The power to recall
shouldn't be abused
More than 200 years ago. the framers of the Constitu
tion began a debate that has yet to be resolved: How
much direct influence should ordinary citizens have in
deciding the policies of their government?
The original participants in this debate were divided
into two principal camps, led by Alexander Hamilton
and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, trusting the good nature
and judgment of the people, favored a government that
was more directly controlled by its citizens; Hamilton,
in turn, was reluctant to allow important national deci
sions to be overly influenced by an inconstant and some
times ignorant populace.
The Constitution, and the then-unprecedented gov
ernment that it established, is the product of n compro
mise between those two ideals — a compromise that has
served us well for two centuries.
In recent years, however, the notion of democracy has
changed and wavered, and some people are calling for
measures more in line with the Jeffersonian ideal — an
ideal that gives the people a lot of credit but presents
them with serious responsibilities as well.
One such measure is the power to recall elected rep
resentatives who fall out of favor with their constituents.
It is not as explicit a moans of influencing government
decisions as say. the referendum, but its implications
may be just as significant.
At presont. local politicians are the most likely to bo
recalled, because local governments are more likely to
have recall laws in force. Higher levels of government
may not offer the citizenry the power to recall. For
instance, it is not possible to recall federal officials (like
the president), and IJ.S. senators and representatives are
similarly safe.
This has raised the ire of some citizen activists, who
would like to have the power to throw out politicians
who don't behave like tney want them to. Oregon Sen.
Bob Packwood provides ono example.
But the fact remains that there are already other mech
anisms for removing such unpopular politicians; they’re
called "elections." The fact that an angry voter will have
to wait as long as six years to throw out an errant repre
sentative is essentially irrelevant.
If the politician has done something truly criminal or
has demonstrated outright incompetence in the job. then
there are usually mechanisms to toss him out before his
term expires. Presidents can be impeached and fired;
senators may be censured. But the people are not — and
should not be — directly Involved in such proceedings.
After all. if we think politicians aren’t willing to make
tough decisions now. for fear of being unseated in a race
for re-election, then how willing will they be when they
know they can be immediately thrown out of office by
a recall vote?
This is a representative democracy, not a direct
democracy. We elect our representatives to make our
decisions for us. The recall is a powerful tool that, if
abused, can undermine the integrity of that democracy.
If it is used at all, it should be used only in the most
extreme of cases.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
Editor
Hmdnal
Editorial E.
Graphics Editor
Freelance Editor
The Ontgon I mmmd t» published daily Monday through I nday during the school
yeai and Tuesday and Thursday during tha lurnmer by the Or agon D»iy Emerald
Pubtu/uno Co . Inc atthe Unrvererty ol Oregon Eugene Oregon
The fmersW operates mdependency oi tha Uruvervty wrth oiticaa at SuKa 300 ol ma
fib Memorial Union and ■» a member Ol the Aaaooatad Press
Tha Emerald « pnvale pioparty Tha unlawhi removal or use ol papers a prosecutable
by law
Edltor-M-ChW: J*e Barg
CaHey Andaraon (porta Editor Slava Mma
David Thom Editorial Edhor Jed PtcAhan*
Jad Paalay Photo Editor Anthony Forney
Jad Winters Supplements EtPtor Kaly Soto
Mgpt Editor CaHey Anderson
Associate Editor*: Toward Ktoplenatew. Student Govammant'ActrvrOaa, Rebecca Marnd.
Commundy. JuSe Swan sen. Mgher fabcaaorVAdTumolrahon
Naan Staff: Mandy Baucum. Wilson Chan. Dave Charbomaau. Jm Dams. Msg Oedotph
Amy Davenport. Cara Echevarria. Malta I aids. Martin Fisher. Sarah Henderson. Hatfherte
tsmaa. Vm leng Leong. Manus Meland, Trtsla Noel. Elisabeth Bean mama. Kata Sabourm
Ftobtva Reevea. Lie Sarocoa Seed Srmooson. Stephan* Srsson. Susanna Stedsna. Ji*e
Swansan MfchtSe Thompson Aguiar. Kevin Tnpp. Amy Van Tuyt. Denial Weal
Oenaral Manager Judy B*d
Advertising Director Marti Wadai Production Manager: Mchele Boas
Advertising: Subs Dude. Nicole Herrmart Teresa Isabelle Jed Manon Jeremy Mason
Mvrhaal Milled• van V O'Bryan U. Rachael Tru«. riataay Waken. Angie Wmcfieu"
Classified Uecfcy Merchant. Manager Vidor Metis Sm Tra Tecs
Olatrlbutlon: Andy Harvey. John Long. Graham Simpson
(ualnaaa: Kathy Carbone. Supervrstv Judy ComoSy
Production: Dae McCobb. Production CoonSnaKv Shawna Aba*. Greg Oaamond. Tara
GauKney Brad Joss Stacy Wtchei. Jennifer Roland. Nad Thangwi*. Clayton Yea
MPM11 Dlaplay AdetKalng-NM7U
JMMtS
-I AM C0MPIE1W
WMOOHrcrn**
QM&S 1 twos' HCWMfe
ABOUT*'
OPINION
Packwood: guilty until proven innocent
Martin Fishfr
If you cannot convince
them, confuse them."
