Forgiveness allows
political comebacks
Perhaps taking their cues from the late Richard Nixon,
who bounced back repeatedly from the }aws of political
death, three candidates making the rounds of America
these days have decided not to let the public's low opin
ion of them — an opinion often nothing short of disgust
— keep them from seeking elected office again.
Call it audacity, call it courage. Dan Quayle, Oliver
North and Marion Barry, throe much-maligned politi
cal figures of the past decado, are alt hitting the cam
paign trail. The risks are many, ranging from endless
jokes on late-night TV all the way up to the ultimate
defeat: a loss at the polls.
What gives these three men the guts to give it a go —
again? Why would they return to the spotlight, after
already enduring the merciless scrutiny of the public?
And being ridiculed incessantly?
Simplo. They think they can win.
Whether they can or not depends on the voters. But
the fact that they're evon willing to try says a lot about
the forgiving nature of the people.
Dan Quayle, former U.S. vice president under George
Bush, hasn't formally announced his candidacy for the
Eresident in 1996, although his book-signing tour has
oon widoly regarded as a de facto campaign tour.
Quayte's tenure as vice president was punctuated with
such brilliance as the misspelling of "potato" and the
statement that he needed to brush up on his Latin in
preparation for a trip to Latin America. No one has been
more mocked in recent memory than Dan Quayle. But
apparently ho thinks the public was just kidding when
it made fun of him.
Oliver North, a prominent figure in the Iran-Contra
scandal during the Koagan administration, shows evon
more gall in running for one of Virginia's Senate seats.
Unlike Qunylo, who was mainly an embarrassment to
his constituents, North was actually harmful. His par
ticipation in the Iran-Contra cover-up, which culminat
ed in his lying to Congress, makes one wonder how
much a person can screw up and still expect to have a
good chance of getting elected.
Filling in that category is Marion Barry, former may
or of Washington, D C., who was convicted of cocaine
possession in 1990 after a highly publicized FBI sting
operation. Ho is running for mayor again, hoping to
unseat Sharon Pratt Kelly, his successor. Barry's cam
paign is centered around his accomplishments during 12
years as mayor — an asset, to bo sure — but Barry goes a
step too far when he compares himself to Nelson Man
dela. president-elect of South Africa, who spent 27 years
in jail for political opposition to South Africa’s apartheid
government.
Barry was not thrown in jail for political reasons. He
was in jail because he smoked cocaine in a motel room
with a prostitute, and the FBI got it all on tape.
The public does forgive; the praise-filled eulogies for
Richard Nixon attest to that. Personal failings will be
weighed against political successes, os they should be.
But voters should be prepared to think long and hard
before they cast their ballots for any of these three.
Ort’i’on Daily
Emerald
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LETTERS
Defending track
Dave Charbonnoau. in his arti
clo about the Twilight track
meet (ODE, Mav 16). states that
he has " ... a respect and a
knowledge of trai k and field
that I definitely would never
have acquired if it weren't for
i oming here " Me then proceeds
to trash the Twilight meet, track
and field in general, and its ath
letes Some respect!
What he obviously does not
understand is that track and
field is not a war sport like foot
ball. hut a competition combin
ing effort and personal accom
plishment. Charbonneau must
have been deprived of ( rayons
and paper as a child. To quote
Bobby Knight. "We learn to
write in the third grade Most of
us move on to other things."
When Charbonneau trashed
Cordon Johnson for wishing he
had broken the four-minute
mark in the mile, even if it
meant finishing fourth, it
showed how little knowledge of
the sport the "writer" really has.
It is the dream of every middle
distance runner to break the
four-minute Iwirrier in the mile
Gordon and several other "mid
dle-distance" Ducks are great,
and will got better.
