OCR Text |
Show 'Ideas are one thing, and what happens is another. 111 M " -J- ohnCage,Americancomposerandauthor(1912-l992) 1 1 1 " Q " ("H I I I J (1 1 f" 1 I 1 1 (1 I ' " f 1 1 IT J) iO) 4 Wednesday, August 26, 1992 The Daily Herald Hot aw and balloons Political campaigns always bring a few skeletons out of the closet and a few characters out of the woodwork. One of the most amusing sideshows in the. current campaign has involved a ramus1 RRnL GOEHEaOElll balloon. Senatorial candidate Joe Cannon has a hot air balloon w ith his name prominently displayed. The balloon crew takes the balloon to public events to build name parades, fairs, etc. recognition for Cannon. The balloon found its way to Manti during the annual Mormon Miracle Pageant. Copies of an irate letter to the editor were sent to several newspapers. The purported author was offended that the Cannon balloon would set down in the "yard" of the Manti LDS Temple and ruin a spiritual experience for "political" purposes. Some papers published the letter. (We didn't because when we called the home of the alleged author, a family member told us said alleged author was in the hospital and had not written the letter that the letter was a leases the balloon to the Cannon campaign and explained the balloon was not "in the yard" of the Manti Temple, but at a nearby campground. For years, the campground manager has provided free tethered balloon rides for families during the pageant. He was unavailable this year, and the Cannon balloon filled in to continue the tradition. The letters regarding all the major races in Utah this year have been particularly "interesting." For example, we have received a fairly large batch of letters supporting one candidate andor blasting his opponent. They are all almost identical in length and subject AND IN OUR LATEST SURVEY OF AMERICAN VOTERS, matter. They were all mailed in identiFIT TO BE TIED, 32 ARE MAD AS NELL, AND 45 ARE cal envelopes by what appears to be the same person. Most appear to have been typed on the same "put up job.") Then we started getting letters re- typewriter, but they each are signed sponding to the bogus letter, even with a different name. The alleged authough it had not appeared in this thors say they live in Logan, St. "You think that maybe God is a Repubnewspaper. We were most apprecia- George, Ogden, and so on, but the tive of a letter from Curtis S. Bramble, letters are all postmarked Salt Lake lican?" Slats Grobnik asked. I don't know. My guess is that he's nonCPA, president of Stars & Stripes, Inc. City with no return address. We have partisan. Why do you ask? Mr. Bramble reported his company declined to participate in the ruse. "Well, listening to some of the Republi-- WE FIND 23 ARE JUST PLAIN FED UPf hand-address- Heaven only knows about this issue IsGttCZG support existing community groups or Let kids drive Editor: I am appalled at the number of families be who do not let their licensed teen-agethe designated drivers. With the abundant number of motor vehicle accidents in which teen-ageare involved one would think that families would be more enlightened with more experience begiving their teen-agehind the wheel. How sad to realize that the driving most teen-ageget after they have passed their licensing examinations is when they are alone or driving with their peers. It is frightening to see youth behind the wheel w ith other youngsters in the car and with lots of chit-cha- t, blaring of radios, and the cracking and snapping of gum as they zoom down the road with happy abandon. Almost as bad is the sight of a family in the car with an older teen-agriding as passenger rather than doing the driving. We would have far less auto accidents involving ' teen-ageif these new drivers could do more of their driving with more experienced drivers being passengers-anand coaching from time to time. Sad to hear, quite recently, the mother of a large family resonding to the above suggestion by telling how her daughter could never forgive herself if she caused an accident while driving the family. That same girl had recently been the driver in an acciThat dent involving a bunch of mother did not take kindly to my recommendation that the daughter return to driving in the near future and with parents or older siblings as passengers rather than vice versa. We should aim for a safer Utah County by rs rs rs ori- ginate such programs separate from school. Suggestions for changes in the fee waiver law are appropriately directed to state legislators who need to know Utah citizens want to preserve the ethics of individual responsibility and work. Assisting the truly needy does not mean usurping their responsibility and opportunity to contribute to their own well-bein- g and that of their community. Barbara Grover Provo rs er rs d giving-prompt-in- teen-ager- having more proficient teen-ag- e s. drivers. They need the hours behind the wheel with an experienced driver nearby in the same fashion that an aviation student puts in many hours with the flight instructor sitting in the right seat ready to give advice or take the controls as the situation may require. John R.Clark - Call to action Editor: Someone has asked, "Are we going to ran the government or let the government run us?" That is the question. No businessman w ould hire a man to run his business for two years w ithout his supervision and then after the two year period check into his business to see how it has been run. on them but it is so important. Wouldn't you agree that it is high time for a "call to action?" David N. Adamson Founder and Chairman National Write Your Congressman, Inc. Dallas, TX Editor: .' writing to mock the criminallegaljustice system of our country, It is my intent in this but I am not sure I can mobilize enough concern since many of my friends are either lawyers, judges or legislators. The fact that prisons are inundated with minor drug offenders and courts are clogged by legal maneuvering from the most manipulative felons is not a compliment to any one. Only lawyers are profiting. By