Show WiAtovws The Salt Lake Tribune tl COMMENTARY Sunday June 27 1993 Al9 Republican Mayors in Jersey City Los Angeles Give GOP a Different Look 18 kl f I miir4WMAON4ftEremellIESolVb o4006”aliKaw'kelv 13 THE WASHINGTON could care less about the Republican POST Party" said Schundler worked for Gary Hart's unsuccessful presidential bid venture capitalRiordan a ist has as his political alter ego William Ward law a Democrat who chaired President Clinton's 1992 California campaign Ward law was at Riordan's side every step of the mayoral race and now heads the transition team planning the new administration On his first visit to Sacramento the told me he publicly rebuked mayor-elec- t an enthusiastic Republican assemblyman who hailed his victory as a boost for the beleaguered state GOP "You're not helping me" Riordan told the cheerleader To say that neither man is overtly partisan is not to say that their victories are unimportant signals of underlying political shifts Jersey City had been under Democratic control for 75 years Los Angeles for 36 years Clinton endorsed Riordan's opponent who employed Democratic media strategist Robert from Cleveland Indianapolis Kansas r terms as City and Orlando for president But more often these organizations have had to go to places like Colorado Springs Colo San Juan Puerto Rico York Pa and even Scotland Neck ReNC in order to find publican mayors Thus it was a novelty to have visits last week by newly elected Republican mayors of the Democratic bastions of Jersey City and Los Angeles The victories of Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler and Los Angeles Mayor-eleRichard Riordan have brought great cheer to the GOP But after listening to the two men my guess is that the help they can give the Republicans is very different from what the party leaders may suppose Both men say they have no interest in promoting state or national Republican causes — and their history supports them "I am a registered Republican but g ct : hot-sh- l:: ::::::: ::::::: ::::::: : ::::::: ::- : :: :: :: :::::- :: :::: — : ReNLLY OeC15(Ve fgaN1 :: ::::::::: : ::: ::::: ::: r ' - 'Y: ' :::: ::::: :: :::s ' ': ::: :' ::::: :::::-::- : ::::::: :1::::' ::: :::::::::::::-- :: : ::: :::::::::: ilr- "7: :::: : C) ::::::- '41 ':::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::: ' 1 ‘‘‘e t1 v ill4 g(- 1-----i -) 'i':' :?::: i : " ' t ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::: 1 -: I (: ::::::! ::::: ::::::::::K::::'::::::::1:?: ::5:::r::: 1 :: :: : :::: K: 2::: :gi:: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : :::::::::::::: :g:::::: :: : :::::E :::?? Z s:: : :::: : : ' : :: ii 777::77:7 - s"i: r- t ::::::::::::::: :::::::: :Er : ::t:::::::xH 4r:: :::::::7)k:1!4 ':::::::::::::::::::::::::::y: eiv : ::::::i::::::-::::ii::::: 71 ::K:: :::::: i ::::a:: 9-- o Lt:215 KA- n k :::i ::::: :: i ::::::::::::::::::::::::' li ' ' (X :: : i i le' ::::::::Id Atook 1‘1 X ti I ki (k xxt '::: t :::::::::BE::::: i:- - t :::::::: :g::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : ' :: : : 6 ':?:::: ' ist4RL11 - ::::::: :::"::::::::::::::::": : i: ' : 19 :tgi: :': 1 :::::: 7 77:!::: : : : - : we ( T-- Clinton's Indecision Sparks Homophobia NORTH AMERICA SYNDICATE rub 4t — During the presidential campaign when Bill Clinton was vowing to lift the ban on gays in the military I applauded him as a man of good conscience and bravery I thought he was going to strike a blow for miliWASHINGTON tary justice akin to Harry Truman's gutsy decree to end racial segregation within our defense forces But unlike President Truman who was decisive and took no crap from even the great military heroes eg Douglas MacArthur Mr Clinton has become not only indecisive but a president who lapses into trembling retreat whenever he faces a fight If Harry Truman had given a veto to the senators from Georgia or any place else in 1946 or had deferred to the Pentagon brass the military would probably still be Jim Crow Now we are told by presidential press secretary Dee Dee Myers that "there is not support in Congress for a complete lifting of the ban" on gays in the military So what we are about to get is a Clinton "compromise" under which homosexual Americans will be worse off than they were when Mr Clinton made his grandiose campaign promise Instead of moving quickly and forcefully after his election to order as commander in chief that the ban be lifted Mr Clinton deferred meekly to Sen Sam Nunn of Georgia who is clearly anti-gaand to the military chiefs who have a history of opposing almost any social change The result is that Mr Clinton has stirred up the worst outbreak of homophobia in America in this century This president is about to re y Carl T Rowan 47 the closet" never revealing their homosexuality But the military would hold Draconian control over the social and sex lives of homosexual personnel The suggested compromise says a gay person can be thrown out of the military for engaging in homosexual sex sodomy for example either on or off a military base In short if you're gay don't admit it Don't be seen e in gay bars Don't share an apartment with someone of the same sex Arid who knows what other lifestyle restrictions the military might apply? The continuing discrimination is obvious I've read Kinsey and other reports about American sexual behavior — plus books like The Joy of Sex and a plethora of "good sex" manuals for heterosexuals The message always is that in the "straight" community oral sex is as American as a "Roseanne" sitcom And anal sex supposedly is widely engaged in by heterosexuals including those in the military So what is this business of Mr Clinton agreeing that the Pentagon can bounce out of the military off-bas- first-han- d percent chance of reading at grade level when he or she finishes the 12th grade which means there's a 90 percent chance that child will be almost unemployable" He says the school system holds the key to Los Angeles' future But since he does not control the schools he will focus on The any "closeted" homosexuals who go off