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Show "We are dedicated to the public interest, tofiimess and accuracy, to innovation and growth, and to the restless pursuit OPINIONS of excellence," Pulitzer mission statement EDITOR: DONALD W. MEYERS THE DAILY HERALD 4 ISSOs culture warfare continues in Clinton trial By TOM FIEDLER JANUARY 21. 1999 THURSDAY, I 1 ANOTHER VIEW Let me promise from the outset that I won't argue here either for or Children of the '60s don't put much against Bill Clinton. That rare reader stock in shame. Nor do they like to who remains genuinely undecided at judge the behavior of others. Think this point about President Clinton's back on the slogans: "Question fitness to continue occupying the authority!" "Do your own thing!" "If it White House can certainly find all feels good, do it!" Remember, too, the the arguments that he or she can tolwarning from Abbie Hoffman: "Never erate by turning on a television, dialtrust anyone over 30." ing in talk radio or probably going for Of course we're well past that age. a haircut. But guess what? We still believe So this column Abbie was right. won't get into the But polls clearly show The Washington Post last week subject of what the values of those the Senate trial noted that in tells us about the 1968, the year who wore the tie-dy- es Bill Clinton (and president. It will get into what the have also been embraced I) graduated Senate trial tells from college, 61 us about us. by most of us who percent of Which is this: American voters Welcome to the said they Age of Aquarius. believed that the federal government Constitutional scholars remind us could be trusted "to do the right that this is the first trial of a sitting thing." president in nearly 131 years. But By 1998, the Post found that only social analysts are making a good 33 percent believed the government case that what we really have here is deserved such trust. Why the change? the latest engagement in the war The nation's 75 million baby boomers over the '60s. grew up in the interim, and they The enduring mystery of this surbrought their skepticism and low real situation is how Clinton can expectations of government with maintain historically high them. But that's just a part of it. A surratings not just in the midst of an impeachment trial, but at a vey taken just after the House time when other poll numbers show impeachment by the Post, the Henry that the vast number of Americans J. Kaiser Family Foundation and think that he's a liar, probably a perHarvard University found that sharp jurer, certainly an adulterer, and they divisions in attitudes about morality pray fervently that their children separated the children of Aquarius don't grow up to be like him. from others. When boomers were asked if they Oh, one other thing: They don't want him removed from office. believe Clinton has high personal and To this messy conundrum comes moral standards, 71 percent said "No." But an answer: Welcome to the world of and this is really the r us baby boomers, the nub of it 61 percent acknowledge progethat the president's moral standards ny who came of age in the '60s and are about the same as all others of early '70s. And to those who believe this trial is just the latest engagethe '60s generation. ment in the great cultural war rooted Those who pound away at the in that era, the evidence clearly president calling him a liar, a perjurshows that the longhairs won. er, an adulterer, a moral reprobate I say this as someone who wasn't accomplish little in changing one of them, at least not in lifestyle. minds about whether Clinton As a military brat, a military-schoo- l should continue to hold office. Their collective reply seems to be, "Yeah, so graduate and naval officer throughout that decade, I never owned a tell us something we didn't know." stitch of But polls clearly The man in the dock may well be show that the values of those who William Jefferson Clinton, as the have also been wore the prosecutors keep saying. But the embraced by most of us who didn't. broader fact is that they are putting When a frustrated Bob Dole asked the attitudes of a generation on trial. voters in 1996 the campaign's underThey will lose, of course. "Have people no But, hey, whatever turns them on. lying question shame?" they answered by burying Tom Fiedler is editorial-paghim beneath an electoral landslide editor for Clinton. of the Miami Herald. that didn't. post-wa- baby-boom- tie-dy- e. tie-dye- s e $cS?iNS wo& aurora? wwact vtcm imwtfw- .o II. Alpine board should listen to parents On Jan. 12, the Alpine School Board announced their decision to change elementary school boundaries, and again demonstrated a lack of respect for the opinions and judgment of district patrons. The district needs more space for elementary school children, and a bond issue was recently passed providing money for such projects. In choosing school sites and making boundary decisions, the Utah State decision Code states: making ... is a cooperative effort in which ... teachers, ... school administrators and parents of students engage in collaborative decision making at the school level." The board, without input from patrons and despite conflicting data on growth patterns in the area, began construction in a controversial location. With the new school, comes boundary changes for existing schools. Four meetings were offered to parents and others to voice their opinions. By the end of this process, there was a clear public consensus on one boundary plan. Despite these meetings and a huge outpouring of public opinion, the board chose to go on with its own plan. The state code says: "In adjusting school boundaries, a local school board shall strive to avoid requiring "Site-base- d than my credit union, has offered me ownership, voting rights and a yearly LETTERS TO THE EDITOR current students to change schools." The approved plan moves hundreds of children to new schools. The school board says that the safety of the children is their first priority. Their plan will have many children crossing a very busy 1600 North in Orem, passing the Novell Industrial Park and an open canal and, finally, walking on the street to get to school because the sidewalk ends before it gets to the school. The money from this bond came from us, don't you think we should be