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Perspectives
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Holly Sanders
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Don’t scrutinize Clinton’s sex life
Americans need to worry
about policy issues, not
personal affairs
This is none of your business.
It’s none of mine, either.
For that matter, Bill Clin
ton’s sex life is not the busi
ness of anyone other than the presi
dent and his wife.
For weeks, we’ve heard about the
president’s alleged affairs and how
the government should not attempt
to hide them. We’ve heard how Bill
Clinton should be a role model.
We’ve heard how the president
should just come clean and resign.
With all these "shoulds,” many
people have failed to notice what
President Clinton is: a married man
and leader of this country.
As a married man, it is Clinton’s
duty to handle extramarital affairs
with his spouse,
not the public. Asa
married man, the
president’s respect
for his wife comes
into question, not
his ability to run a
nation. Asa mar
ned man, Clinton
is expected to be
honest with his
family, not just his
drinking buddies.
Clinton’s job as Commander-in
Chief is not much different from his
familial one. But these unproven do
mestic delinquencies must not tar
nish his presidential proficiency.
Critics have charged that recent
White House feats are attempts to di
vert the public from the media blitz
surrounding Monica Lewinsky. Re
publicans have labeled threats of
striking Iraq as a smoke screen to dis
tract Americans from the controver
sy. And the balanced budget pro
posed earlier this week has not
received the credit it deserves for the
simple reason that it came on the
high heels of a White House crisis.
But this is not an administration in
danger of losing respect. That’s illus
trated by some of the highest ap
proval ratings since Clinton was
elected president. According to an
Associated Press article, some con
servatives blame this high support
on public presumption of Clinton’s
innocence.
And that’s wrong?
The American justice system
Jonas
Allen
prides itself on finding defendants
innocent until proven guilty. If con
servative guesses are correct, that’s
exactly what the public is doing.
More importantly, Americans are fo
cusing on the promises and accom
plishments of the Clinton adminis
tration.
Although critics claim the bal
anced budget proposal and threats to
Iraq are distractions, those issues
have been around much longer than
the recent controversy. A balanced
budget has been on Clinton’s agenda
since day one of his administration.
Military strikes against Iraq have
been at the back of everyone’s mind
since late 1997.
Clinton has proved himself to be a
capable leader. He has proposed a
balanced budget for 1999, the first
time that’s been done in three
decades. He has steered this country
through international crises and led
America to one of its strongest eco
nomic periods in years. The man
even saw us through the O.J. Simp
son trial, for goodness sakes.
Several days after the accusations
arose, Clinton looked the media
straight in the eye and said he did
not have sexual relations with Moni
ca Lewinsky. He concluded by say
ing he was “going to go back to work
for the American people.”
Bill Clinton has never stopped
working for the American people.
This nation needs to focus on the
president’s proposals to improve the
country, not the ones allegedly made
to an intern. We need to focus on
what this administration has
achieved, not the scandals that have
tried to bring it to its knees. This is
especially important because none
of the recent accusations has been
proved.
Washington, D.C., has seen a
whirlwind of White House develop
ments in the past few weeks. Clin
ton’s critics have blown by his ac
complishments and labeled him as a
man unfaithful to his wife and coun
try. Unless the sexual accusations
are actually confirmed, President
Clinton has been faithful to his
promises, both marital and political.
And that’s what should matter to
America.
Jonas Allen is a columnist for the Emer
ald. His columns appear on alternate
Friday’s. His views do not necessarily
represent those of the newspaper.
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emeratd
CORRECTION
In the campus
brief “Senate
postpones court
appointment”
(ODE, Feb. 5),
Andrew Oberriter
should have
been identified
as a former con
stitutional court
justice. The
Emerald regrets
the error.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Protect all women
Since I wrote an article last week
for the Oregon Commentator regard
ing the Danta Graham-Preston case,
I have been actively sought out by
several members of the ASUO and
complemented on a well-written
and thought-out article regarding the
sensitive issue of rape on campus.
While I want to pat myself on the
back for a job well done, I can’t. I
must have done something wrong
because not one of them appears to
understand my article. If there was
one fundamental theme that ran
throughout the article it was crystal:
Campus judicial systems do not pro
vide rape victims with any real jus
tice, let alone create a safe University
community. I thought my logic was
clear. But don’t take my word for it:
“Indeed, a college or a university
should never undertake the adjudi
cation of a felony or sexual violence
without first reporting the incident
to the local police and prosecutor.
The duty of every citizen is to report
serious crime when he or she be
comes aware of it. Nor should
schools allow crime victims to dic
tate whether a crime is reported to
the local police and prosecutor. In
the face of serious crime, the greater
good must sometimes displace the
preferences of the individual.”
Who said this? None other than
Eileen Wagner, an attorney and for
mer college professor who works for
Security on Campus, a non-profit or
ganization that specializes in pro
viding legal defense for victims of
rape on college campuses.
But if the University wants to let a
couple of students and administra
tors who think they can come up
with a court that is better than what
a thousand years of common law tra
dition has previously dictated run
rampant ... God forbid I get in the
way.
If Graham-Preston is indeed guilty
(and I might add that while it is obvi
ous where my sympathy lies in this
case, I am deeply concerned about
the lack of protection for the accused
in the campus court system), he
should be in jail. Period. He should
not be enrolling in the University of
Washington next year, where there
are even more available women, not
the least of which are a few who
happen to be friends of mine. If any
thing happens to them, the Univer
sity won’t just have blood on their
hands, but by the time I’m done with
those who are responsible for this
abomination, it will be their own.
Oh, I’m sorry. Did that sound like a
threat? Perhaps not as big a threat as
turning an alleged rapist loose on the
community.
So when the ASUO has a “candle
light vigil” at 9 a.m. today to “sup
port the victims and the campus ju
dicial system,” forgive me if I get a
little upset. First, it took anonymous
posters saying, “Where is campus
support for rape victims?” that made
the ASUO look bad before they
sprang into action. Second, you can’t
have it both ways — if you support
the campus judicial system, you’re
not delivering any justice to the vic
tims who have to go through the
agony of another appeal, nor are you
protecting the other women on cam
pus and the community at large. The
idea is about as incongruous as,
well, a candlelight vigil at 9 a.m.
Made Hemingway
Editor, Oregon Commentator