| OCR Text |
Show ahc Salt Take u,ribnnr W Section tdntsda Morning November 7, 1984 Page A 18 End of 1984 Campaign Trail Brings Feeling of Relief Show us a person who isn't glad the election of 1984 is history and we'll show you a deaf and sightless visitor from outer space. That's a pessimistic assessment of this vital facet of American style democracy now mercifully suspended. It is pessimistic but not without foundation. National elections and many local ones. too. have become monstrous orgies of spending, hype, deceit, waste and a host of other negative traits that give every sign of getting worse before colliding with the reforming rock of overpowering reason sometime in the perhaps distant future. Only yesterday The Tribune urged that all eligible voters take part in a hallowed free election process which should enlighten the populace and bring out the best in those seeking public trust. We stand by that pxhorta-tiotoday. But never, within our memory, has an election year seemed to grind on so long yet generate so little light. On the national level, the outcome of President Reagan's slick, n campaign against frustrated challenger Walter Mondale was predictable weeks in advance of the voting, indeed even before the Democratic candidate was chosen at the San Francisco convention. Despite its man's commanding lead in the polls from the outset, the Reagan campaign continued to squander millions of dollars in an unsightly display of wealth, hedging against an upset that obviously was not going to happen. For their part, the Mondale people blew every dime they could scrape together to carry a helpless fight to the thumbs down verdict they all knew was coming regardless. So whats wrong with that? Isn't that what candidates have always done? And why shouldn't they? strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with throwing away millions of dollars and countless hours of contributed time. But the senseless waste of resources which might have been devoted to worthier causes, offends reason and even decency. That the carnival of waste and boredom is finally ended is one big factor in shaping a general feeling of relief on this morning of the day after. Another critical component is disgust with the low level at which certain campaigns were conducted. The Reagan-Mondal- e battle only rarely rose above the exchange of cute but meaningless one liners. An electorate capable of digesting public policy meat was fed clever pap instead. Closer to home, the Monson-Farle- y dogfor Second the states Congresfight sional District seat left an aftertaste of poisoned politics that will linger. We have no magic formula for glorious change. We can but trust that the good fortune which has attended this nation in the past will eventually shine on its debilitating election process. Until then, we join in the hearty chorus: "Thank heaven, it's over!" Well, Donts of Cleanup While municipal and county crews have done a commendable job of clearing high traffic streets and roads of the storm's debris, there remain plenty of broken tree limbs still lying g around in the wake of the Oct. 19 snowstorm. Residents-cado much to hurry the clearing process by hauling the broken branches to the Landfill, 1300 S. 5600 West, or one the record-breakin- City-Count- y several other officially designated disposal spots. This, however, is a chore that is not without a certain amount of risk, wood particularly so. if the would-bhauler is using a chain saw for the first time to cut bigger branches to a size that will fit into a pickup truck or utility trailer. Or. even: the family fire pldce. A chain saw is a quick, efficient way to make small pieces of wood out of large ones. But. with its awesomely fast moving chain and razor-sharteeth and rakers, it can instaneously become a dangerous, even deadly, e p Don't leave the saw running unattended; the chain is quite likely to continue to turn, albeit at a slower, but still dangerous rate. Dont let the handles get oily. If oil from the chain bar oil reservoir leaks out, stop and wipe them clean. Dont use a saw with a dull chain. Either sharpen the chain or install a new one. A sharp chain also makes the job easier. Don't use a saw without having the right tension adjustment on the chain and chain bar. A loose chain can fly off and inflict serious injury: as well as damaging the saw. Don't use the tip or top of the chain to cut. Chain saws are designed to cut on the bottom of the chain bar: using the tip or the top is inviting a kickback. Don't operate a chain saw without gloves and eye protection. Dont operate one if your hands or arms become tired; stop and rest. William F. Buckley Jr. Separatism Is a Cosmic Force Universal Press Syndicate Mr. Bill Moyers, commenting on the assassination of Indira Gandhi, huffed and puffed to the effect that this is the kind of thing that happens when you permit religion and politics to mix. This is the most breathtaking non of the season, the kind of thing Mr. Moyers has gotten used to, serving the priesthood that needs always to defend the trendy propositions of liberalism. It is hardly to excuse the act of the Sikh assassins to point out that what happened in India was that the palace had moved into the temple, less than that the temple had moved into the palace. Separatism in the 20th century is a cosmic force. Thirty years ago Scottish nationalists scurried off with the Stone of Scone, the ancient seat of Scottish kings, from Westminster Abbey. The idea was to dramatize the cause of Scottish independence. The Indian state, as an independent country with its present borders, is less than 40 years old. and no American will with any confidence give objective reasons why existing frontiers are the correct ones, or historical reasons to suggest that there is something geologically fixed about frontiers. For one thing, we kept enlarging our own frontiers, usually (but not