allowed some say in how it is used? Bruce Chamberlain Orem REI will be missed in Orem I just wanted to express my gratitude and farewell to one of my favorite stores in Utah Valley. The Orem REI closed its doors on Dec. 31. I know I can drive to the Salt Lake REI, but just wanted to say thanks for giving Utah Valley a shot. REI has been more than just an outdoor gear store. It is also a store in which I am part owner. No other business, other J patronage dividend. I will miss shop.nfjj' ping at my local outlet. I challenge us all to study " in our business and employment settings and see if these principles might just help in our world of working together. Jared Johnson Orem "cooper-ativism- School games distracting j I read the Dec. 26 column by Darnell Dickson, exhorting high school students to fill the gyms for j their team's home games. It was very-'" interesting, especially his reasons for for more student support wishing their teams. With Brigham Young University here, it is probably true that most sports fans would rather be on the side of BYU. I wonder if Mr. Dickson may be a throwback to the Roman emperors, who determined that, if given enough "games" the people could direct all their mental energy there, so the antics of the rulers would be mostly ignored. This puts Mr. Dickson on the side of our politicians, who certainly do not want a populace watching them too closely. --3 Orton E. Lewis Provo House managers have yet to prove why Clinton should be removed from office There was Henry Hyde, silver hair gleaming in the television lights, delivering the summation for the case against William Jefferson Clinton, our impeached president. He was going pretty good, drawing on the Ten Commandments, the Magna Carta, Mosaic and Roman law, as well as the Boy Scout oath. Clinton, apparently, had violated all of them. Hyde also summoned the ghosts of Normandy, Flanders fields, Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord, Iwo Jima, Panmunjom, Desert Storm, Gettysburg, all of whom Clinton had disgraced. The chairman was cruising. And then he said: "I wish to read you a letter I recently received ..." "Oh no," I said to myself. "He's not going to read a note from a little kid, is he? He wouldn't do that to us, would he?" He would. He did. A disgustingly in cute letter from a third-grade- r Chicago, asking "If you cannot believe the president, who can you believe?" It made me want to throw up. Didn't we get enough of that claptrap from Ronald Reagan? Must we always be hostage to the "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" wing of the party? Apparently so. If a third grader were to write me that letter, this is what I'd tell him or her: "First of all, it's whom can you believe, not who. See? We all make mistakes. President Clinton made a mistake and he lied about it because he was embarrassed and now he's in big trouble. If you make a mistake and get caught, the best thing is not to lie about it. It just makes things worse." Hyde's arguments to the contrary, I refuse to believe that unless Clinton is thrown out of office the entire judicial system of the United States will come tumbling down, that our founding fathers will pitch and turn in their graves and the sun will never again shine on weekends. I think things are more complex than that. This makes the third time that we've been through this material; once when Parson Starr was presenting his case to the House Judiciary Committee, once when the committee Donald Kaul presented it to the full House and 0FHcm,icajuMrfV5- - msnxs, po&ntaimhis wise saMesnacr host AMewmrrissues? SBW HAVE BOUGHT A -I POHr VEN KNOW WHAT ONE TERM PAPER.- ' 1 HHU1 ABOUT IiaxmAJHsm wax- - m IS-- I BOihThB TC Ms? if FROM MS. -- Democrats for Clinton, Republicans' " against. If there's a lesson to be learned so far, it's that people should not be made to reveal the details of their sexu Kf al affairs. Sex is intrinsically undigni- '? fled and is best kept a private matter. And if you don't think sex is undig- nified, maybe you're doing it wrong."" Tribune Media Services. j0zJZ you &Mg & Not off tMt yzA& pier, nrrwii ' Kill J,'' By Bruce TinstSyjAtfl ti HeAKN . CDAnrtuckm v 1 having a lesser standard because it only indicts, while the Senate convicts. The articles of impeachment end with roupiPtrr ANIfZ ANPTW come on. I happen to be for the calling of witnesses, if only for their entertainment value, but I fail to see why, if they were unnecessary in the impeachment, they're so crucial now. And don't give me that stuff about the House this statement: "William Jefferson Clinton ... warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disv. qualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under! JL the United States." J1 Anyone who voted for that and doesn't think he or she voted for the ' removal of the president needs reme-- " " dial reading lessons. And they did it without hearing from any of the wiW nesses they now find so crucial to H establishing the president's guilt. Not that any of it makes much dif-'- ference. For all the talk of bipartisan-ship- , " I. ' this thing seems to be on the same track that ran through the House's,-- - Mallard Fillmore mm now about I XHBNTFNUOar I now. While they've convinced me that Clinton is passion's plaything, they haven't convinced me that he deserves to be thrown from office. Like most people, however, I don't think the President should get off free. He deserves punishment. I think he should be grounded on weekends for the rest of his term. That would teach him a lesson. One of the many things I don't understand about the House By Garry Trudeau Doonesbury I MY TURN Republicans' position is how they can keep arguing for the necessity of calling witnesses in the Senate trial when they themselves made their judgment to impeach the president without calling witnesses. ("Can you convict the president of the United States without hearing personally the testimony of one of the key witnesses?" asked Asa Hutchinson. The only way to really know (the truth) is to bring forth witnesses, put them under oath, and give each juror, each member of this body, the opportunity to make that determination of credibility," said James Rogan.) That may not be bizarre, but it will certainly pass for it until the lights I If V It f h ; T. v,. POOR |
