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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 2004)
Commentary New book displays Bush's flaws Forget the nonsensical back-and forth rhetoric being reported out of Washington this week regarding Richard Clarke's book "Against All Ene mies. " After actually reading it cover to cover, the following facts are apparent. First, the George W. Bush admin istration inserted an enormous layer of bureaucracy between themselves, Clarke and other terrorism experts, making communication between ---- them very GUEST ^fficuh. COMMENTARY ™,awuh the Bill Clinton administration almost daily, but was not allowed to actually talk to Bush until Sept. 4, 2001. Second, though Republicans have roundly criticized the Clinton ad ministration for its lack of terrorist planning, the Clinton team was ac tually very pro-active. The adminis tration did this by not only making Clarke and his staff of experts regu lars in the White Mouse, but by au thorizing military strikes, rooting growing al Qaida cells out of Bosnia and Europe and avenging the assas sination attempt on George H.W. Bush with military action against Iraq — all of this in opposition to the wishes of the 1990s Republican held Congress. For the past three years, Americans have been used, fearmongered and lied to, in order to achieve this administration's right-wing political agenda, including a bait and switch, bogus attack on Iraq. This move, the biggest foreign policy blunder since the trumped-up Spanish-American War in 1898, has not only cost the United States billions of dollars, hundreds of lives and thousands of maimed soldiers, but it has created a new generation of terrorists, now even more outraged by America. Iraq is now the vortex of that mistake, fu riously sucking budding Arab terror ists toward Baghdad. Donald Rumsfeld said the other day that, as he predicted, indeed we have found terrorists in Iraq. No kid ding. He invited them. Jim Bottorff, a 1996 University graduate, lives in Chicago. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Larson proves his weakness Lars Larson's recent refusal to par ticipate with other invited talk-radio hosts at Southern Oregon University's First Amendment Forum is revealing. He said that he would not attend the forum if he was not allowed to carry a concealed weapon onto the campus. Oregon administrative rules prohibit concealed weapons on state campuses. SOU administrators re fused to give in to Larson's demand and violate Oregon law, thus, no Lar son showing. Larson went on to gratuitously com pare his boycott activism to the actions of historical civil-rights giant Rosa Parks. Nice try, but a more accurate comparison might be "Chicken Uttle." We know personal safety is not the issue because Larson was offered the services of an armed security guard, which he refused. Perhaps Larson's blustery boycott is a convenient dis traction, masking his fear of having to debate ideas in an environment where he can't bully, ride the volume fader, break to commercial or simply hang up on callers whose views differ from his. Outside the domain of his own ra dio show he would be ceding the dy namic of wielding absolute control. Mr. Larson would have had a won derful opportunity to discuss and de bate his concerns about concealed weapons and public access issues re lating to weapons if he would have simply participated in the forum. 1 frankly don't believe he had the guts to do so outside the fortress of his right-wing broadcasting studio. Gerry Rempel Eugene Editorial Board doesn't understand concept of racism The Emerald recently corrected an error surrounding the 4J Chavez rally ("Chavez editorial miscon strues important point," ODE, March 11). But it is important to look at the main argument of the original article, in addition to its the Emerald missing the point and not understanding the deeper underpinnings of racism. Brad Schmidt said, "The Emerald Editorial Board does not talk to every individual involved in a discussion." While not talking with activists, the Emerald has used such heated rheto ric as "some of the worst rhetoric to fjIlfcS ¥ COMMENTARY mistake, because this is the most recent example of r date, and one of the worst plays of the race card the Editorial Board has seen in recent memory" ("41 Chavez campaign must look beyond race," ODE, March 10). In its "Vagina Monologues" editori al, the board dismissed a protest as "a bizarre display that seethes with a dis tinctly Eugenean brand of irony" ("Protesters undermined the diversity they sought," ODE, Feb. 17), and said, "The protesters' arguments ... are rid dled with fallacies that detract from their message of fairness, tolerance and diversity," saying "The protesters' arguments are ultimately divisive, not diversifying." This same argument was used in "4J Chavez campaign must look beyond race," claiming that it "constitutes a more racially divisive policy, harmfully dividing a community instead of unifying it." This tendency to blame protest ers for being "divisive" when they confront racism, rather than ana lyze the racism, is disturbing. I don't have the space to debate the racism that the protests surround ed, but when a person of color per ceives a group to be racist, unifying with them is not usually the first thing on that person's mind. The Emerald's accusations come down to the argument that it is "divisive" to claim someone is being racist. While examining these claims may be distressing, they are important claims that should be discussed, not set aside for the sake of unity. The Emerald's arguments also completely ignore the claims of institutional racism, seeing such conflicts only as personal disputes. While "Vagina Monologue" protesters claimed that a racist environment created a hostile space for performers of color that forced them out, the editorial board said "Some of those who complained that the play's cast did not represent them didn't try out for the play, and some of those who did dropped out." When protesters com plained that no outreach was done to minority populations, the Editorial Board said "It would be wholly inappropriate for the pro ducers to ask each auditioner what her sexual orientation or gender identity was, and worse yet, cast parts based on her answer." When people pointed out that each Eugene school was named after a white man, the Editorial Board said "Picking a namesake for the school on the basis of race reduces the recognition of legacy to tokenism." When they pointed out that the lack of representation of people of color, and Latinos specifi cally, shows that Eugene is still influ enced by racism, the editorial board was upset by its interpretation that "One of the common arguments for naming Southside after Chavez is a simple matter of demographics." I've come to love and depend on the Emerald for coverage of cam pus activities and activism. But instead of attacking anyone who claims something is racist, I would appreciate it if the Editorial Board would at least begin by analyzing the alleged racism. Toby Hill-Meyer is a senior majoring in women and gender studies and sociology. t summer sessions expand your mind and broaden your experiences enroll in UAA summer sessions for an extraordinary summer! may 24 — june 28 july 5 — aug. 7 may 24 — aug. 7 www.uad.i On-line registr, Non-residents pay in-state tuition for four credits o Undergraduates $90/credit - Graduates $202/credit Summer campus housing is available summer enrollment University of Alaska Anchorage
