VIEWPOINTS
fOlTORlAlS OPINIONS t f I If RS TO THf f OlTOR
Salvi case raises guilt
by-association specter
■ OUR OPINION: The
murciew. not the groups
he belonged to.«
responsible for ihe crime
On Dec. 31. HPM, John
Salvi walked into a Planned
Parenthood ( link in Brook
line. Mam and Bred bullet*
into a receptionist and three
client*.
Ho then drove five mile*
to the Preterm clinic and
»hot it* receptionist and two
more people Both recep
tionist* were killed
Salvi. 23, is a Catholic
and is fanatkal in his anti
abortion belief*
Over the year* he has
attended Operation Rskim
protests in front of clinics
that provide abortion* and
other services (or women.
<.<tni|Hired himself to John
the Baptist and told his par
ents that he was the thief on
the cross next lo Jesus
Christ
He believe* that abortion
providers are murderer*
Today. Salvi stand* trial
for hi* murders, and amid
the continuing dekite sur
rounding hi* sanity, many
people are placing partial
responsibility for these and
other abort ion-related
deaths on anti-abortion
extremist groups and the
Catholic church.
These groups, they say.
create a climate of intoler
atn o fueled by religion that
attracts itoopio like John
Salvi Those groups gave
Salvi a target for a gun that
he was destined to fire
As comforting as this
blame-laying may feel to
pro-choice activists, it is
neither fair nor valid
Kogardleit* of on wltii h
side we land in the abortion
deflate. any reasonable per
son would recoil at the mur
der of these two women
What makes these killings
more appalling is that they
could have bean avoided if
wmaon«, anyone, would
have realize*) how danger
out Salvi was
A a such, we search for a
rationalization Many of us
would like in believe lhal
ihe rhetoric of anti-abort ion
tu tivtsls. whatever their
level of fervor, pushed Salvi
over the edge In truth, how
ever, the only person
responsible is Salvi himself.
Certainly, Operation Rea
» ue's message* lhal refer to
abortion providers as killers
incite hatred among its
believer* And yes. the
Catholic church continues
its slan<*» that abortion it a
mortal sin
But these do not reach
the level of criminal solici
tation. No one within these
groups told Salvi to kill
They cannot, therefore, la*
held legally or morally
accountable for his action*.
If we are to plac e respott
sihility for the actions of
sociopaths on the shuulders
of organizations they choose
to Join, we will be forcing
all people to be accountable
for the actions of the people
they associate with.
Not only is this unfair, it
is also a barrier to First
Amendment freedoms.
All people have a right to
speak their minds about any
issue they choose in this
country. Shy of criminal
solicitation or advocating
overthrow of the govern
ment. nothing should deter
them from doing so
If we must concern our
selves with how our words
will lie perceived by irra
tional people, we will stifle
that freedom and silence
many.
John Salvi picked up the
gun and killed. Me is the
only one who is guilty
MMftll
MMttf
CAA/ T VOU SEE IM
WO«K*^6 on the
V
r . r* sons# t*
uWOfc# Pft£SS<*f
nouj wfj /r
vw WAnTPO ?
am® ’r's Ovr or
Brother’s nasty habit creates huge crisis
Relation* Mwwn Japan and the U S
mtm to beat an all time low — and if*
all my lift la boat bar* fault, I know. I
know You thought the friendship
between the two powersbegan souring after
(ieotge Bush leaned over and gleeked (mom like
turbo hurled) hi* meal all ova* that unsuspect
log lapaneae dignitary's lap during a trade mbit
«d banquet several years ago
Never mind that the on going irade war ha*
lawn enough to make either of the two countries
want to pick up il* toy* and go home in a huff
However, there it one incident that stand* wit
a* the single cause of America's crumbling
tamataderie with lapan — and if* because of a
bumbling stunt my wacky little brother pulled
about JO rears apt)
For many years, my parents graciously hosted
international students from a number of roun
trie* Although none of the students aver actual
ly lived (n the house with u». Mom and Dad
often invited them to go on special family out
tugs to th«> coast the mountains or lo our coun
try home for « summer barbs* tie and
yellow Jacket dodging contest
On one particular trip, the folk* invtied two
sweet )*panose girls to go with the family to
Blue hake in Central Oregon Morn. Dad. my
older sister. "Ihrvi! Bov" (my brother Tom), the
two girls and I. all climbed into our nine-pas
soitger Cfc. y van and headed east for the moun
tain*.
