Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, November 18, 2004
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■ In my opinion
Good riddance
to bad attorney general
Attorney General John D.
Ashcroft, the most Orwellian figure
of the Bush administration,
announced Nov. 9 that he is resign
ing from his post. Praised by some
conservatives, disdained by most
civil libertarians (myself included)
and vilified by leftists, the former
senator has served as a visible face
of the administration’s domestic
anti-terrorism efforts.
Ashcroft epitomized the Bush ad
ministration’s approach to all brands
of challenges it faced during its first
term, from sex education policy to
military action in Afghanistan:
Ashcroft has served as direct and
uncompromising, stymied in policy
goals only by the bounds of consti
tutionality and, occasionally,
jurisprudence.
That simple, unyielding rigor
extends to his personal life, too.
He doesn’t smoke or drink
or even dance. Such asceticism
may seem odd, but politicians
appointed to federal office are often
offbeat. It takes an eerily tireless
breed to brave the day-in-day-out
goings-on of managing a Byzantine
bureaucracy in turn responsible for
the common defense of the world’s
third-largest nation.
In fact, you might want someone
this adamantly square, albeit pecu
liar, to be your attorney general.
(President Clinton certainly thought
so when he tapped eventual Satur
day Night Live joke Janet Reno for
the position.) Someone so dedicated
to rules and unsusceptible to philo
sophical or political caprice might
serve well as the nation’s chief legal
TRAVIS WILLSE
RIVALLESS WIT
officer, representing a government to
best improve the livelihoods of a
nation’s citizens through arguing
public policy.
But even during the close of his
often-embattled tenure, Ashcroft
only lives up to half of this hypothet
ical bargain. During remarks to the
Federalist Society’s national conven
tion, he blasted the judicial branch
for a “profoundly disturbing trend”
of “intrusive judicial oversight”
(read: checks and balances) over
executive decisions.
His argument is as follows: “Sec
ond-guessing of presidential deter
minations in these critical areas can
put at risk the security of our nation
in a time of war.” Later: “Our nation
and our liberty will be all the more
in jeopardy as the tendency
for judicial encroachment and
ideological micro-management are
applied to the sensitive domain of
national defense.”
This argument is philosophically
bunk, but worse, it’s dangerous. The
sensitivity and exigency of these “ar
eas,” and the extent to which novel
national security measures violate
traditional rights, should make “sec
ond-guessing” more important, not
less. (“Second-guessing” should be
cynically read as “due review to en
sure constitutionality of government
conduct.”) Were Ashcroft really so
interested in protecting liberties and
staving off “ideological micro-man
agement,” he should welcome bal
anced judicial insight, not reject
tests of constitutionality applied to
new policies that probably overstep
the government’s authority.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court
rejected a Justice Department argu
ment that the Bush administration
may indefinitely hold and interro
gate alleged al-Qaida and Taliban
combatants without the right to an
attorney. Enemy combatants (or
whatever Guantanamo Bay de
tainees are) certainly aren’t due all
the legal benefits that citizens are
due when charged with a crime.
However, Ashcroft ought to have
come up with a justification for de
facto habeas corpus that was cogent
enough to pass muster under judi
cial review, rather than sloppily de
nouncing the involved judges as
nettlesome and partisan “activists.”
Despite his composure and con
stancy, these and other jurispruden
tial missteps — which have often
served the end of curtailing important
liberties — mean that I won’t soon
miss Attorney General John Ashcroft.
We need for the nation’s top legal of
fice someone with Ashcroft’s stead
fast soul, but with a mind that will ap
ply that resolve to placing civil
liberties and the balance of powers
above unchecked executive privilege,
not the other way around.
traviswillse@dailyemerald. com
INBOX
College administrators:
We like them apples
I am somewhat embarrassed to say
that 1 have been dealing with Oregon
college administrators for nearly seven
years now, some good, some bad. Well,
some really bad.
But my point is they aren’t all
burnt-out or unethical, or just plain
mean to students. 1 wish I could say
that I had the magic bullet to turn the
sour apples into sweet ones, but 1
don’t. 1 do know that even with the
bad apples in the bunch it is import to
honor and respect the good ones, to
encourage their growth.
That is why we are really lucky in
Oregon to have presidents like Eliza
beth Zinzer from Southern Oregon Uni
versity and Dan Bernstiene from Port
land State University and Ed Ray from
Oregon State University and even Dave
Frohnmayer here in Eugene, to name a
few. These people genuinely care about
what they are doing and have a thirst
for learning unmatched by anyone I
have ever met. They are excellent hu
man beings and it shows in their work.
