Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, November 1, 2005
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gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald
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■ In my opinion
Bush’s second-term curse
In the world of baseball, supersti
tion seems to be falling by the way
side. In the last two seasons, suppos
edly cursed teams have swept the
World Series. Last season, the
Boston Red Sox rose above the Curse
of the Bambino. This year, the
Chicago White Sox rose above the
Curse of the Black Sox.
With famous curses dropping like
flies, the Chicago Cubs’ faithful are
hoping they can rise above their sup
posed curse in order to claim victory
in next year’s Fall Classic. Don’t hold
your breath.
Those who want to see another
curse demolished in the coming
year should look not to baseball, but
to politics.
At this nation’s founding, George
Washington established a tradition
that no one would ever serve more
than two terms as President of the
United States. Ever since Franklin D.
Roosevelt broke Washington’s tradi
tion by winning four terms, every
president who has won a second
term has suffered immense setbacks.
The second term is supposedly
the term when a president can do
the most good. Because the presi
dent will never have to run for office
again, he can focus on advancing his
agenda instead of positioning him
self for a re-election campaign.
Moreover, he doesn’t need to raise
funds for his own campaign, which
frees him up to fund raise for his
political allies.
With the increased favor of his al
lies and no future electoral concerns,
a second-term president should the
oretically be a lean, mean politicking
machine. In practice, though, sec
ond-term presidents have been
GABE BRADLEY
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
plagued by scandal, missed opportu
nities and botched initiatives for the
last half century. It’s called the
Second-Term Curse — and it has
struck again.
Though his re-election campaign
made him the first man to win a
presidential election with a majority
of the popular vote in 16 years, Pres
ident George Bush’s reserve of politi
cal capital seems to be overdrawn.
He has proposed a hurricane relief
plan that members of both parties
have called into question. He fol
lowed up one of the smoothest
Supreme Court confirmations in re
cent memory with the totally
botched nomination of Harriet Miers
to fill the court’s vacancy. Just last
week, the vice president’s chief of
staff resigned in the face of indict
ments for making false statements
and obstruction of justice. Mean
while, the president’s deputy chief of
staff remains under investigation for
similar allegations.
In all this hullabaloo, the presi
dent’s domestic agenda, which start
ed off so strongly, has ground to a
screeching halt. His approval rating
is plummeting. And though his aides
insist that he’s not the kind of presi
dent to care about what the pollsters
are saying, there are a lot of Con
gressmen who had been planning to
ride Bush’s coattails to victory in
‘06. If Bush can’t push his agenda
through Congress before the
midterm elections next year, he will
have to hope the Republicans can
maintain control of Congress or risk
losing forever the chance to imple
ment his agenda.
But all hope is not lost. Just as the
Fenway Faithful continued to root
for their Red Sox year after frustrat
ing year, I am not fair-weather fan.
As a Bush Believer, I am rooting for
our president to pull out of this
slump, knock the ball out of the park
and get his administration back
on track.
This president is tough, innova
tive and knows how to surround
himself with good people. This pres
ident’s opponents will have to keep
their champagne on ice for a little
while longer — they haven’t derailed
the Bush presidency yet.
President Reagan dealt with his
second-term slump by replacing sev
eral key members of his team. I
don’t think that’s how this president
will handle it, though. President
Bush, though he surrounds himself
with seasoned Washington players,
seems to revel in defying conven
tional wisdom. This can sometimes
be his weakness (e.g. the Harriet
Miers nomination), or it can be one
of his biggest strengths.
This next year is going to be an in
teresting year for politics, no matter
the team you’re rooting for. And
who knows ... we might just see the
Second-Term Curse lifted.
gbradley@ daily emerald, com
■ Guest commentary
ASUO shouldn't infringe on liberty
With my extended experience in
college, I have come to realize that
the most illustrious term in a school
year is fall. A backbone to this
argument is the presence of football
games. I’m the type to wait in ex
tremely long lines and even camp in
the cold for tickets. All this is only a
small price to pay for the merriment
of tailgating and jolly inebriation
that I can exude on this day of
communal “festivus.” In Oct. 24’s
Emerald I read an article expressing
president Dave Frohnmayer’s
concerns about “unclassy fan behav
ior. ” In case anyone did not read this
article (“Senate may discipline
unacceptable fan conduct,” ODE
Oct. 24), allow me to sum up its
more alarming points.