now the courts should have significant recommendations as to the "drug war" which we are losing. What is to be done to find a solution? full-tim- It is obvious that our Legislature should with sin and get lose its down to the business of so many serious problems in the criminal world. They cer- tainly should be mortified by the confusion in the law resulting in the Andrews' tragic disposition. Contrast the lingering justice there with the swift arrogant action of the court in the John Singer case. Are the laws really that bad? 2. Severely limit program activities and expenses such as travel is The most recent decision releasing Mitrips and uniforms. and districts that item para cost chael Milken from his Escobar-typ- e prison ents and students cannot be expected to bear. is an insult to our legal system from which it While identifiable uniforms are essential in very well may not survive while we remain competitive sports, school cheerleaders and a capitalistic democracy. Will it take a difnjusjc groups achieve recognition through ferent form of government? excellent performance rather than a variety There just has to be more justice than the oj;dfess routines. Private donors may tioise to cover these expenses for particular courts have displayed. interested in Eugene J. Faux, M.D. gfoQps, or students and parents Provo and can these more elaborate programs join extra-curricul- ar out-of-ar- Out-of-ar- fee-payi- OA Syndicated Columnist way?" I've never heard a theologian express that view. "From what I can tell, most party plat- forms are a lot of baloney. So I figure God would probably say: 'Hey, if you're going to make a lot of phony promises, don't do it in my name, OK?'" I'm not sure he'd phrase it that way, but that could be his sentiment. "And what about his son?" What about him? " He was Jewish , right? ' ' On his mother's side, yes. "And he was kind of liberal, right?" In some ways, I suppose. "Well, he said the poor are blessed. And so are the merciful. And that the meek are going to inherit the Earth. You didn't hear nobody at the Republican Convention putting in good words for the poor or the ments about the rich. Especially those who were tightwads. He was in favor of giving your riches away. "See? If that ain't a liberal, I don't know what is. And I think he was in favor of taxes, too." I'm not sure about that. "Sure. When some guys came to him g the and tried to con him into Caehad that coin the he at taxes, pointed sar's mug on it and said that they should give Caesar what he has coming. Which meant not beefing about paying taxes. You don't find that in the Republican platform, either. And what about the hooker?" bum-rappin- What hooker? "That Mary Magdalene. He said she's going to heaven, but all the rich fat cats ain't. Now, if that ain't liberal, I don't know what is. And rhe thief, too. ' ' Yet. isn't that what we are doing with our sounded like he'd like to hang 'em from a What thief? members of Congress? We elect them to tree. And what about the rich Republican "Remember, the one on the other cross. office and send them to Washington to run fat cats?" I the guy was a criminal, which is mean, for us and pay very little our government What about them? why they nailed htm up there. But he gets attention to what they do. Two years later "Didn't God's son put the whammy on an ironclad promise that he's going to the we are try ing to find out how they handled the rich? He said something like woe to kingdom. Hah, all the fat cats are still our business. We listen to them talk and them. And that a rich guy has about as trying to get through the eye of a needle, decide to vote for them or against them by much chance of getting to heaven as a and some crook walks right through the what they say. camel has in getting through the eye of a pearly gates. Hey, if he showed up today, Some members of Congress have a repu- needle. Boy, put that in the Republican you mink he could get into one of those tation of talking one way and voting another. platform and see what happens to contrifancy private country clubs a lot of the Then too, some of them will occasionally butions." Republicans belong to?" vote the way their party wants them to vote Jesus in a country club? Yes, he frequently made harsh state- instead of the will of the people. When that happens, it is because we are not watching them. It doesn't take much time to keep tabs Mocking justice Editor: 'In light of recent legal action regarding fee waivers, I urge all Utah boards of education to consider the following two proposals irt filling their missions to empower students to become responsible citizens and to keep the public trust by ethically handling public monies: 1. Require verification of income and other variables on every free lunch application. One Utah County sch(X)l district last well-pai- d adyear lost the equivalent of a ministrator's salary to waived fees. This year significantly higher losses arc anticipate ed The cost of even a employee to each review and process application will assure the truly needy benefit from school programs, will preserve the public trust, and will; protect the pocketbooks of citizens already supporting public education by paying taxes and appropriate school fees. Federal funding benefits to food serv ices departments must be secondary to the public good. HiliQ EloyKto merciful or the meek. Pat Buchanan Payson Fee waiver plan cans, they talk like God is an honorary chairman of their party. Even President Bush slammed the Democrats for not mentioning God in their party platform. You think God really cares if he's in a party platform that hardly anybody reads any- "Yeah. If he goes in and applies, and; says that his mother was Jewish, the old blackball would come out, right?" At some clubs, I suppose they would exclude him on that basis. "Imagine that, some membership chairman saying: 'Sorry, Jesus, we believe in you and all that, but riht now our membership list seems to be filled up.'" Well, he could apply at one of the predominantly Jewish country