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Show The Salt La e Tribune OPINION Thursd Al5 May 6, 1999 Jackson Shows Once Again That He Is a Player on the International Stage WASHINGTON — Whether youlove diplomatic door open, e pecially inalosing war likethe one N TO has been wag. ing. (What elsedoyoucall a war that not only has beenfailing to achieve its goal ofrescuingethnicAlbanians, but actually was killing ethnic Albanians, among others, at a frightening rate under the military rubric of “collateral damage"?) Presidential administrations never liketo see freelancediplomats forceit to rethink its positions, no matter howfool CLARENCE PAGE him orhate him — and many have found it easy to do both at the sametime — there is much to admire about the Rey. Jesse Jackson’s successful retrieval of three Americansoldiers fromthe clutches of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milo- sevic. I know thereare many who havewondered aloud whether, in the words of Black Entertainment Television's Tavis Smiley, the reverend“got played.” hardy the position happens to be. But Getting “played” is an African-Ameri- can street expression for getting hood winked. cleaners. CHICAGO TRIBUNE Iraq of more than 700 foreign women Flim! the Milosevic, after all, is a notori- ously cageytyrant and children detained as human shields ‘This is classic Milosevic.” against an Americanmilitary attack af wrote Lou. ise Branson, a Milosevic biographer, in USA Today. ter Iraq's invasion of Kuwait In each “Hetries to bamboozle people who, like Jackson, do not know photos of Slobo praying with Jackson For one thing, he has onlyhighlight the hypocrisy ofthe unin dealt with murderoustyrants before. In dicted war criminal’s refusal to budgein 1984 he talked Syrian President Hafez Assad into releasing a Navy pilot, Lt Robert Goodman, Jr., whose bomber was shot down over Lebanon. his relentless slaughter and “ethnic cleansing” of ethnic Albanians. At the same time, instead of getting “played,” Jackson was Several months later, he persuaded Fi- del Castro to release the tyrant-in-charge showinghimself once again to be a true player on the 22 Americans and 26 Cubans fromCubanprisons international stage. He made a powerful moral point about the need to keepthe In 1990he helped win therelease from Luther King Jr Inthe Reagan-dominated1980s, which werehighlighted by his two runsfor the Democratic presidential nomination Jackson expandedhis roleto becomethe mostvisible leaderof theparty's liberal progressivewing Now, as an international mediator, he goes where other, more traditional voices of consciencelike former Presi dent Jimmy Carter havenot daredtogo. If hefails, it is nogreat loss to America’s national interest, since the White House already washedits hands of him. When canforeignpolicy. The sameappears to have happened. with Milosevic. News Such gloomy assessments underesti mate Jackson. case, scored somepublic relations points, but failedto win any major changein Ameri him well, Hepresents to them a credible human and democratic face. Jacksonwill not beignored His new freelance-diplomat role marks Jackson's third reinvention of rged onthenay ving to fill thegaping civil rights leadershipgapleft behindbytheassassinated Rev. Martin he succeeds, he is a hero. Rea an an ideological foe of Jackson, neve heless. welcomed Goodman and Jackson back with a Rose Garden ceremony In his new role as the man whom ty ackson reminds meof another Chicago fi Before he retired in 1995, a lo go television newsman named Russ Ew ing made a similar reputation as the man rants trust with their prisoners whomfugitive murder suspects trusted In his 29-year career, he oversaw 115 surrenders ofsuspects who trusted him morethanthey trusted law enforcement authorities. Ewing was not always thrilled by his role. Sometimes murder suspects would telephone him in the middle of the night just to be turnedin by him But Ewing dutifully accepted this new role. Fate had called on him to fill a gap in the criminaljustice systemand he filledit That's the sort of unusual role Jackson has taken at this late stage of his career Heseesgapsinour foreign policy and he triesto fill them, So far, his score is pret ty good But it remains to be seen what hap pens, as the war over Kosovo rages on and how Milosevicwill deal with future POWs. Sofar, JesseJackson's prisoner return trick has only worked once per Jesse Jackson tyrant And the Winner for ‘Most Revolting Political Spectacle’ Is. . . SHINGTON — Revolting spe nature as to give pornography a bad name. Flynt’s flagshippublication, Hus MICHAEL KELLY are neverrarein ournation’s capi- tler, is renownedfor its vicious racism. tal, andlife in the Clinton era has been unusually blessedin this regard. But