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Show PAGE 2 THE ZEPHYRNOVEMBBR 1992 page two Jim Stiles I am, for the most part, a pretty healthy person. Despite my junk food diet (and I agree, it could catch up with me), I rarely get sick. I rely too much, I suppose on my genes, which would indicate that if I follow both my grandfathers' examples, I will live dose to or beyond 90, become sweet and wise, and then drop dead, without a great deal of fuss or lingering around. If I have to live to be 90 that's the way I want to do it But last week, far the first time in years, 1 got sick.. .sicker than a mangy, junkyard dog. I was flat on in and back, incapacitated, my writhing agony wallowing and whining in my own typical male self-pi(men are wimps when it comes to this kind of pain, but I'll save HptailpH analysis for another time). I was attended to by a variety of friends, nurses, and doctors who treated me sweetly and with more than a little patience and tolerance. Dr. Rouzer diagnosed my malady as some kind of intestinal flu and gave me 12 little white pills to swallow that eventually did the job. I'm feeling much better now, thank you. But now that I am back up and around. I'm not sure that any of the diagnoses that I heard were accurate. What I think I had was an acute case of Debate it Electionitis. This campaign is turning me into a basket case and I don't think I can take much more of it November 3rd can't get here too soon. It's not that I've become disillusioned or burned out on the campaign. I've simply become a basket case; with a week to go, the race is tightening, the electorate is volatile, and the Perot wild card is beyond my comprehension. But for the first time in 16 years, I could conceivably be voting far the winner. I can hardly remember what that feels like. What I fait like last week, as each of the debates approached was absolute misery. After each debate, confident that Clinton and Gore had stated their case to the American people far better than I had even hoped, my spirits and physical health improved. The next morning, once again aware that another debate lay ahead, I once again plummeted. Only the knowledge that I had to get out of bed and put this paper together forced me to make a permanent recovery. Were it not for that, P.T.D.E. would still be keeping me under the covers. ty P.T.DJL-Pre-Traum- atic I should not have been surprised that Clinton came off as well as he did during the debates. have been watching him take all comers, in every format imaginable, for the last year. As a and I can remember political junkie, I spend a lot of time (too much time) watching Clinton first for the time a similar in forum in New Hampshire last December. I seeing public sat up and took notice in a way that I haven't done in years. He understood the questions, he answered the questions, and he cared. There was a passion and a compassion in his message that I had not heard since Bobby Kennedy's last campaign in 1968. who that sneer Clinton's Analysts "performance" is too polished and rehearsed are missing the point He's not polished; it's just that he happens to know what he's talking about. As for his character, it seems to me the citizens at the second debate put that issue to rest once and for all, and left George Bush with nothing to do except look at his watch and wait for the nightmare to be over. Those that fear Bill Clinton are the ones that fear any change at alL And they fear that as a Democrat he represents the return of Big Government and the ponderous bureaucracy that comes with it. It should not come as any surprise to anyone that Kg Government is already here, has been for years, and only got worse during the ReaganBush era. It has become fashionable to criticize The Government and demand its dismantlement But we've forgotten something. It's I "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR uL to fulfill it" For the last 12 years, the ReaganBush presidencies have looked after the rights of the 14 or 15 million who already had their interests preserved, but who only wanted more. Reagan said he wanted government off the backs of America. His policy to deregulate the savings & loan left millions of Americans flat on their backs industry got government off its back for sure, and little guy from being swallowed up by the greed instead. Government is supposed to protect the and avarice of the powerful. But something went terribly wrong, and we have never had a better chance than now to right that wrong. Some say that the bureaucracy has become so large and unresponsive that simply changing is presidents will have little or no effect on it That the bureaucracy bigger and more powerful I there are millions of public think are thinks wrong. than any one person. But this cynic they are thrust upon them by that servants who are frustrated, even humiliated, by policies Washington, and which they in turn are forced to impose upon the American people. They want to do what is right and their government won't let them. When I worked for the National Park Service, my boss became so frustrated with the bureaucracy and with her inability to change it, that she started writing angry letters to herself and to her supervisors under a pseudonym, protesting the very policies that she was required to implement and enthusiastically defend. How many other employees of the federal government face that same turmoil every morning when they go to work? Who would even want to get out erf bed? But can one person make a difference? In 1976, the Secretary of the Interior, a Ford appointee named Thomas Kleppe was about to approve a permit that would have allowed the construction d of a 3,000 megawatt power plant; 12 miles east of Capitol Reef National Park. Twelve miles. Environmental groups geared up for a fight, millions were spent cm feasibility studies, and then Jimmie Carter was elected President of the United States. Days after his inauguration. Carter's Secretary of the Interior, Cedi Andrus, announced that the location for the power plant was "unacceptable." Period. End of conversation. Tlie