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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2001)
Thursday Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com Cabinet picks’ diversity goes beyond the pale AND PROFITS ERIC PFEIFFER What does diversity mean in the world of politics? If you’re an activist at the Univer sity, it means increasing the cultur al diversity on our campus, while slamming the door shut on ideolog ical diversity. Liberals rule the land, and they don’t enjoy sharing their power. If you’re President-select George W. Bush, it means the most diverse cabinet nominations ever across racial and gender lines. But when it comes to politics, conservatives are running the show. Based solely on mainstream me dia coverage, it’s all too easy to be lieve that Bush has nominated a di verse cabinet of thinkers that will usher in a new era of bipartisan ship and centrist policy. Colin Powell, Bush’s nominee for Secretary of State, a man possi bly more popular than the incom ing president himself, has been hailed as the first sign of how Bush will run the Oval Office. Yes, Pow ell is an African-American. And yes, Powell’s political views are mostly centrist. He supports affir mative action and is pro-choice. But these distinctions have nothing to do with his pending duties. The Secretary of State does not decide whether to go to war in trimesters, and a quota sys amg u uues. tate does ^ irtogo Jk tem is not likely to be in place when the bombs start falling. When it comes to policy, Powell has a rep utation for keeping the United States out of conflict. He reluctant ly supported the Gulf War, did not support President Clinton’s efforts to include gays in the military and didn’t think we should have inter vened in Bosnia. He didn’t even think we should have been dropping food or medical supplies to refugees who were fleeing from Serbian troops. Former Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft is Bush’s nominee for Attorney Gen eral, the chief law enforcement of ficer in the country. Ashcroft is well-known on both sides as a staunch conservative who oppos es a woman’s right to choose, even in cases of rape or in cest. He has sponsored initiatives to break down the separation of church and state, opposed any forms of federal gun control and led the fight against Missouri’s first black ap pointee to the federal court. Powell and Ashcroft are just two examples in the trend of Bush ap pointments. A trend where indi viduals are touted for their “di verse opinions and backgrounds, but are placed in positions where their de cision making will fall convenient ly in line with the right-wing of the Republican Party. When Bush named Condaleeza Rice as his National Security Advi sor, the media focused on the fact that she is both a woman and a mi nority, who also happens to be pro choice. It’s quite a role reversal in the world of politics. Repub licans have long been the side to say that race and gen der should not be is sues that the government gets in volved in, but they are quick to change their tune when a good photo opportunity presents itself. Almost none of the media attention focused on Rice’s policy, positive or negative. Another element to consider is the return of employees from the original Bush administration. First, and most obvious, is Dick Cheney, Bush senior’s former Secretary of Defense, and the incoming vice president. Then there’s Powell, An drew Card (Chief of Staff), Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense) and the list goes on. Wouldn’t it have been wise for George W. to di versify his selections, not trying so hard to mirror the administration of his father—a man who received the lowest voter support of any sit ting president-elect since Taft? Then again, Dubya must have quite a long list of favors to pay off to Bush family supporters and cam paign donors. In a town like Eugene, where the word ‘diversity’ is tossed as often as an ultimate Frisbee, it would serve us well to define what diver sity actually means to our campus community and political climate. Is it only a rainbow of colors, or does it also include the diversity of policy and beliefs? While it is of paramount concern to support a climate of racial, cultural and gen der equality, it should be equally important to support the diversity of ideas. Eric Pfeiffer is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessari ly represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at epfeiffe@gladstone. uoregon.edu.1 Bryan Dixon Emerald
