VIEWPOINTS
Holocaust 'revisionist’
sends Emerald a check
■ OUR OPINION: Adver
tisement is hale-founded
but do we pnnt «t7
Every week the seven
member editorial board con
venes to determine which
issues will he discussed in
this column It's not often
the! we are presented with
an opiKirtunity to discuss
how those decisions am
made, nor do we present to
you the many topics that
am refected
This week was different
On Tuesday we received a
check for JltO and an adver
tisement that offerer) stu
dents free information from
a World Wide Web site The
money and the message
came from Bradley K
Smith, the founder of the
(kimmiliw for Open Debate
on the Holocaust The Web
site offers students the text
of an article titled “46 Unan
swered Questions Regarding
the World War II Caw.
Chambers.'"
In brief, the article ques
tions the notion that mass
executions took place bv
poisonous gas in several
Nazi concentration lamps
during World War II Mr
Smith would probably deny
this, as the article does not
deny overtly that there'
gassings occurred. Rather, it
merely “questions" the
killings by asking why no
locks appear on the doors of
the chambers, why no traces
of delousing gas ran be
found, etc
We recognized this as
camouflaged anti-Semitic
propaganda The Holocaust
is perhaps the bast-docu
mented event in modern
history.
Yet. we were faced with a
dilemma. Should the public
know that Holocaust “revi
sionists" such a Bradley
Smith exist, or should we
ignore him? Would not
printing hi* advertisement
fie considered censorship
and if so. would it he justi
fied? If we printed it. should
we keep the money or
donate it to the U.S Holo
caust Memorial Museum?
One of the missions of
this newspaper it to present
items of internal and impor
tance to the community
Our editorial policy is to
engage that community in a
dialog about the issues that
concern them and/or should
concern them Neither of
these policies aided our
decision
The Holocaust denial
movement does exist and
has gained significant atten
tion in recent years It is
newsworthy But if we
printed the advertisement
w« would be calling atten
tion to an ideology that we
find abhorrent We did not
want to aid Mr Smith in his
quest for more followers.
Without the aid of a poli
cy. we had to determine
who would he benefit from
the printing of the ad and
who would be harmed
Six million jews were
exterminated at the hands of
Nasi* — a massive death
that began with propaganda
Printing the advertisement
would nave upset thousands
of people, not the least of
whom would be descen
dants of the people who
died in the gas chambers
Mr Smith is questioning
Printing the ad would
have benefited Mr Smith
only and caused a debate
around an issue that is
clearly not debatable It it
censorship, hut the potential
harm outweighs the poten
tial good
We gave Mr Smith his HO
bucks back He can peddle
his hate somewhere else
MM»«l
MHW
WE RAVE fAOfrC 1
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W'VN^b CAWO'OATf
AGA'A^r cunrtw
Republicans buying Alexander’s ideas
Now ihai w# am look hack on Tues
day's New Hampshire results, and
beams* primary season is in hill
swing, we should take a look at the
status of each of the ihrw* major Republican can
didate*
With his slim victory In New Hampshire. Pat
Buchanan has shown that he and his followers
are a true forte in the GOP
The pugnacious journalist is the most
dichotomous person in the race On Buchanan's
dark »td«s wo hate his in flam
maiory racial rhetoric, his rail- I I
in* immigrant* hit
ultra-right iw ml view* and of
court*, through hi* campaign
manager lam Pratt, hi* po**i
hie tie* to ntmmut group*
cm nu< nansn > gooa side is i- * —t
his concern ft* (he plight of IMM
America * blue-collar workers
His provocative idea* about the MOB
world economy and its effort
on the American work force make even the most
avowed free market supporters myself Includ
ed. Question their dogma Buchanan has forced
the Republican Pany in try and determine
whether it* *m»! he* tn corporate America or in
middle Amenta For this, he should be given
credit
The Republican establishment has loaded its
gun* against him William F. Buckley Jr ha*
called him anii-SemetK . Gingrich and Dole have
tailed him an extremist, while William Bennet
has said that he flirts with fascism
However, in the unlikely event that Buchanan
does win the nomination, there is not much the
party elders tan do to slop him.
Bob Dole barely won in Iowa, and hi* second
place showing in New Hampshire (though be
lost by only 1 percent) shows that the man who
was once thought to have a lock on the nomina
tion it vulnerable.
In the long run, however, hit lorn to
Buchanan could prove to be better for Dole than
a victory tf moderates in future primaries are
afraid of Buchanan, they will probably turn to
the old war horse Also. Buchanan's victory
could inspire big name moderate Republicans
(e g Jack Kemp. Colin Powell, or former South
Carolina Governor Carol I Campbell) to come out
and endorse Dole.
On the other hand, the GOP paradigm shift
from pragmatism (e g Dole and Alan Simpson)
to ideology (e g Gingrich and Gramm) ha* hurt
Dole and hi* old-school pews This shift could
lead some voters afraid of Buchanan not to deal
maker Dole, hut to idea- man Alexandw
Lamar Alexander * surprising third place fin
ish** tn Iowa and New Hampshire have given the
fonrtw Tennessee governor great momentum
fit
The GOP paradigm shift from pragmatism to
ideology could lead voters afraid of
Buchanan not to deal-maker Dole, but to
idea-man Alexander.
-99
While Dole. Buchanan and Forties have stung
dirt at each other, Alexander long ago took a "no
negative ads" pledge (a la Ron Wyden) and twill
the most politically ideological platform of the
campaign His conservative ideals have been
packaged to sound simultaneously visionary
and moderate, and they have been selling.
Along the same lines, he hes been able to
point to himself as having both the insider qual
Kies of Dole (from his days as a governor and
the secretary of education! and the outsider
qualities of Forbes and Buchanan (as a lawyer,
president of the University of Tennessee, and a
businessman). This has made voters comfortable
with giving him the responsibility of the presi
dency without the fear that he will be another
typical politician
His biggest selling point, however, one that
Alexander gives the most play while campaign
ing. Is the question: "Who do you want to see in
that debate against BUI Clinton*"
This immediately reminds voters of Dole's
propensity to snap during times of tension and
Buchanan's fiery Huey long style rhetoric
Alexander has the best chance of any GOP can
didate to heat Clinton not only In a debate, hut
also in a national election.
The one problem that may piague Alexander
is a shady investment deal involving his wife
while he was governor (gee. that sounds tamil
iar). If these allegations of impropriety prove
true, voters will turn on him for taking the hyp
ocritical stance of an outsider when he may
have been acting like a typical politician all
along In this event. Dole can look forward to
the nomination of his party Buchanan wouldn't
have a chance in a head-to-head contest with
Dole.
The other candidates - Forties, l.ugar. Keyes.
Taylor, and Donum - are no longer factors
(except for Forties' money) Nut to disregard the
strengths of any of their resumes or ideas, but
they simply do not have enough popular sup
port.
If they truly cared about this race, they would
drop out now to let the party decide between
three different visions; one that recalls our shel
tered past, one that looks at the pragmatic
nature of our present, and one that looks toward
an idealistic future
Prtmo A / Fontana a senior motoring in eco
nomics, is a columnist for the Emerald