rangers at Capitol Reef no longer had to d power plant would not have a negative explain, that is to say, lie to park visitors that a effect on the park. Consider this: If it were not for the Government would still be slaves, children would still work 16 hour days in sweat shops, the elderly would have to fend for themselves, national parks wouldn't exist nor would dean air laws, or dean water laws. In a society as large and complex and diverse as ours, what we need is good government not no coal-fire- coal-fire- African-America- ns government I'm wandering and reminiscing again, but I think it's all relevant to what's happening today. Bill Clinton isn't "slick. He's intelligent articulate, creative and full of energy. He hears the American people and he feds their frustration. He is not a John Kennedy; he didn't come from wealth...everything he has earned, he has earned himself. And so, if anything, he is even better suited to carry their cause. He has all the qualities that the status quo despises. They fear hint, and that is why they have tried to tear him apart In this century, only Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy have been so reviled and personally attacked by their enemies. In 1936, FDR faced On October 31, he identified those enemies, "business and financial monopolies, speculation, reckless banking," in a speech at Madison Square Garden. "Never before in all our history," said Roosevelt, "have these forces been so united against one candidate. They are unanimous in their hate for m- e- and I welcome their hatred." He brought down the house. Today, in George Bush's "kinder and gentler nation," as was so graphically demonstrated at the Republican Convention, the descendants of FDR's enemies are here to carry the battle to Clinton. Can he survive these kinds erf tactics? That's up to the American people to decide. A word of warning though, to both supporters of Clinton and Perot. If Clinton wins, it will be the first time in more than a decade that one party has controlled both the Congress and the White House. It may be the Democrats' last chance, if they are unable to turn this country around. There are no more excuses. The two parties can no Inngw Mam each other for the nation's woes. A Clinton victory will put the ball in the Democrats' court; and they damn well better be ready to run with it If Clinton wins, he faces the greatest challenge since FDR, and the creative energy he brings to the office had better catch the confidence of the American people in a big way from day 1. If the Democrats fail, they could very well fade as a major influence in American politics. As for Perot supporters, I cannot believe that they, or Perot himself, would want to do that allow Bush a term. second And yet, the polls indicate that Perot's numbers anything might are increasing at Clinton's expense, not Bush's. It's a pipe dream of mine, but if Perot is the patriot he claims to be, I would hope that he puts his country before his ego. On November 1, he should take a hard look at the numbers and determine what he's doing to the outcome. He could say something like this: "Folks, we've taken our case to the American people and they've heard us. But now we're down to the y and I'm gonna ask you to think about this a minute. If you think I can win this election, I want your vote and I appreciate it But the last thing this country can endure is another 4 years of what we've had for the last 12. 1 in July, I don't want to be a spoiler and I don't want to be that now. So people, if you don't think I can win this election, then vote yotir conscience, and remember the mess this country's in right now." I don't expect it to happen, but it would be refreshing to see someone in politics perform such a self-leact. And then there's this: if Bush wins and we get "four more years" or if Ciiwiwp wins and runs up against an intractable Congress, I would almost bet that Ross Perot becomes president in 1996. For me, that's a scary thought, but a real one just the same. P.O. Box 32 7 Moab, Utah 84532 (801) "8 b the hct th not fust file tlze of government that frmtr.ua m;to It serve. to hu. it wrppoeed tommy gam, gnvmmithaabec(tahffarent to the people to supposed to operate. the government to not way become our to to protect the eights of the dUama, and guarantee What the gorarurJent is .opposed to do that statement to a Joke. the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Today, tad 1 pwemmentor. president who II though t was looking his death, John Kennedy said this about hto out for my best Interests. In 1963, jmt months before responsibilities to the American people... President of the United States should be the " there are some people who believe that the himself to ceremonial functions. But that's chairman of a great fraternal organization, and confine of the United States for that office fa President for not what the Constitution says. I did not run that way. There are about 14 or 15 million Americans who have the resources to have their interests. And the great mass of the other people representatives in Washington to protect the 150 or 160 million is the responsibility of the President of the United States, and I propose 259-777- 3 Jim Stiles, publisher nitty-gritt- political specialist & features Ken Davey contributing writers Jack Campbell Jane S. Jones Cherie Gilmore TBcott Groene historical photos Herb Ringer roving reporter Robert Fulghum ss photo layouts Ptry Frank Lemon Colleen Wlmmer food editor Willie Hocko copyright 1992 THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR all rigfrts reserved - The Canyon Country Zephyr is a monthly newspaper, published eleven times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times of its publisher . On November 3, we go to the polls. For me, it is more than casting a vote for the next President of the United States; it is a referendum on the American people. Change is a scary thing, but every great moment in the history of this planet took vision and courage and faith. On November 3, 1 will proudly vote for Bill Clinton and A1 Gore. |