| Show L - - The Salt Lake Tribune COMIENTARY All Thursday March 5 1992 Buchanan Has No Chance for Victory Thomas Fails to Show Compassion But He'll Have Fun at Bush's Expense By Cynthia Tucker COR NEWS SERVICE ATLANTA In the hearings that led to his confirmation as a Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas gave the nation a few deeply moving moments of stirring testimony In one of the most poignant the justice who was then a judge on the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia spoke of looking out of the window of his office and seeing prisoners shuffling off to court "I say to myself almost every day 'But for the grace of God there go I' " he told the Senate Judiciary Committee It was an electric moment compelling and convincing a glimpse of a Clarence Thomas who — despite his deeply conservative inclinations and the Darwinist social policies they suggest — still felt a powerful connection to those who had gone astray those who may not have been as fortunate those who had chosen the wrong road His powerful words carried the ring of truth Justice Thomas was born into a time and place when hapless black men could be hauled off to jail for a mere trespass against social convention much less the code of law He might have been But Justice Thomas's latest ruling strikes a harsh and discordant note against the lingering echo of that moving testimony Writing recently in a case involving a Louisiana inmate Justice Thomas sounds heartless and cold a man without pity a man bereft of compassion a man deaf to the fun- damental demands of humanity The inmate was beaten and punched by two prison guards while handcuffed and shackled It was not a case that called upon complex ideologies The ruling only demanded a modicum of humanity Seven of the nine justices of a very conservative court saw quickly enough that this constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" and was a violation of the simple standards of decency that the US Constitution demands Justice Thomas disagreed In a dissent joined by the soulless Antonin Scalia Justice Thomas wrote: "In my view a use of force that causes only insignificant harm to a prisoner may be immoral it may be tortuous it may be criminal and it may even be remediable under other provisions of the federal Constitution but it is not 'cruel and unusual punishment'" This ruling marks a new nadir for the newest justice sev eral notches below a disagreeable ruling he joined a few weeks back Voting in a case in which black Alabama office- By William F Buckley holders complained that racist colleagues had unfairly stripped them of their powers Justice Thomas joined the majority which gave the black officials no help Few expected that Justice Thomas would be anything other than conservative as he has been throughout his political career But many Americans hoped he would temper his conservatism with mercy a grace born of having lived under the cruel lash of racism Isn't that what he promised? During his confirmation hearings Justice Thomas said he would bring a dimension to the court that it lacked Speaking frequently of his poverty-strickeboyhood in coastal Georgia he led us to believe that his experiences made him deeply sensitive to wanton abuses of power His experiences may have had quite a different effect They may have left him calloused and hardened unable to wield the power the court has given him with care and contest yields sheer ) 3 s s ts rents ren Cynthia Tucker is editor of The Atlanta Constitution's editorial pages ci - h - c- - 1- )f e- - le es' ill n- - to b- - 12' lie n er? No So why this legislation? Money? Legislators want to make certain kindergarten doesn't lose money he or get cut out completely because it's not mandatory Ludicrous! Parents would storm the capitol in defense of kindergarten The bottom line is legislators don't trust parents to choose what's best for their children krs' me an on !re' of VERONICA MORTENSEN Orem Pay Nation's Bills an i Ais x Aer in job: got ort- s in amy t to the and nds 1 in !an't any-hav- In one opinion survey after another Americans adamantly declare their unwillingness to be taxed for things they want and expect like less pollution and crime better education and health care a reduction of the deficit etc How ironic if the fundamental anti-tasentiment that helped create America should be a prime factor in its decline Good government and the elimination of waste are important but of themselves can't assure funds sufficient for tasks we face There is also a need however painful for public acceptance of reasonable and fair tax obligations tailored to one's ability e e al- ig to arta even ome- - nmy to pay As anyone who manages a family budget knows there comes a time when we can no longer have the things we want and need without paying for them Endless irresponsible borrowing eventually means bankruptcy for nations as well as families and businesses Surely we don't want such an end to the great American experiment DONALD J TUTTLE Heber City Just Vote 'No' The characterization of the 1992 Legislature as "least productive" by various commentators misses the mark A truth too obvious for debate is that if legislators vote "no" 100 percent of the time they'll vote correctly at least 98 percent of the time JACK MASON Sandy Where to Write When submitting letters to the Public Forum please include your full name signature address and daytime telephone numbers Information other than your name will be kept confidential Preference is given to original letters of 300 words or less that are typewritten and permit publication of the writer's true name (Names may be withheld for good reason) All letters are subject to editing Mall to Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City