0regotrirj£meraU>
NEWSROOM:
Wl} 346-5511
E-MAIL
(riefa'jRgn uwegcaedu
ON-LINE EDITION
uoregcjaeAV-ufe
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
KameronCole
Stefanie Knowlton
Larry Flynt vs. adultery?
Although Flymt believes he is
helping the president, he is only
adding to the sleaze that
surrounds Capitol Hill these days
Bring on the Y2k bug. Hurl an as
teroid directly at the United
States. Bring on the biblical apoc
alypse. Why not?
While I don’t personally give much
credit to any of these theories destroy
Opinion
_Mm
Aaron
Artman
nig the planet, I some
times wish they were true.
The last seven years of my
life I’ve seen more laws
manipulated with legal
double talk, cover-ups
and blatant lies than I can
possibly stomach. And
that’s only talking about
the president of the Unit
ed States.
On the eve of the Senate
Impeachment trial, would it
be too much to ask if we
can simply have the presentation of the
fads followed by a Senate vote to put this
whole ordeal to rest?
Yes, as a matter of fact, it would.
Thanks to Larry Flynt, the publisher of
the sex magazine Hustler, the American
people can add blackmail to the lengthy
list of crimes that the Democrats see as ir
relevant.
Flynt, an alleged friend of President
Clinton and lead strategist James Carville
(who actually appeared in the biographi
cal Fdm “The People vs. Larry Flynt"), is
offering one million dollars for proof of
“an adulterous sexual encounter” by
members of Congress or other high-rank
ing government officials.
Thus far, not a single Democrat has
made a single statement encouraging Fly
nt to stop his tactics. And why should
they? Flynt’s strategy is aimed at revealing
the hypocrisy behind the Republican’s de
sire to impeach Clinton. Because no De
mocrats are under attack, why would they
IT W/fS
OMLY Ouce...
I
;2
C
want to interfere with Flynt?
The blackmail campaign already forced
the resignation of Republican House
Speaker-elect Bob Livingston. Tuesday,
the campaign may have taken another vic
tim with Georgia Republican Congress
man Bob Barr accused of having multiple
affairs as well as paying for a former wife’s
abortion. That is not the kind of press a
pro-life congressman needs, but the mo
tive behind Flynt’s attacks seems convo
luted.
In fact, it doesn’t even make sense. Why
take down a congressman who has already
cast his vote for impeachment?
If Flynt is really against the hypocrisy,
then why is he paying women for their
stories? For
years the Clinton
team destroyed
the credibility of
women alleging
sexual misconduct because they were
paid by a media outlet for their story.
Now, all of a sudden, we are supposed to
believe these allegations.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the re
moval of morally bankrupt legislators and
government officials. I don’t care if they
are Republicans or Democrats. But when
sex magazine publishers are footing the
bill for these removals, something is very
wrong.
Hey Larry, if you are going to pay hook
ers to bring down our nation’s leaders,
take down both Democrats
and Republicans. Otherwise it
is fiercely partisan. And how
can you be a supporter of the De
mocratic party if you participate in
partisan politics. After all, isn’t that
the job of the witch-hunting, sex-obsessed
Republicans?
Flynt may believe he is helping Clinton
and the Democrats, but in essence, he is a
fine illustration of the clichd that the pot is
calling the kettle black. By engaging in a
witch-hunt of his own, Flynt is just anoth
er example of a confused American claim
ing that the whole impeachment ordeal is
just about sex.
Aaron Artman is a columnist for the Emerald.
His views do not necessarily represent those of
the newspaper.
Letters to the Editor
Article unfair
I would like to address a couple of the comments
in the Nov. 21 Oregonian article, “One in four trucks
rumbled north in spite of bad brakes, bald tires etc.”
The national average for our out of service viola
tions on commercial vehicles is 25 percent; there
fore, the Oregon experience followed the national
trend. This figure is higher than any of us in the in
dustry would like to see, but it should be noted that
these trucks are not selected on a truly random basis
for inspection. The enforcement officers have a data
base identifying which companies have a known
safety problem and those are the companies that are
targeted.
This allows the agencies to best use their limited
resources by targeting the known unsafe carriers
and letting the better companies proceed without
inspection. However, this practice skews the aver
age number of trucks placed out of service. We can
show you many Oregon trucking companies whose
out of service ratio is as low as 5 or 6 percent, and
some who have no out of service violations. It was
also noted in the article that employers must trust
the driver to advise them if he or she has a traffic
conviction. In fact, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations require each motor carrier to “ make an
inquiry into the driving record of each driver it em
ploys every twelve months.”
Again, we support the enforcement efforts of OSP
and ODOT. To those who share the highways with
our trucks, please be assured that we are working
diligently with these agencies to remove unsafe dri
vers and trucks from the highway. In the meantime,
please remember that the vast majority of truck dri
vers on our highways are safe, professional and
make their living delivering all the products you
and I will find on the store shelves today.
John S. Sallak
Executive Vice President, Trucking Associations
Clinton Defense Fund
It is a shameful situation that the country is in
now. True, President Clinton did have a disgusting
relationship with Monica Lewinsky. However, with
Paula Jones, his request for oral sex was refused. She
walked away, and Gov. Clinton did nothing. She
went back to her job, received favorable ratings and
pay raises.
Then several years later, he told a Republicans or
ganization what had happened. The final result; she
walks away with nearly $1 million. Not bad.
Lewinsky, an attractive sexually experienced
young girl in her 20s, reveals to the president, by
lifting up her dress, her undergarments. Any man,
aged 50 or so, would respond to such activity. The
president did as she expected. All future contracts
were made by her.
So after meetings involving some sexual inci
dents, over a period of less than 15 months, and un
der investigation by Starr, Lewinsky will walk away
with about $5 million in media and public appear
ances.
Now the president is left with legal bill of about
$5 million. If only 10 percent of the 47 million vot
ers who favored the president will send him a dollar
or two into a defense fund, the bill can be paid. No
Republican critic would be able to point a finger at
any number of prominent democrats and accuse
them of paying the bill.
The supporters of a Clinton Defense action
should mail checks to :
Mrs. Hillary R. Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20502
Sol Lubitsch
Florida
LOTTOS POUCY
The Oregon
Daily Emerald wi
attempttoprintaB
letters containing
comments on top
ics of interest to
the University
community, let
ters must be limit
ed to 250 words.
The Emerald re
serves the right to
edit any letter for
length, clarity,
grammar, style
and libel. Letters
may be dropped
off at EMU Suite
300.