Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
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■ In my opinion
Democrats, bolt from Bolton
Democrats have made a huge mis
take in their pursuit of a political sym
bol over common sense. George Bush
has selected John Bolton for the post
of United Nations ambassador, and
Democrats seem determined to pick a
fight, wasting valuable political capi
tal on a near non-issue. Democrats
need to focus on fights they can win,
or at least fights that are politically
advantageous. On a more personal
level, I’d like to see Democrats engage
in fights that are right.
Is John Bolton the best person for
the job? Probably not. Is he the man
that President Bush selected? Yes. The
bottom line is that the main job of the
U.N. ambassador is to be the voice of
the president’s policy. It’s important
to note the difference between creat
ing policy and talking about it. How
often do you hear the news media
breaking stories about the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations?
The fact is that the position of ambas
sador is no kingpin in a presidential
bungalow but a cog in the smallest of
possible rotating wheels.
The Democrats have three major ob
jections to Bolton as ambassador: his
qualifications, his previous actions
working in U.S. intelligence and his po
litical opinions about the United Na
tions. The first and second protests are
easily dismissed. First, his qualifica
tions are about as important as his hair
cut. If President Bush has confidence in
him, why should Congress protest? If it
blocks Bush’s choice, there is no guar
antee that the president won’t choose
someone even less qualified.
Second, Bolton has been accused of
trying to fire aides who didn’t present
JENNIFER MCBRIDE
QUASHING DISSENT
intelligence he agreed with. The best
solution seems to be to get him out of
the U.S. intelligence system. Because
Congress doesn’t have the power to fire
him, it might as well grease the track
that will slide him down the hill from
important decision-maker to meaning
less bureaucrat.
But the third and most troubling
path of pursuit against Bolton are at
tacks by Democrats on his past com
ments. Bolton’s opinions are not that
inflammatory. They may even be justi
fied. In one speech that Sen. Barbara
Boxer criticized, Bolton said, “There is
no being out there called the ‘United
Nations.’ There is simply a group of
member governments who, if they
have the political will, every once in a
while ... protect international security.
... I think it would be a real mistake to
count on the United Nations as if it’s
some disembodied entity out there ca
pable of functioning on its own.”
His sentiments are entirely correct.
When members of the Security Coun
cil can veto any kind of resolution
they dislike, when Syria is a pivotal
guardian of human rights, when
member governments can sign onto
essential treaties with reservations
and wriggle through loopholes, I
agree that the United Nations has
been ineffective. Too often liberals see
the United Nations as a representa
tion of everything good in the world.
People should be more skeptical, es
pecially in the wake of oil-for-food
scandals and accusations that U.N.
workers frequently double as pimps.
Of course the United Nations has a
lot of positive attributes. The bottom
line, however, is that the United Na
tions failed to act in stopping genocide
in Rwanda, Sudan and Kosovo. Bolton
is right in his assumption that if the
United States withdraws from the Unit
ed Nations, it will collapse like a house
of cards. Without the United States, the
United Nations would be unmasked as
another powerless anachronism.
The problem is that focusing
attention on Bolton is distracting
from discussions of other nominees.
I’d rather see voters focused on the
nomination of Dr. Lester Crawford to
the position of U.S. Food and Drug
Administration commissioner. Craw
ford has presided over the push of
questionable medication into the
mouths of consumers, and he refus
es to certify that he will release the
“morning-after pill” into public
consumption. Crawford is timid be
fore the wrath of religious conserva
tives at a moment when so many
senators are deep in the pockets of
pharmaceutical companies. Now is
not the time to entrust public health
to another of President Bush’s
cowardly lapdogs.
In other words, Democrats need to
bolt from Bolton and concentrate on
more important issues.
jennifenncbride@dailyemerald.com
INBOX
How to be director of an
air-quality organization
Lane Regional Air Pollution Au
thority is seeking a new director and
recently went over the qualifications
needed by applicants. I would like to
extend some suggestions in case the
new director wants to keep his job.
First, realize that you must not
defend the citizens who complain of
asthma, brown skies, breathing
problems, polluted water from air
emissions or dangerous toxins. Lis
ten carefully to instructions from the
polluting industry and make sure
permits are few and never chal
lenged by LRAPA. Ignore all those
rules and regulations produced in
the state south of us; they would
never pass here. Allow pollution to
increase in our valley, approve every
new industry or polluter who wants
to build here and then assure the
public that everything is safe and
under control.
Job security is always part of
the picture.
Ruth Duemler
Eugene
■ Editorial
Extending
smoking
restriction
detrimental
University officials are working to extend
campus smoking policies to match a recent
citywide ordinance. Eugene City Council
passed the new ordinance Feb. 28. The law ex
tended the city smoking ban to 25 feet from the
doors of publicly owned buildings, and it does
not apply to University buildings.
Officials are wasting their time with this poli
cy. For one, we doubt the University is going to
start equipping the Department of Public Safety
with tape measurers to ensure that an addition
al 15 feet (the current standard at the University
is 10 feet) separates a smoker from a building.
We have seen signs on doors to buildings such
as the Lillis Business Complex stating that
smoking is not allowed within 50 feet. On a dai
ly basis, smokers practically lean against these
signs and light up. There is no system in place
for enforcing these rules, and until there is,
don’t squander time making more of them.
Paula Staight, director of health education at
the University Health Center, said she would
like to see smoking banned on campus, similar
to the policies in place at most K-12 schools.
The vast majority of students on this campus
are adults, at least legally speaking. College stu
dents should not be subject to the same rules
as children.
Let’s pretend the ban is now in effect.
Problem No. 1: People smoke to reduce
stress. Many college students (people with
heavy class loads, multiple jobs, bills, etc.) rely
on a quick cigarette during a 10-minute break
to calm down, collect their thoughts and pre
pare for their next class. If smoking were out
lawed on campus, it would result in a higher
stress level among students and professors.
Problem No. 2: Rather than forfeit smoking
during school hours, many would choose to
walk to the edge of campus to get their fix and
then rush to class. We’re not sure professors
would appreciate an increase in the number of
late students.
Problem No. 3: Smokers’ freedom is al
ready under attack in bars, restaurants and
every other indoor space. Many smokers un
derstand that smoking indoors poses a threat
to other people’s health. However, this cannot
be said for the outdoors. To extend smoking
laws to large outdoor areas would be an in
fringement on personal choice and civil liber
ties, with little payoff.
We would never encourage this unhealthy
habit, but we plead with the University ad
ministration to leave smokers the outdoors on
this campus. Setting empty rules with little
enforcement that infringe on student rights is
bad policy and a waste of time. In the words
of graduate teaching fellow Terese Reynolds
(”25 feet,” ODE, April 6), “This is the only
place we have left.”
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