always) with the consent of the annexees. For another, we fought a huge civil war twice 40 years after the United States was founded, because a whole region of the country wished to disso ciate itself. Whether the Punjab should be a separate state is not a question concerning which anyone can rule with Solomonic Korea is two countries, Germany is two countries, Vietnam ought to be and tried to be two countries. Mrs. Gandhi's father one day decided that Goa, which was Portuguese for a few hundred years, should become Indian, and settled opposition to this ruling by the overwhelming majority of Goans by the easiest means of all: he sent in troops and absorbed Goa. There was a dispute with China over the Indian frontier at the other end of the subcontinent, which was finally negotiated after quite a few people were killed, and the historians continue to argue over rights and wrongs. The easiest way to generalize on the business of what is and what isn't integral to any given modern state is this: If the state is strong enough to hang on to the dissenting substate, hang on it will (as Russia hangs on to the Baltic states). If it is less than that strong (as Pakistan was not strong enough to hang on to East Pakistan when India decided to move in and create an independent state), then the state loses territory. In the case of the Punjab vs. New Delhi, the Sikhs seeking independence resorted to the kind of thing regularly resorted to during the past generation or two in the Western world. And the kind of thing resorted to with fearful regularity in India over the last couple of centuries: terrorism. Mrs. Gandhi figured that the true headquarters of this terrorism was the Golden Temple at Amritsar. She decided to send the troops there, which offense for the Sikhs was the equivalent of, let us say. Israelis marching into Mecca, or Watching chain saw TV commer- WASHINGTON (UPI) the American Cancer Society, sponsor of the "Great American Smokeout" coming up Nov. 15, has published a number of familiar quotations to wretches refrain from help nicotine-stainelighting up that day. The citations include Mark Twain's famous To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did. I've done it a thousands times." And also Fred Allens zinger: "When you smoke cigarettes, you're likely to burn yourself to death." Nowhere did I note any reference to the author who may have had the most to say on d two-line- the subject. I refer to Wil'iam Shakespeare, whose plays, poems and other writing have helped millions kick the habit. As my contribution to this year's Smo- have gone through Bartlett's and picked out some of the Immortal Bard s rel- keout I evant comments. If the following "interview doesn't make you want to give up the weed for at least 24 hours, nothing will. Shakespeare, are you planning to in the Smokeout? "Must I hold a candle to my shames.'' Q. Mr. participate A Some "don'ts" come quickly to mind while operating a chain saw Don't try to operate the saw with one hand. Keep both hands on the appropriate handles And. obviously, away from the running chain. - Don't operate one unless your feet are solidly placed. Don't force the saw into the cut, let its weight do the work. After all, that's why you bought it or borrowed - it. Orbiting Paragraphs the eoniputei li,i. i.ikeri u tom will come in .uni a hen figiu mg m t tit "tit wli.it i.n causing .ill tin ti ,t (i Wlit'ii pieteh il Ill'll! make hill el tint e. Ml iv there s llu .mil "iC in the U'U luMt "III un'il It, ii k III ,i sh.niie that raile .eh .tie leu ed tu ' k t p t Hissings dwindling leMiin' him hj d during the ruh hum It it V ml First Thanksgiving a Blood and Guts Story King Features Syndicate November ripens we start to think about Thanksgiving and remember that first one in the Plymouth Colony. The temptation is to picture the cele- - brants as simple. kindly, uncomplicat- - i ed folk in black clothes, funny hats with buckles on the front, shooting turkeys and bartering for corn with the Indians. going to church and laying the "r- Rr.nl' first crude founda- tions of democracy and toleration in this country The actuality is somewhat different The Puritans who came to these shores from England, calling themselves Pilgrims, had left home to avoid religious persecution bv the Crow n, the Parliament and the Established English church. But the Puritans, while seeking their own religious freedom, were not precisely eager to afford such freedom to anyone eise Roger Williams, a few years after the first Thanksgiving, was forced to leave for Rhode Island with a few Puritan followers to worship in a manner To understand the Puritans who settled here, what they were and what they wanted, you have to retrace their steps to England, to those they left behind By the time the late ItkUK had armed (about 20 years after the Pilgrims sailed in the Mayflower). Puritan ism had become so popular in England that shunned mi far from beinj; a beaten-down- , If we export American constitutional terminology and ask for a wall of separation between church and state, the aggressor would seem to be Mrs. Gandhi, whose assault on the Sikh holy temple cost a thousand lives That, rather than the bloody and tragic Sikh reciprocity last Tuesday in Mrs. Gandhi's garden. Most of the attention in the United States is similarly given to putative breaches by the church against the state. How, the visitor was asked at a press conference last week, do you account for the entry of the fundamentalists and the evangelicals into politics during this season0 Because. I answered, politics has increasingly been moving in on what was held to be the pastures of the church. The principal aggressor here, of course, is the Supreme Court, which for much of its history was devoted to its constitutional duty of adjudicating conflicting claims and interpretations. But it became, pronouncedly under Earl Warren, a moral which is