I sat in the heck seal with Tom and a cheesy
book, the girls sat in from of us. and Dad drove
while Mom ke|»i up a polite and intermittent
banter with our guests
The only reason I feel 1 can now tell whai
happened nest, is that the statute of internation
al humiliation limitations has expired Other
wise. 1 would have been forced to testify before
the Council on Foreign Relations and a series of
United Nations hearing* about being an accesso
ry io “Embarrassing Pranks Committed Against
Humanity.’’
A* we traveled blissfully along. 1 sat reading
my mediocre novel unaware tha! I was on the
threshold of being pulled into a vicious plot that
would forever tarnish U.S.- Japanese relations —
and little Tommy the Terrible was the raving
mastermind It happened suddenly and without
warning
"Hey Dave, look at thlat”
1 glanced up. annoyed at the interruption, and
beheld what my monstrous brother had
wrought
There, perched firmly atop this menacing ft.
year-old s index finger, was the biggest, gooiest.
inuili-cokired boognr this side of the Cascade*
Let me clarify that It was a HUGE. SCARY
AND EXTHEMELY UNATTRACTIVE booger It
was both disgusting and big — In lact. I'm sure
it was a living organism
GET KID OF IT.“ wa* ihn only thing I could
think of hiding at Booger Boy a* I covered my
mouth to cttfln a roar of laughter and despair.
Tom looked at me and uid. "OK."
With that, he promptly
flicked “THE BIG GREEN
m
I MINI, on his Unger, appar
unity launching the particle of
note putty somewhere into the
van's passenger area in front of
I sal there (losing my battle
against laughing out loud), hor
rified but relieved that the sin
istor wad of goo hadn't
attached itself to me
Ta*m*ntan Tommy sat there chuckling devi
oualy
Thcn suddenly, one of the Japanese girls
turned halfway in her seat and faced us.
She wasn't smiling
"What is it?" she ask ml curtly, pointing to a
gooey, greenish glob parked fiendishly on her
forearm
Yep Tom's nasty nose nodule landed smack
dab on one of our guests Its impact sent a
shockwave rippling all the way to Tokyo.
As Boy Blunder literally exploded into a life
threatening fit of red-faced laughter, my mind
reeled (or some kind of rational explanation.
"I think it's a bug'" I blurted, hoping to avert
another Pearl Harbor
"I dtwt't think so," the martyred woman
replied a* she abruptly wiped away the oflfon
*ive entity with a Kleenex and a frown
At that point. Tom and I were completely
incapac itated by laughter Time stood still We
were dying Ufa as we knew it ceased to exist. 1
may have tried to offer up the lord's Prayer, but
can t remember if I even got past "Our Father “
But Cod did intervene, and we miraculously
survived the rest of the trip.
I real ire now my brother and 1 unwittingly
rewrote history at that moment I also realise the
incident was a classic case where it was entirely
inappropriate to laugh and absolutely impossi
ble to keep from doing so.
Tommy the Tyrant is atl grown up now. In
fairt. he's in Japan this month for three weeks of
winter training with his Army National Guard
unit
I should've called the State Department to
prepare them for the looming international cri
sis.
Japan is one of America's most important
allies, but l‘m afraid our already fragile friend
ship might not survive my Uttle brother's visit
David Bart bn, a junior prvntaforwg in journal
turn, is an miitorial editor for the Emerald E-mail
l*an&gladstorw uonrgpn #du