double-- spaced Utah 84110 Unfair Sensationalism I disagree with Michael Phillips' stories that emergency department personnel in Utah hospitals are now carrying concealed weapons (The Salt Lake Tribune Feb 2) and that emergency physicians are critical of hospital administration response to security needs (Tribune Feb 9) It is unfair of Mr Phillips to suggest that as a result of the Alta View Hospital hostage incident and the death of Karla Roth emergency department workers now see their work as fraught with peril and their patients and visitors as potential assailants I am an emergency department physician who was on duty at Alta View throughout the incident I know of no one who feels less devoted to the patients or the work because of this tragedy For many of us it was a time of reaffirmation of the commitment to providing health and caring for our neighbors We have not armed ourselves and I suggest that the one marginal individual reported by Mr Phillips to now carry a gun to work does so more in sympathy with the Richard Worthington mentality than in fear of it It is untrue that the administrators of local hospitals are not doing a good job with respect to hospital security Although I cannot comment on Dr Steven Joyce's concerns at University Hospital I can say that Salt Lake Valley hospitals of Intermountain Health Care have always been sensitive to security issues and have been prompt and thorough in reassessing and increasing where appropriate hospital security in the wake of the hostage incident The Tribune is doing a disservice to the community by suggesting that to seek emergency care at a local hospital is to enter the medical equivalent of the OK Corral Ev en though the work is not for and the public's the tolerance of our imperfections seems always to be dwindling the people in the emergency department welcome their patients with diligence and respect that have not been diminished by suspicion or hostility since this very sad event The Tribune is wrong to publish Mr Phillips' transparent attempts to distort and sensationalize these issues THOMAS WEED faint-at-hea- rt President-elec- t Utah Chapter American College of Emergency Physicians A recent article in Vocational Education Weekly reports the re- sults of The International Assessment of Educational Progress A random sampling of 175000 9- s and in 20 countries where large percentages of the youth population were in school participated in this assessment In science the United States ranked 13th out of 15 industrial nations In mathematics our country placed 14th out of 15 comparable countries The only consistent correlation with high achievement in the science test was children from households with 25 or more books Other expected correlations such as time spent on homework days in school and curriculum standards showed no consistent relationship to test results However experts did agree on the probability of the negative effects of one other factor: Except for Scotland American students lead the world in television year-old- L KRISTINE DOBSON Summit Park mE10411a lit 1 WI timai—'1 : 1' t tP x:IoNlo 1! ys T I TAishoblAE a GoOS) 1 i r"1 : -- 4 : :- fI ' ! i' 11 r If Yr r r ‘1 "pi t Ilift 111 i' : I t ' Iti-- 101 1 41:''- tiy r MN I I it I : I te mitcco t have all but earned a PhD in Buchananana and what do they go on to do? They publicize a batch of excerpts from Buchanan's columns that bring to mind that he is a marvelously witty fellow whatever else his shortcomings Imagine if you want to imagine an analog that Westbrook Peg ler had entered a primary against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944 and that the brain trust of FDR had combed the writings of Peg ler to establish his disqualifications for office Oh Geordie jingling Geordie! — what a spectacle that would have been! We have to begin by understanding that there is no prospect of Buchanan's upsetting Bush for the nomination and that therefore he enjoys the maximum luxury of any "candidate" whose designs are for something other than victory Nobody who like us folks writes three times every week and otherwise opines on issues about which people feel deeply or which violate the canons of political correctness can hope to amass a majority of those delegates who come to the convention city intending to anoint the next president of the United States And of course Pat Buchanan has exposed himself to charges that in some directions with respect to some people he is basely oriented On this point serious students of the political scene await reassurance But meanwhile what does the Bush brigade come up with? The New York Times chose to kick off its chrestomathy of objectionable Buchanan quotes with the -- Vg i y 1)?4 i - aisipago c'Ittl't t'0 It 0 7 -- --5 ': I 1 to L i Am sage take off their glasses sit down and say "What's the matter with that?" Let's try again Much is being made about Buchanan's lurking misogyny How is it documented? "Less equipped psychologically to 'stay the course' in the brawling arenas of business commerce industry and the professions women are physically unequipped to compete in the worlds of athletics and arms" Women are That's a hardly "unequipped" to compete in the world of athletics as witness that in the past 10 years they have relatively improved up against the performance of men But the generality that a woman's nature is distinct is correct and it is unlikely that many women voters will cavil at the point being made They should on the contrary be proud about some of those differences in nature feminists About the Buchanan is ungentle calling following: "The way to deal with Duke is them "harridans" who wield the the way the GOP dealt with the far "castrator's knife" That charge is more formidable challenge of or isn't