the past week has seena really remarkable haul of stomach-turning episodes Wehereat the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (East) have beenso impressed that we are moved to award aspecial midyear edition of our annual prize for ‘the most revolting spectacleinthefield of politics and/or governance committed by single indi- THE WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP vidual or groupof individuals acting in concert Last week, wesawfour revolting spec: Competition for the Sidney, as the prize is popularly known, tacles that clearly — indeed overwhelm. ingly — metthese lofty standards is alw fierce. As the language of the award states, a winner must exhibit, John F. Kennedy Jr., president and editor in chief of George magazine, was nominated for his decision to invite to the White House Correspondents Associ “in a single episode, venality, vanity, shamelessness, obscenity, dishonesty or cowardiceto a ation annual dinner Larry Flynt, pub: di so far beyond the norm of Wash ington behavior as to offend thesensibil ities of former special White House counsel Lanny Davis or[in therare event lisherof Hustler magazine To fully grasp the enormity of this nominee's revolting spectacle, it must be that Mr. Davis is unavailable for com- considered that Flynt is not only apor: nographer, but a pornographerof such a ment] gag a goat its frequent andhate-filled depictionsof womensubjectedto acts of degradation and violence, andits reliance on fecal matter as a source for humor. It must also be consideredthat Flynt is himself a man who claims to have had sexual intercourse with, and then stran gled, a chicken, Andthat Flynt’s daugh ters have accused himof sexually abus: ing them, And that, during the impeachment of President Clinton, Flynt engagedin aloathsomecampaignofsex ual blackmail to terrorize Republic: senators and congressmen and to kei themfrom pursuing their constitutional duty But, aboveall, it must be considered that Flynt is a man whofirst rose to na tional prominence, in 1975, forprinting in Hustler nude photographs of none other than the mother of John F Kennedy Jr. A very impressive nominee A second nomineearising from the White House correspondents’ dinner their nation in its air war against Serbia This historic act of cowardice feck lessness andpartisanship deeply moved even veteran academy members. Partic wasits guest of honor, President Clinton. He was nominated for jokingly com plaining that his disgrace and impeach ularly noted was “Speaker” J. Dennis for voting in support of the measurebut then abandoning the floor while Majority Whip Tom DeLay suc ment did not make the top 50 in a recent ly published list of the century's top 100 cessfully drummed up GOP votes in op position. Also personally cited was Mi stories, “I don’t mindtelling you | made thelist said Clinton. “Number 53. Fifty-three? 1 mean, what does a guy nority Leader Dick Gephardt, for his stunning inability to come up with the necessary switchof a single vote among 26 Democrats voting against the leader have to do to makethe top 50 around here? Impressed academy members noted of their nation and party that the president not only made light of But, in the end, all of these deserving nominees were trumpedby a manwhois nostranger to these awards. For undermining his nation during a time ofwar, for giving aid and comfort to the fact that he had wrecked his second terminoffice, disgraced the presidency harmed his country, undermined the law, been impeached and been held in contempt of court, exposed himself as an obsessive liar and conscienceless sexual predator but that he didthis with his wife sitting next to him. Another very very strong contender. The third nominee is a group entry comprising the entire Republican and the enemy; for grandstanding on a grand andgrossscale: for exploiting three U.S soldiers as pawns in the propagandaef forts of Slobodan Milosevic; for reward ing Milosevic with a public call that the United States cease bombing; for leading the freedsoldiers to chant, in a supreme ly revolting moment, “Free at last, free Democratic leadership of the Houseof Representatives, for leading (or rather not leading) their membersto a 213-213 tie vote on April 28, declining to support at last, thank God Almighty, free at last this special Sidney goes to the Rev Jesse L. Jackson. Curtureo FuoaTens SPRING CLEARANCE SALE Pi ow in Progress! % - 60%Zo OFF Save 30% Merecone eei , | a Q o%e o%" eo *%e@ J Brooks F . Verena, e a P 1 retail prices on anypurchaseof an “in-stock” item throughout our entire store! Special Spring Clearance Sale Bonus! a 2 URSMeLCLGeeR OLNLRMLCMCOeeea during our Spring ClearanceSale (through May9th). 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