Some college administrators, like
Chancellor George Pernstiener and
others, I like to think of as students
that couldn’t help but eventually
grow up. They care about our cam
puses, like a good student body presi
dent would, and take steps to ensure
the well-being of their peers.
I guess my point is, when reading
about salary increases that go against
the directions of the governor and pub
lic employees that get caught stealing
money from us so they can renovate
their homes, keep in mind that they
aren’t all bad and that there is hope for
us. Not every public employee de
serves jail time or a public flogging and
if we throw all of them into one catego
ry, we are going to do harm to the good
ones. To go against the cliche: One bad
apple will not spoil the bunch.
Tim Young
Graduate Student
Media 'sharks' have
racist feeding frenzy
It’s so shameful to read in the
Emerald of venomous attacks
against Muslims, Arabs and the
Palestinians. The death of Palestin
ian leader Yasser Arafat has provid
ed an “opening and cover” for the
many bigoted and hate-filled allies
of Israel to launch a relentless cam
paign against the Palestinian people.
Under the “cover” of venomous at
tacks against Yasser Arafat, these
pundits and “talking heads” have
been emboldened to indirectly at
tacking the Palestinian people while
conveniently ignoring their daily
suffering and ruthless oppression at
the hands of the Israelis.
Like a school of sharks that smell
blood in the water, the media has
gone on a racist feeding frenzy at the
expense of the Palestinian people. Is
n’t it time that we start examining
the tragedy in the Holy Land with a
clear head and eyes wide open, free
from cult-like worship and undue in
fluence of Israel, her hatchet men
and apologists?
The tragedy in the Holy Land is
not about one man. It is very much
about decades-long brutality and in
justice that has been unleashed on
its indigenous inhabitants, the Pales
tinian people. Let’s not bury the
truth about Israel’s inhumanity
along with Mr. Arafat.
Nadia Sindi
Eugene
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■ Editorial
Suicide
surrounded
by sad social
stigmas
Suicide touches us all. Everyone knows
someone who has contemplated it, or might
have contemplated it themselves. Suicide can
happen to anybody. Nobody is immune, and
it can hit without warning. At one moment, a
person might feel deliriously happy, content,
even bored, then at the next moment every
thing can feel wrong. For those who suffer
from depression, even the smallest incident
can bring about suicidal thoughts.
When the sadness comes, it reaches to your
bones. And, worst of all, it feels like it is never
going to go away. It convinces you that it is
permanent; that you will never again feel the
slightest twinge of happiness or pleasure.
Of course, this is never the truth. Things al
ways change. Life is always in flux. We are
never powerless. Happiness will return to a
sad life, just as sadness will return to a happy
life. Sometimes we just need to be reminded
of that. Sometimes we just need to talk to
somebody. That is why 24-hour suicide hot
lines, and campus counseling services, make
such a critical difference. A caring, anony
mous voice, even in the darkest and most
troubling hours of the night, can save a life.
Suicidal feelings are nothing to be ashamed
about. As a culture, we need to be more open
about our dark emotions. We aren’t weak for
feeling these things. We aren’t “mentally ill.”
It isn’t abnormal. It isn’t childish. There
should be absolutely no stigma attached to
having suicidal thoughts. What we need to
foster is stigma-free open communication.
That is why the Emerald is concerned
about proposed policy changes, which would
allow the University to force suicidal students
to take medical leave. We understand that the
policy is only meant for the rare depressed
student that refuses to seek help and is be
coming danger to others. We understand the
University’s concerns about liability issues.
It is of concern that the policy might create
an environment of fear, real or imagined, in
students; they might think if they admit to
suicidal thoughts, they will get kicked out of
school. The last thing the University should
be doing is giving students additional reasons
to stay silent and keep their pain a secret.
We don’t know if our concerns are justified,
mostly because the student body has not been
involved in the process up to this point. The
Emerald insists that, at the appropriate stage
in the process, the student body is given the
opportunity to comment on the proposed
changes. We further insist that student com
ments are taken seriously and that they result
in changes to the developed policy, if that is
the will of the students. Refusing to do so will
make the policy illegitimate in our eyes, and
it will greatly hamper the University’s effec
tiveness in enforcing it.
Occasions like this one are an excellent op
portunity to raise awareness about the issue
of suicide. The University should be worrying
more about ways to encourage students with
suicidal feelings to come forward rather than
giving them more reasons to stay quiet. We
must as a society work to remove the stigma
surrounding suicide.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief
David Jagernauth
Editorial Editor
Steven R. Neuman
Managing Editor
Gabe Bradley
Freelance Editor