— Harry S. Truman
y-^all me old-fashioned, but.
try as 1 might, I cannot
seem to shake the notion
that people are innocent until
proven guilty. Thus. I find
myself in the awkward position
of defending Oregon Sen. Boh
Pack wood.
Personally, I believe the sto
ries (at least most of the ones
I've heard) of the 29 women
who claim Packwood sexually
harassed them, or — if not sex
ually harassed — found him at
least extremely creepy.
However. I cannot bring
myself to join the now seeming
ly deafening chorus of cries for
the senator's resignation. Not
yet.
In case you haven't noticed,
Packwood has not been convict
ed of anything Yet this minor
technicality seems to have
escaped a great many people.
One revolting televised incident
comes immediately to mind — a
protester shouted (they always
shout) a demand for Packwood
to resign. Packwood asked the
protester if she thought he
should at least get a fair hearing
first. The protester responded.
"You're getting your hearing,’' to
which Packwood replied.
"Where?” The protester
responded. "All around the state
of Oregon. " Go figure.
Silly me, but I've always
imagined a fair hearing to
involve testimony under oath, a
chance to confront and cross
examine the accusers and the
accused, and presentation of
evidence. None of these steps
has yet occurred. None of the 29
women has sworn to tell the
truth before accusing Packwood.
and I suspect Senate rules forbid
Packwood from taking such an
oath.
Sorry, but trial and conviction
in the court of public opinion
just doesn't cut it.
And what about those diaries?
Although it's possible there may
be evidence supporting the
women's allegations, I find that
unlikely I doubt investigators
will rind the hypothetical entry
suggested by David l>etterman —
Dear diary, this morning 1
grabbed someone's ass." Of
course, there may be other
incriminating material in the
diaries, but that's another story.
I would be disappointed if
Packwood resigned and
deprived me of the chance to see
him individually deny the 29
claims against him — "She's
lying, and she's lying, and she's
lying .. ." kind of like the Ener
gizer Bunny. He just keeps going
and going and going.
But why would the 29 women
lie? Unlike Anita Hill (whom I
did not believe), these women
have little to gain by coming for
ward. Nobody is going to offer
them $10,000 a pop to tell their
stories. Their sheer numbers
effectively devalue their stories
so that no one is going to pay
them to talk alnnit it.
I hey re not trying to derail
Packwood'* campaign for office.
If that had been their motiva
tion, they would have come for
ward with a vengeance during
the last election. In fact, many of
them had been Packwood sup
porters. One accuser said she
would still support Packwood if
ho would just apologize and get
some help.
In short, they get nothing for
their efforts, which in my opin
ion. gives even greater credibili
ty to their stories.
So, why doesn't Packwood
just resign and spare Oregon the
embarrassment? Because Oregon
thrives on embarrassment. With
out it. we'd never get any media
attention. The Oregon Citizens
Alliance is embarrassing, tree
spiking eco-terrorists are embar
rassing. Tonya Harding is
embarrassing, the Bhagwan was
embarrassing. Packwood is just
one more notch in the state's
history of embarrassment.
Actually, it appeared for about
a day that Packwood was going
to resign. But leave it to young,
dimwitted Democratic staffers to
kill that plan. When they
learned of Packwood'* potential
Sorry, but trial and
conviction in the
court of public
opinion just doesn’t
cut it.
resignation, a group of these i
staffers apparently contacted the I
Justice Department, which then I
launched its own investigation
of Pack wood.
The new investigation effec- |j
lively killed Packwood's resig- jfi
nation. Had he resigned, he
could not have used his con
gressional immunities in |
defending against the additional
charges he may soon be facing.
Instead, ho now has no choice
but to remain and use his office
as a shield.
It is worth noting that Pack
wood has been an effective
voice for Oregon in the Senate.
His influence has created many
a job here and a lot of people
owe the senator a debt of grati
tude. He has also done a great
deal of work in the area of
women's rights, which, if the
accusations prove true, may go
down as one of politics' greater
ironies.
Hut as a sign I saw once said.
"One 'aw shoot' wipes out a
thousand 'atta-boys.' " 'I'hus, the
question tends not to be "What
have you done for me?" but
rather "What have you done for
me lately." And although lately
Packwood hasn't done much of
anything, his hands have been
tied by people demanding his
resignation instead of demand
ing to know what he's going to
do for Oregon in regards to for
est and health issues.
Some people are saying Pack
wood "just doesn't get it." I've
never understood exactly what
that means, but in this case I
know exactly what he hasn't got
— a fair hearing.
I for one intend to wait for the
results of the investigations
before demanding anybody do
anything, as would anyone who
actually has concerns about
individual rights and abhors tri
al by television.
Martin Fisher is a columnist
for the Emerald.