Track and field athletes are
the "best." They do not carry
inflated egos like most of the
University's football and men's
basketball players do
Track and field is a class act at
this University and its coaches
are proven winners Both pro
grams have produced national
titles, team and individual
Dave, please leave truck and
field alone and return to your
color crayons Use them for
something unimportant — like
writing about the University's
football and men's basketball
programs
Jerry Carson
History
Rights
Let's not pretend to be igno
rant of government and history,
as did Oregon Citizens Alliance
Communications Director Loret
ta Neel in her summons for sig
natures to place on a statewide
ballot the "Son of 9" initiative
It wasn't the ACLU nor homo
sexual lobbies that |»«caua.ded
Judge Kodney Miller to rule this
measure unconstitutional The
intent of this measure, as was
the case with the 1002 measure,
is to legalize state-supported
discrimination and Neet and
other OCA loaders know this as
well ns |udge Miller.
As Miller indicated, this "Son
of A" measure also seeks to
revise the Oregon Constitution.
As every nationalized U.S. citi
zen, as myself, knows, our gov
ernments in the United States
and Oregon consist of three
equal branches. It's the specific
task of the judiciary to protect
the fundamental rights of every
U.S. citizen or resident. Those
rights cannot be amended by a
majority vote of citizens nor by a
majority of people who voted.
That would obliterate the con
stitutional divisions of power
'['hat's one reason why Judge
Miller ruled as he did. And oth
er courts will uphold that deci
sion.
Instead of wasting time pro
moting or fighting unconstitu
tional referenda, let's together
make a positive difference for
children and families Let's vote
to establish adequate funding of
the instructional portions of
budgets of our public education
al institutions Let’s assure chil
dren and families quality educa
tion for everyone in Oregon
Let s not pretend to tie ignorant
of government nor our history
Jacob Veldhuisen
Eugene
Media bias
Unlike many student*. I don't
believe the Emerald has a signif
icant political bias in its news
coverage Unfortunately, Enter
aid reporters repeatedly rely on
one or two sources, especially
student government sourr es, for
the entire storv
Friday's article (May 20)
about recent Constitution Court
cases is a prime example.
Instead of interviewing all the
parties involved, the reporter
chose to got only ASIJO Presi
dent Kric Bowen's side of the
story.
This is a bad habit that the
Emerald has been unable or
unwilling to break Staff mem
bers don't seem to take the time
to obtain opposing viewpoints,
aud in this case the opposing
viewpoints would have been
easy to get I would have gladly
spoken to the Emerald as I
assume Martin Fisher and Todd
Barnhart would have. Any one
of us could have disputed
Bowen's claim that the cases
"weren’t a big deal" and all of
us would presumably have pre
ferred to personally explain our
respective positions, rather than
have Bowen do that for us.
If the media are going to err,
they should err on the side of
being too skeptical of govern
ment and government officials,
rather than too gullible When
the Emerald doesn't take the
time to interview sources out
side student government, the
paper becomes a de facta
mouthpiece of the ASUO. The
ASUO Exec might be content
with that, but the Emerald
shouldn't be.
Ed Carson
Economics
Mail request
I am a prisoner at the Arizona
State Prison and am writing this
to ask if you will run this letter
in your campus newspaper for
correspondence. You have prob
ably received this request many
times from many prisoners and I
hope that they have not burned
you out 1 am here doing life and
have no family and the few
friends that wrote to me for
awhile when 1 first got here have
kind of just . trickled away 1
am not really looking (or an)
type or particular correspondent
and will answer any letters that
1 might get I just want to get
some mail and to maybe make
some new friends to talk with
through the mail Prison is prob
ably one of the most boring
experiences on the planet and
you have to actually think up
ways to break the monotony
once in a while or you will go
nuts. 1 will be happy to answer
any questions that anyone may
have about prison life, my court
experiences and/or criminal
activity. Or we can just talk
about anything anyone might
want to talk about
1 very much appreciate any
help you can give me in this
matter and if anyone is interest
ed, write to:
Tim Llpps, #47321
Ariz. State Prison
P.0. Box 8200
Florence, Ariz.