exaggerated depending on George Wallace Take a hard look who springs to mind when you talk at Duke's portfolio of winning is- about feminists There are differsues and expropriate those not in ences between Clare Boothe Luce conflict with GOP principles" and Germaine Greer both femiThe only way to lose a vote by nists Those who expect to find indictcirculating that quote is to find a voter who turns white at any use ments only of types of the name "Duke" other than in will be mystified Here is Buchana sentence denouncing him To be an on active economic figures in sure there are such But there are the '80s: "What have the vulture also voters who will read that pas capitalists of the leveraged buyout half-trut- full-tim- e left us but an endless pile of clip-Dail- y from Women's Wear of their grinning selves and women?" That line could been written by Jimmy Breslin or John Kenneth Galbraith or any of the Democratic candidates with a good ghostwriter And then on the subject of politics and passion? "Missing in the torpor of this politics of consensus is belief conviction passion The day of JFK and Barry Goldwater of Gene McCarthy and Ronald Reagan the great partisans seems over But this is not the end of ideology it is a phony peace until new men arrive to give voice and direction to the passions of the age" On the other hand the politics of entertainment rule out serious politics Someone who wishes to regroup the Republican Party around his own leadership just doesn't talk about disagreeing with Vice President Dan Quayle as running the risk of "child abuse" If he goes on to criticize other Republican conservatives — for inGingrich Kemp lramm — Pat Buchanan will alienate figures for the grand paint-hav- e in Ronald Reagan did not 1980 by manhandling Republican leaders in 1976 He ran on the 1 lth Commandment which forswore criticism of people as distinguished from policies But Buchanan's way makes for high times IMMO J Ii Freedom's Limits 1 i One has to feel sorry for the Bush researchers Obviously they Tribune Readers' Opinions rents TV Robs Education Sen Scott N Howell wanted to lower the minimum compulsory age for school attendance from 6 years to 5 with Senate Bill 150 Never mind that most child psychologists and neurophysiologists wonder why educators continue to push for legislation that forces children to attend school at younger and younger ages There are those in the education field who want to eventually lower the compulsory age to 2 Many according to experts are not physically and emotionally mature enough to begin school tasks Some aren't ready until they're 7 or 8 Once they're ready they quickly catch up to their peers and oftentimes surpass them Research has concluded that a child may suffer permanent damage if his natural rate of development is forced Our legislators need to carefully research this issue Parents need to be allowed to choose whether or not their children are ready to enter kindergarten The proposed amendment wouldn't have allowed that Parents still would have had to get the cooperation of a teacher and principal to keep the children out of school Ninety-sevepercent of Utah's attend kindergarten Are test scores any high- de- light n - r i Bush-Buchana- riti: - I 1 NEW YORK — Given that politics is substantially a spectator n sport the turn in the The Public Forum I Jr UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE t r Concerning Diane Praag's letter "Ban Smoking Ban" (Forum P'FEE ET '''4"N "17 Feb 24): I too am in favor of freedom for all Regardless of religion creed sex or color the laws of this coun- OME try and the freedoms it guarantees should reflect not only an individual's desires but how those desires affect others If any individual desires to smoke he or she should be allowed that prerogative But if it infringes on the air I breathe or affects my health or in any other way alters my own habits then it no longer remains their freedom to do so To me this is simply a form of encroachment on another's territory or another's life- INES Hi 111Y IF REDIT style Let's stop the nonsense of this debate: The selfish desires of those wishing to enjoy their own pleasures at the expense of the innocent When your dog or cat uses my lawn for a bathroom or your drinking results in an accident that injures another or your smoking sullies the air others breathe then those freedoms no longer exist 1t 6990APR LAREE CHASTON Salt Lake City :40 Gambling Corruption My position on gambling through horse racing is I am opposed to it I have no use for it It encourages a "get rich quick for a few" mentality for the many who can least afford it It raises revenue from the brows of the worker who already pays more than their fair share of the state's tax burden Gambling leads to other forms of corruption our state can ill afblue-coll- ar 1 Whether it's a new family room an Explorer XLI or a week in Cancun your desires can be home equity line of credit With it comes the achieved with the help of a well As of funds as some highly attractive tax advantages of an convenience ongoing availability Find out more Come into West One Bank today low-ra- te 1 ford Utah's reputation for schemes is disgraceful to our educated work force If gambling is for the gambler let them go to Nevada If it is for revenue generation apply a straight percent proportion tax Rich and poor should pay according to their ability KEVIN S CAHOON Salt Lake City ! Sen ing I 0 (i The ti Psi For 125 Fears 14 BANK Tir"IiJ0211171q 1 ill no( exceisi APR gigs! Ilin sigh AHOISi 31111)2 Curpnit IN!nlii!olunieti raw 8 11N Role aller kilust 311992 nlip Airit)l-iiiiii Constili NiPor tas '4itA isiir Annual lee skaiAieil flit firsi year: sa- per yiat thereafter Pritpert) insurance required Aleintrr FDIC iti Pi - f |
