SEPTEMBER 17,1993 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
Verdict on Clinton three years too early
By PATRICK BRANNAN Many are already saying that
Clinton’s plan will not work and
In America people are quick ^ one-term
to label a person a failure. Presi- president. There is no proof that
dent Clinton has been taking a work, but still there
large amount of bad press for his proof that it won t,
recent economic plan. He has either. There is no reason to
already been labeled a failure by write Clinton off just yet. When
many in less than a year in of- elect a president we expect
fice. Many times it turns out that *^hat person to serve for four
people are too quick to label years. The president has three
someone. years in which to make the
Slavery was ‘pro-choice’
(Continued from Page 2)
ham Lincoln, who did not him
self belong to a church, was
against slavery for religious rea
sons as well. This fact tends to
be overlooked by history books
today. Perhaps the parallel be
tween slavery — which every
citizen outside of the Klan con
demns — and abortion is too
painful to address reasonably.
The arguments, though, are
the same. If banning feticide is a
violation of the establishment of
Public demand
shapes Jackson
(Continued from Page 2)
that if you treat them like gods,
you shouldn’t be surprised when
they begin believing your myth
about tJiemselves.
None of this speculation has
any bearing on anyone’s behav
ior with children. If Jackson has
been abusing them, he has to be
imprisoned. If this is all a pub
licity scam, he has to be ignored.
But if he just doesn’t want to
grow up, he can be treated with
a bit of sympathy. We created
him. We watched him and lis
tened to him, bought his records
by the millions, hung on every
word he uttered, and gobbled up
the media/publicity stories. How
can he be objective about his
own behavior when hundreds of
thousands of screaming fans
worship him every night and fill
his bank accounts with Midas
amounts of offerings?
Jackson has remade himself
many times, and whatever he
has become, he is definitely one
of our monsters. We deserve
him. Whether he wants to enter
tain us or wants to be a child or
wants to touch the children
whose mothers drop them off at
Never-Never . 1?P, ,Q9hWp/ f
have'existed wiuiolit iisl. ! M I! ’
religion clause in the First
Amendment, then so is prohibit
ing slavery.
An amusing similarity is that
the methods used to oppose
slavery look a great deal like
those used against abortion.
There are the tamer foes of the
plagues, such as Benjamin
Lundy of the past and Phyllis
Schlafly of today. They seek or
sought laws against the acts, and
wrote about the evils being per
formed while trying to provide
ways around them.
More active are the workers
of the Underground Railroad
and the adoption/parental help
agencies, which actually inter
vene in specific cases for the
cause. Even more active would
be the noisy speakers such as
William Lloyd Garrison or Ran
dall Terry. These people vocally
condemn the offenders against
humanity and decency, and
strive to interfere directly.
Then there are the ones who
commit their own wrongs, and
then get the whole cause labeled
as dangerous. John Brown was
not the average abolitionist. He
murdered the innocent, even
blacks, if they would not join his
crusade. Michael Griffin is no
better than an abortician if he
would commit murder also.
Neither of them reflects on the
real mainstream of their claimed
movements.
A century and more ago, the
pro-choicers branded all aboli
tionists as followers of John
Brown. Today, they want the
public to believe that all pro-lif
ers are out firebombing abortuar-
ies (a phenomenon that has
steadily decreased in recent
years, contrary to information
spread by the press).
Lincoln said, “You cannot
have a right to do what is
wrong” when asked about the
states’ right to control slavery.
was.right.U)en„?ind.he. stiU
Opinion
changes that this country needs.
Clinton won the election with
many promises of taming Wash
ington and reforming govern
ment. He has not yet announced
his health care reform package
which may be a strong program
that will help the health care
problem. He also has Vice
President A1 Gore looking into
government waste, of which
there is plenty, and attempting to
solve some of the leaks. Clinton
could make some changes that
are important for the country.
The president’s job is not the
easiest, we all know that. Special
interest groups and big business
spend millions of dollars to slow
the passage of laws or lessen the
enforcement of laws that are
passed. Most of the clean air
standards that are now going
into effect were originally
passed in a Clean Air Act in
1970. Companies have fought
for 20 years to keep the Act
from going into effect.
President Clinton may have
thought he was bigger than he
turned out to be. He admits that
he tried to do too much too
quickly. It looks as though Clin
ton has learned from his first
few months on the job and may
become productive.
While I have read or heard
about Clinton and his shortcom
ings, I remember articles I have
read in the Baltimore sports
pages about Cal Ripken earlier
this year. Many people ques
tioned Cal’s abilities just as they
have done Clinton. Cal Ripken
has the second highest consecu
tive games played streak in
baseball, behind Lou Gehrig.
But early this year Cal’s batting
average dipped below the .200
mark and many people were
saying that Cal needed a day off.
There were those, myself in
cluded, who looked at Cal’s per
formances over the years and
continued to hold faith in his
abilities. Ripken hit at least 20
home runs in 10 straight years,
his first 10, which ranks him in
elite company. Cal also leads or
is among the leaders of the ma
jor leagues in many offensive
categories, including extra base
hits, home runs, hits, and runs
batted in, in the last 10 years.
Cal also holds defensive
records, including the highest
fielding percentage of a short
stop in major league history.
Cal remained in the lineup,
made his tenth straight appear
ance in an All-Star game, and
received a well-deserved ovation
from the fans in Baltimore. As
of Sunday, Aug. 29, Cal had
raised his batting average to .252
with 23 home runs and 80 runs
batted in. It has turned out to be
a traditional year for Cal and he
is closing in on the most home
runs hit by a shortstop. Those
people that were calling for Cal
to rest are now silent or are
singing his praises.
Clinton still has three years
left in office. Unlike Cal, we
lack historical perspective of
Clinton and cannot clearly pro
ject that he will succeed. Being
governor of a state is very dif
ferent from being president of a
country. It seems that it is easier
to lose faith quickly and label
someone a failure than stick
through the end and examine the
final outcome.
Join the Decree staff
staff meets Mondays, 3:30
p.m., and Thursdays, 4:30
p.m., in Spruill Building.
CAB CORNER...
Fall Update
Fasten your seatbelt for the semester
of your life. CAB has some fun stuff
ready to go!! A tentative overview for
the next couple of weeks.
Saturday, Sept. 18 — Kings Dominion
Trip. Call 5227 to reserve your space.
Cost is only $15 per person which includes transportation and admission to
the park. We will leave NCWC at 8 a.m. and will return to NCWC at 10 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 18 — Saturday Night Cinema presents “Mo Money.” It will be
shown in Doc’s at 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 23 — Comedian and funny guy Jim David. Be sure you
don’t miss out on this guy’s great line! Jim will be performing in Doc’s at 9
p.m.
Friday, Sept. 24 — Fantastic Friday Debut! This Is new this year, and
involves placesin the community who want to give our students a discount.
All you need to do is to take your student ID to the designated places and
they will let you in with a discount. This Friday Sluggers batting cage will be
hosting us.
Saturday, Sept. 25 — Saturday Night Cinema presents “Patriot Games.” It
will be shown in Doc’s at 9:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1 — Fantastic Friday! This Friday, Hot Wheels go karts will be
sponsoring us. Simply take your Wesleyan ID and they will give you a
discount!