to say religious arbiter. When the Supreme Court says such things as that children cannot pray in public schools, that citizens may not ban abortion or pornography, the state is challenging the church that, in the fleeted phrase of Pastor Richard John Neuhaus. has never envisioned a society with a "naked public square," in which the church is forbidden any role in the moral circuitry that writes laws, forms public opinion, and strengthens civic sanctions. Rue the awful event in New Delhi. But avoid the temptation to make out of it the material for one more flaccid argument for a synthetic separation of church and state. Shakespeare Could Help Smokeout James Bradv As Muslims marching into the Dick West instrument. cials can make it appear that all a person has to do is give a few yanks on the starting laynard and apply the saw to the wood. That is exact h what chain saw makers want the viewer to see; just how truly easy it is to saw up a log. What they don't necessarily emphasize are the potential dangers involved Most deadly is "kickback." where the saw quite literally kicks back out of the cut and. uncontrolled, slashes into an arm, leg. scalp or face; leaving a deep and ugly wound that in all probablity will require the skill of an emergency room surgeon to close for Catholics. Vatican. nority. it had become so powerful a sect as to dominate Parliament and threaten the Crown The King. Charles I. was a stubborn sort He also had a European wife who was suspected, especially by the Puritans, of secretly wanting to restore Roman Catholicism in the country, of reversing the Protestant Reformation set in tram by Henry VIII. There were also political issues, taxes, whether King or Commons was supreme, and so on. Eventually the whole complex mess erupted into a Civil War that lasted seven years and spilled over into savagery and ruin for Ireland and vast parts of Scotland. An obscure Puritan member of Parliament, a farmer and brewer named Oliver Cromwell. emerged as first a superb colonel of rural cavalry and, in the end, an uncrowned king wars are terrible and this was no exception You wonder what the Puritans in Massachusetts in the 1640s were thinking as the news arrived And it is not as if Massachusetts and England were isolated from one another. In the lB.IOs Cromwell himself, annoyed by the economy, seriously considered rooting up family and cattle and emigrating to America Instead, he stayed behind And fought. The King's men were called Cavaliers, the Puritans, "Roundheads," a disparaging reference to the many shaven-headeLondon apprentices who enlisted in their army Both sides fought bravely and with tenacity. But gallantry was reserved for the fighting men After the Battle of Naseby the Puritans rounded up the female camp followers of the defeated Cavaliers, killed all the Irishwomen among them, and for the rest, high born lady aii London streetwalker both, slashed All civil them across the face with a saber to mark them forever as sluts. And then the Puritans knelt and read the Bible aloud. The Archbishop of Canterbury was tried and beheaded, suspected of trying to restore some doctrines and rites smacking of Catholicism. Ireland was looted, priests executed, rebels transported to the plantations as slaves, and Cromwell himself wrote instructions to have "a thousand wenches" sent to the Barbados to be mated to English planters. The King was captured, but treated with great courtesy. His servants fluttered about, he occupied a palace, his children and wife were permitted to stay with him. Parliament offered the King a deal. He refused. Cromwell offered a deal. The King said he'd think about it but secretly connived with the Spaniards and the French to restore his power. Q. Not unless you are out of lighter fluid I'm merely asking if you intend to refrain from taking a puff on Nov. 15. A. "Sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud That's a day longer than a wonder lasts " Q Are you looking forward to the chal- lenge0 I A. "It goes much against my stomach had rather be a dog, and bay the moon " Q. How will you and your fellow smokers spend the day? A. "From hour to hour we rot and rot We ll have a swashing and a martial outside, as many other mannish cowards have. There is no vice so simple but assumes some mark of virtue on his outward parts" Q. Are you taking any steps to psyche yourself up? A. "I mean not to sweat extraordinarily. A man can die but once." Q. Why in the light of all the statistics do you continue to smoke0 A "I am a tainted wether of the flock. My affection hath an unknown bottom, like the bay of Portugal." Q. I understand the bay has now been sounded, sir And may I point out that one day is hardly a monumental exercise of will power. Are you sure that is long enough for a true test0 A "Enough, with mean your resolve is over-measur- e Q You a bit tenta- tive', A. "Tetchy and wayward. Like a drunken sailor un a mast, ready with every nod to tumble down." Q I see. Do you have any comforting words for the millions taking part in the Smokeout? A. "Bid them wash their faces, and keep their teeth clean. At least we'll die with harness on our back" England, even Cromwell, roiled in confusion. The nation was accustomed to having a King. Yet this King was so obstinate. He refused to abdicate in favor of a prince. He refused to cooperate with Parliament. And in the end they chopped off his head in London and women dipped handkerchiefs in his blood And the war went on until, at last, Cromwell, now a general, crushed the Royalists. He was offered the crown and refused, becoming, instead. Lord Protector And when be died the royalists came back, dug him up. cut off his head, and displayed it skewel ed oil a pike. As November begins you wonder again how history, both British and American, might have been different had Cromwell 1 emigrated to Massachusetts "Somehow the U S. must he to blame this." |
