Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, July 19, 2005
Bret Furtwangler | Graphic artist
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■ In my opinion
The Rove reprimand: Where is it?
Political leaders are becoming a little
too much like celebrities. Their pic
tures are in the paper each morning;
their every action is monitored and re
ported by the media. With the kind of
press coverage modern politicians re
ceive, one would expect government
officials to exude an extremely high
level of accountability. And yet, just the
opposite has occurred.
It has been all over national head
lines that Deputy Chief of Staff Karl
Rove was the confidential informant
who gave journalist Matthew Cooper
the identification of Valerie Plame as a
CIA operative. Cooper spoke with Rove
while putting together a story on Am
bassador Joseph Wilson, vocal critic of
the war in Iraq and husband to Plame.
It eventually became clear that
Plame’s post gave her the power to hire
her husband, who went on to analyze
reports on Saddam Hussein’s possible
tracking of Uranium. By revealing
Plame’s name, and therefore her earlier
assistance in providing Wilson with
the job of analyzing documents, Rove
apparently hoped to de-value Wilson’s
professional conclusion that there was
no solid evidence to attack Iraq.
Although some remain unsure of
Rove’s guilt, it was reported in the
New York Times on Monday that
Cooper almost went to jail for refus
ing to disclose the source from which
he later discovered Plame’s name.
Yet, now that the source (Karl Rove)
is out in the open, legal action in the
Cooper/Plame matter has come to a
screeching halt. How is it that Coop
er could be imprisoned because
Plame’s identity was released, but ab
solutely no action has been taken
now that the identity of Cooper’s orig
inal informant is known? Because of
AILEE SLATER
FURTHER FROM PERFECTION
his position as a prominent member
of government, no one is willing to
step forward and take real action
against, or investigate Rove.
Bush promised that he would fire
anyone in his administration who
leaked classified information. Although
there is some debate about Karl Rove’s
exact words, it is known for sure that
Rove at the very least exposed the fact
that Joseph Wilson’s wife was an un
dercover CIA agent in Iraq. With any
prior information about Wilson’s life or
with the help of a phone book, getting
Valerie Plame’s name would be an in
stantaneous task for any reporter.
Kdrl Rove has not been removed
from his position as deputy chief of
staff. The interesting thing is that as an
appointed position, the deputy chief of
staff cannot be impeached, only fired
by the president himself.
The debate within the public and
the government continues as to
Rove’s level of guilt; the only thing we
can assume is that Rove is not now,
nor will ever be, held truly account
able for his action. If Bush hasn’t kept
his promise of firing the leak by now,
he probably never will. In fact, he
even issued a revised statement: Bush
now claims that he will fire anyone
who has committed a crime. Because
it has not yet been determined if
Rove’s action was criminal, Bush will
probably never have to worry about
keeping either of his promises. Again,
an influential politician who believes
that he can say one thing, do
another, and still hope to keep this
country together.
Especially amusing is Bush’s quote,
“It’s best if people wait until the inves
tigation is complete before you jump to
conclusions. I don't know all the
facts.” A peculiar position to take, con
sidering Bush’s strong stance in favor
of a pre-emptive attack in Iraq without
a full scale investigation into the coun
try’s true WMD threat. I guess justice
is different when the potentially guilty
party is a friend and co-worker.
In a democratic system such as the
United States, it is of the utmost impor
tance that politicians are held to the
same (if not higher) standard that they
promote. More importantly, members
of the government must hold one an
other accountable: It is all too easy to
develop political corruption when indi
vidual officials discover that they can
get away with breaking the rules and
have their friends cover for them.
The facts come down to these: Wil
son was silenced when he attempted
to disprove evidence for the war in
Iraq, and his wife was put in danger
by a man from the organization pro
moting the war. Whether Rove’s com
promise of Plame’s identity was for
spite or by accident, the deputy chief
of staff must still face the conse
quences that come with having re
sponsibility and making a mistake.
Bush’s decision to support Karl Rove
is a poor show of character from him
self to his country, and therefore his
country to the rest of the world.
aileeslater@ daily emerald, com
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■ Editorial
Government
must make
education
top priority
On July 1, 2005, the interest rates on stu
dent loans jumped 1.97 percent; producing a
hefty 70 percent increase from last year’s rate.
As though the affordability of higher educa
tion were not in jeopardy enough: Already
this year, President Bush has disallowed any
increase in the Pell Grant (after being explicitly
told that his action would result in an enroll
ment decline), while simultaneously plowing
through the war in Iraq with whatever Ameri
can tax dollars he can get his hands on.
Bush has already racked up a huge national
deficit, making it likely that the problem of
funding higher education will not be solved
any time soon. It is not fair to college students
that every time a budget shortfall occurs, we
are the ones getting stiffed.
As important as it may be for the United
States to complete its mission in Iraq, it is
also the job of our government to figure out
how to budget and spend wisely in order to
create the best nation possible. Any good
money manager knows that pouring re
sources into just one venture is never a good
idea, as it will probably create an imbalance
in final profit.
Every single mother in this nation knows
that getting a weekly paint job on her SUV
automatically means her family will not
have food, much less a good education. Par
ents of all class levels almost always recog
nize the ultimate importance and weight
that an education carries.
It is not sufficient for President Bush to say
that there isn’t enough money to allow lower
and middle class students to attend college:
George W. Bush signed up to do a job and
create the best United States possible.
Tliition is steadily rising, and no one but
the government has any power to make sure
students without financial resources can still
get an education. With smaller scholarships
and higher tuition, even the smartest young
students of this country will be unable to
earn degrees. The students who do earn de
grees will spend the rest of their lives paying
off student loans, having that much less
money to send their own children to college.
The higher loan interest rate increases the
cost associated with getting a higher educa
tion and thus decreases the amount of peo
ple that are able to afford it. Taking money
out of education funding and charging high
er tuition and interest rates sends a danger
ous message to aspiring college students:
Your government doesn’t think it’s impor
tant for you to go to college. Not important
enough for it to help you out, anyway.
The United States and the rest of the
world has shown, time and time again, that
a lack of education leads to poverty, crime,
disappearances in equal rights, and a down
fall in a nations’ overall quality of life. If the
United States truly wants to keep itself safe,
political leaders ought to put more energy,
and more funds, into building a nation of in
telligent citizens. Every stand for education
is a step in the right direction. President
Bush should take a long look at his recent
budget proposals, as well as the state of stu
dent loan interest rates, and evaluate the ap
parent priorities of this country.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Shadra Beesley Ailee Slater
Editor in Chief Commentary Editor
Tim Bobosky
Photo and Online Editor