much mon
ey at these liars that lie wished lie
could tie a woman, too. So I sup
pose lie wishes he, too. could
earn, like a woman, 06 cents for
every dollar a man earns annu
ally. I suppose he would like to
he the one out of three women
who are sexually abused during
their lifetime or perhaps one of
four million women who are vic
tims of domestic violence each
year in this country.
I'm sure this hoy tall me
uptight for trashing a place where
he has had so much "harmless"
fun. But strip bars not only hurt
the women they employed but all
women. I wonder how a man
who frequents these bars treats
his wife and his co-workers? I
wonder how seriously he takes a
woman in an interview after a
previous night of watching anoth
er woman put her breast in a
man's face for $5. Is he going to
hire a woman, pay her an equal
wage, promote her to vice presi
dent?
It's ironic that this sexist arti
cle appeared in the back to school
issuo. What a way to welcome
women to their academic expe
rience.
Tamara Dykeman
Eugene
Surly Sunday
This is a letter of special thanks
to Mike Healy of AM»A»CHA
Records, all of the bands (The
Lonely Crowd. Jasper. Three
Headhunters. Compost. Kpants,
Agent 80. Oswald 5-0. Two Min
utes Hate) and people who donat
ed their time and money to Surly
Sunday.
Kven though it was n money
losing event, the more than
expected tum-out made it worth
while and showed that more
events like this need to take
place Supporting local music not
only improves the m one here for
local bands, but also brings hands
in from all across the country
who want to play here.
So get out there and see these
bonds at the clubs or set up
basement shows/parties. If you
are under 21, more cheap, all
ages shows are coming (you'd be
surprised at how many bands
want to play all-age shows here),
so be sure to go to them. If you
don't show up, don't expect any
more Finally, listen to the locals
show on KWVA (4 to 6 p.m. Sat
urdays) to hear these bands and
find out who is playing and
when. Alternative rock still
sucks!
John Blebl
Eugene
Health care
Like most of you I eagerly
awaited the unveiling of Clinton's
health care reform plan And I
have to honestly tell you. I was
impressed with what was laid out
before us. Mis proposal is com
prehensive and well thought out.
Let's not fool ourselves. We
have a lot of work ahead of us
This is a cosily overhaul at a time
when we are running an annual
budget deficit of S300 billion.
Specifically 1 have some reser
vations with the way the presi
dent intends on paying for his
program. I would like us to begin
the universal coverage before we
implement the president's new
entitlement programs. We need
a better understanding of the
costs and savings involved in
health care reform, and I wish
there were more of the Oregon
plan in the president’s plan.
The Comprehensive Health
Insurance Plan would expand on
the existing health care system to
provide universal coverage.
Folks, we have to sit down, roll
up our sleeves and make the nec
essary changes The president has
issued a challenge to the Con
gross and it is our responsibility
to meet the challenge.
Sen. Bob PacKwood
R-Oregon
The whaler
Susanne Steffen's article "Who
owns the whales in internation
al disputes?" (ODE. Sept. 20) per
haps should have been a letter to
the editor in Norway Today enti
tled "Kat Willy.” Its pro-whaling
bias will most likely l>e criticized
by others for its western, capi
talistic conceptions of human
domination of nature.
The sovereignty argument
implicit in Susanne's article, no
nation owns the whales therefore
no nation has the right or author
ity to dictate other nations’ pol
icy is archaic and dangerous.
Nations can no longer unilater
ally make policy that affect
regional or global environments.
It is important to understand
why Norway would embrace eco
hypocrisy in such a blatant man
ner. Waving the Norwegian flag
and professing sovereignty
infringement in the name of
whaling brought Norwegian
Prime Minister Gro Harlem
Brunt land the short-term politi
cal support that she needed in
recent elections,
Norwegians, 52 percent polled,
worry about international boy
cotts stemming from their
nation's whaling. Burger King has
already canceled a multimillion
dollar agreement to purchase
Norwegian fish, and the 1994
Winter Olympics to be hosted by
Norway presents the opportuni
ty for a boycott.
If there exists a common per
ception, or even misperception
that some other beast than
humans deserve special or "near
divine status" ana thus concern,
regard and protection, then this
should be seen as an opportuni
ty to foster, rather than quell,
such a rare, shared concern, with
the hope being that love for Flip
per and Willy, and cooperation
to ensure their survival will spill
over to you and me.
Marc Amaaon
Political Science