The Student Senate sees the
following as possibilities to stop or
deter unruly Duck fans: more police
enforcement, increased searches at
the gates and revoking of incidental
fee privileges, which to offenders
could mean a seasonal ban on home
games. Pause to ponder what this
means to your potential freedom
and liberty.
If indeed there is a problem with
fan behavior, I do not believe that
punishing citizens, like children,
sends the right message. Much like
desperate parents battling a rebel
lious adolescent, the Senate seems
over-eager to flex its muscle in this
matter. Someone much wiser than
me once said “a good government is
one that is known but not felt.” Mr.
Brown (a Senator who advocated
strong action) and others, please re
alize that the best way to show your
political strength is to show compas
sion for the people you represent
and instate civil limitations only as a
last resort. Attempt to show good
faith in the people you stand for.
There are a considerable amount of
ways to go about securing an enjoy
able atmosphere at sporting events
without taking away civil liberties.
One non-invasive idea is a public no
tice such as this one, asking for
cooperation and moderation by
students at events.
Another possibility could be to
have announcements on the loud
speaker and Jumbo-tron to promote
good fan behavior and community
spirit. A proactive approach could
involve allowing coach Bellotti to
speak or have a recorded message of
such behavior issues addressed be
fore the game. Most of the fans
would respect such an authority,
and heed issues that may have been
forgotten because of their implicit
nature. Before moving to policies
that could misallocate funds, cause
lawsuits and cast a general dark
cloud over Autzen, I would attempt
a try at building community spirit
and bringing people together rather
than apart.
Of course my solutions could be a
reflection of this town’s arguably
over-the-top “let’s all hold hands
and sing” view, but I believe it is
worth giving these possibilities a
chance before moving to more per
sonally infringing policies.
Rich Hildreth is a University student.
OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@dailyemerald.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic
submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should
include phone number and address fix verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald.
■ Editorial
New court
nominee
leaves much
to be desired
On Monday, President Bush announced his
new nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Surprise! It’s another white male.
Samuel Alito, who has served 15 years on a
New Jersey Circuit Court, is a staunchly conser
vative judge. Although this fact is sure to please
Bush’s constituents, the rest of the nation ought
to be less than thrilled with the Alito nomination.
Said to have a philosophy similar to that of
Scalia, Alito is not in favor of a strict line between
church and state. He once upheld the right of a
fundamentalist Christian group to display propa
ganda in a public school.
Regarding abortion, it is thus far known that
Alito voted in favor of a spousal notification pro
vision, which would have required women to in
form their husband before receiving an abortion.
In 2000, Alito wrote a judicial opinion criticizing
fellow judges for overreacting to a New Jersey
law prohibiting late-term abortions because it
lacked a mother’s health exception.
As if Alito didn’t seem conservative enough, it
has also been reported that Alito once asserted
that the federal government has no right to curb
the sale of automatic machine guns.
In a previous editorial we criticized President
Bush for providing a nominee (Harriet Miers)
with no history of voting records to evaluate. Ali
to, on the other hand, certainly has a paper trail.
It is apparent from Alito’s past that this judge has
a right-wing stance on many issues. Can he write
balanced and objective decisions? We hope the
Senate won’t confirm him so we don’t have to
find out.
PARKER HOWELL
THE WRITE STUFF
New printer gives
ODE a fresh look
You may have noticed a change in the look of
the paper when you picked up a copy this morn
ing. Perhaps the text appeared sharper, or the col
or photographs seemed more vibrant.
We hope you noticed a difference. After more
than 40 years of printing our paper on the same
press, we took a technological step forward today
and switched to a different printer. The Emerald
is now printed in Albany using a high-tech
process involving ultraviolet light.
We are excited about this change because it
will allow us to showcase the excellent work of
our photographers and graphic designers. Unlike
the oil-based inks typically used by newspapers,
UV ink resists smudging because its chemical
components are bonded by exposure to intense
ultraviolet light during printing. Pictures printed
with this technology appear to sit on top of the
page and can look much shinier and sharper.
UV ink is also more ecologically friendly than
traditional ink.
Starting Wednesday, be on the lookout for an
other change: We are moving our Commentary
section from Page 2 to Page 4 to better utilize our
new press setup.
These changes are part of our ongoing efforts
to bring you the best possible newspaper. Enjoy.
editor @dailyemerald. com