clubs. "Yeah, but he couldn't get in there, either. There ain't no way they'd let a carpenter in. No status. And he couldn't afford the downstroke or the dues. Besides, he'd probably want to carry the bag for the caddy, which would embarrass everybody." Well, this is all mere conjecture. In answer to your original question, we have no way of knowing if God is a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, or if he even takes an interest in such matters. "Then the Republicans ought to stop acting like he's one of them. And if they keep doing it, the Democrats ought to say: 'Hey, if God is a Republican, how come his son was a Jewish liberal?'" Because we don't know that, either. "Come on. What about turning the other cheek when someone whacks you? And loving your enemies. And giving hell to the money changers. Hah! Put a blast on the money changers in the Republican platform and the Dow Jones would drop 3,000 points." Well, I don't think God should be an issue in the political campaign. "Me, either. And I bet God doesn't think so, too. So I wish he'd send down a sign to the Republicans to lay off." What kind of sign? "One Republican speechwriter and one bolt of lightning, and that would be the end -- ofit." That would do it. "And if Dan Quayle is smart, he'll get off the course when it gets cloudy." D'Amato's constituent service second to none - of Marine Cpl. Chuck WASHINGTON his right hand Kleckner lost the use while serving in the military in the 1950s, and was discharged with 70 percent disability benefits. About 10 years ago, a mugger savagely beat him on the streets of New York City, crippling his other hand. Kleckner went to a Veterans Administration physician to have his disability raised to 100 percent. Instead, it was slashed to 30 percent because the doctor saw "improvement" in his right hand. Despairing and facing destitution, Kleckner called New York's Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato in a plea for help. "Anger was not the word," says Kleckner. "Fear was the word. Fear. Terror." Not only did D'Amato get Kleckner's benefits restored, he got them increased to the full 100 percent disability Kleckner deserved. "I don't think that if he and his office hadn't gotten got involved I would have had a prayer," Kleckner told us. "Somebody finally cared. Having been hurt in the 1950s, I had the disability so long. Then emotionally and getting hurt again it me." physically destroyed Kleckner's story and thousands of others show why constituent service has become the hallmark of D'Amato's political career, and how it could serve as a springboard for him to mount a come-fro- first-perso- I yj IV Jack Anderson Syndicated Columnist behind win. On paper, D'Amato should be running scared because he is facing a double whammy: he's an incumbent male facing a probable female challenger. But no member of Congress has ever run a constituent service shop like D'Amato has. Even his fiercest critics concede that D'Amato hustles when it comes to righting wrongs for his 8 million constit"Senator uents. And his nickname is an allusion to his focus on Pothole" the parochial. "He's filled in a pothole but his votes have destroyed the road," charges Frank Wilkinson, press secretary for former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, who is the strong favorite to win the Sept. 15 Democratic primary and face D'Amato this November. "Gerry Ferraro ran a e constituent service office when she was a congresswoman from Queens. It was one of her top priorities. ' ' Although most polls show him trailing t. Ferarro, the race promises to be a The Daily Herald welcomes letters to the If Ferarro mentions last year's Senate editor. Address tetters to Letters to the Edi- Ethics Committee probe of D'Amato tor, PO Box 7 7, Provo, UT 84603. Letters which cleared him of most charges conmust be signed and include the writer's full cerning influence peddling by his brother and a daytime phone numD'Amato can fire back with recently name, address ber for verification. The most common rea- published reports linking some Ferarro assons for not publishing letters are: too long, sociates to the Mafia. D'Amato is drawing from a deep well of unsigned, illegible, obscene or libelous. 1 first-rat- Letters policy 1 senatorial social work stories to make his case with new radio spots that are energizing his once sagging base of support. n In the' ads, a litany of accounts is followed by the bottom line he's trying to drill in to voters: "Sen. Al D'Amato. Getting it done. Making waves. Taking them on." When Long Island, New York, fisherman Dan Hand accidentally caught a World War II torpedo in his fishing net and reported it to the Navy, nobody expected it to provoke a war with D'Amato. But it did. A team of Navy demolition experts put explosive charges in Hand's boat, the Shinnecock I, because it thought that the only safe way to dispose of the snarled torpedo was to blow up the boat. They promised Hand a replacement. But then the Navy changed its mind and told Hand to sue the federal government, a process that could take an eternity and idle' a lifelong commercial fisherman. With a combination of profanity and persistence, D'Amato warned the Navy brass that he would take to the Senate floor which he was daily to shame the service until it accusing of "high-sea- s piracy" compensated Hand, who couldn't earn a living for seven months. Although the ves sel was insured, Hand couldn't collect because the Navy had sunk it. One official remembers that when the Navy offered to settle for $75,000 D'Amato erupted telling the Secretary of the Navy that the offer was a pittance that couldn't put Hand "in a row boat." Ultimately, D'Amato engineered a special amendment in Congress to compel the Navy to compensate Hand some $220,-00- mud-fes- . -- . . , 0. When he gets his new boat, Hand intends to name it the Shinnecock II, and invite D'Amato fishing. In the meantime, Hand is helping D'Amato troll for votes by recounting his story just one in a vast sea of senatorial social work. ; . |