base and "get caught" doing what heterosexuals do by their sex guides and manuals? Homosexuals in the military have a claim to justice in pleading "Punish us for what we do not for what we are" They and most homosexuals will accept an agreement that gays and lesbians who flaunt their lifestyle through same-sekissing and fondling in public or who The editorial in the June 9 Salt Lake Tribune on gun control as a health issue raised the following questions in my mind: Why not focus our energies on several of the most important health issues like AIDS cancer heart disease Lyme disease and mental illness? If regulation of guns will address the health issue how has government control and licensing helped alcoholism tobacco addiction and the careless use of automobiles? Would it help to regulate food since obesity contributes to many more illnesses and deaths than do firearms? If the ultimate governmental regulation is to ban items from this country why are cocaine heroin and other banned drugs so prevalent? Why does the Clinton administration promote gun control as a means of saving human lives and then support abortion? If people have the right to choose abortions as a solution to their problems don't they have the right to carry a firearm for their personal security? In medicine until the disease is identified the symptoms are treated Perhaps we are treating the symptoms because we refuse to face the diseases in this DALE G KERN Hyde Park non-milita- nege on a troublesome promise by agreeing that someone who is gay or lesbian who wants to fight for America won't be asked by military recruiters about his or her sexual orientation Gays will be allowed to fight and die for this country as long as they "stay in y big-cit- y Palk Forum Tribune Readers' Opinions :: :::::'2:::: :::::::::::::1ei:E: ( ::::::::::::::::::::::::: t Schundler's top priority is creating a citywide experiment with education vouchers — a radical remedy for a school system which he says is spending $9200 per of its pupil but getting less than one-thir- d students through high school Riordan mourns the fact that "a minority child in Los Angeles has only a 10 Guns as Disease - erty-taxpaye- conventional Republican approach Vow4 ::: reducing the threat of crime which he calls the biggest barrier to bringing in more jobs Both these men are comfortable talking in more compassionate terms about social problems than their image as hardheaded businessmen first suggests They both seem personally burdened by the plight of their cities' underclass True they want to provide relief for local prop Schundler already has begun But in a notable deviation from national Republican rhetoric both explicitly argue that suburbanites will have to pay more of the costs that now fall on center-citresidents Redistribution is not anathema to them Partisan or not they represent a welnew strain of Recome — and needed publican leadership The GOP has had so little experience with government that never in 20 years have Republican administrations had a secretary of housing and urban development who had spent a single day as an elected official in city hall Conceivably despite their nonpartisan stance people like Riordan and Schundler will have lessons to teach 1 s x "proposition" other military people to engage in homosexual sex should be punished But I have written before that it is outrageously unfair for the Pentagon to honor a Navy man with a medal an Army man with a declaration of "soldier of the year" and declare these patriots to be "lepers" to be scorned because they let the public know that they are homosexuals The gay community is right in concluding that Mr Clinton has gone just far enough to give hope to gays but also to arouse the bigots who scream about "the gay peril!" Anti-gapassions are strong everywhere but especially in the American military It may now be too late for President Clinton to readopt the posture of justice and bravery that he used to get our votes But any show of guts on his part now could make it possible for us to do justice to homosexuals in the military and the rest of this society Barry Goldwater was right in saying "You don't have to be straight to fight and die for your country All you have to do is shoot straight" I'd add that all you have to do in civilian society is good work and display honesty and integrity y Non-India- Warriors n In his article about racial slurs against American Indians (The Salt Lake Tribune June 11) Jon Ure alleges that Weber and Taylorsville high schools are bashing Indians by using "warrior" mascots The mascot at Weber High School is a medieval European knight in a suit of armor The knight's motto is "Miles Laetus" a latin phrase meaning "happy warrior" How does a medieval European knight with a Latin inscription on his shield defame native Americans? Taylorsville's mascot is a hybrid between an ancient Roman soldier and a Viking He is depicted at the school in a large tile mosaic with shoulder-lengtblond hair How does the use of such a mascot cast racial slurs at American Indians? Perhaps Mr Ure is laboring under the misconception that the word "warrior" applies only to American Indians If so he needs to check a reliable dictionary "Warrior" is a generic term with no racial or ethnic connotations A warrior can be a person of any race creed color or ethnic background In our haste to right all of society's wrongs we should be careful not to damage the reputations of innocent individuals h RICHARD NEALSON Salt Lake City Tunnel Vision Where to Write 1:"1 NI" 41e --- 's:::::::::::::::: I :: : : :::: ' ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : 7 : d ::::7:::::::::::::::::::: oRE i :7"r"'-'- AL ::::::::: :4- : ::::::: ' 11 ::::::zy-?7:- head-to-hea- o::::::::::x:: '-- "011Th::::::: 5 '::: ' - ::::::::: ot : '111t1 :': 20-ye- ar HEIS ::::::-::' j"4 :::-:' J all-o- 1 ::r?' ii ii' Ir- - X': - ::::::: (‘InsIll 1 :::1 i !!7 (''"- l::::lir - )1 1 47: - - el:::::::::: :::::::: 4e II " - ::::::::" : :: 'I Squier in Jersey City Sen Bill Bradley and the state and local Democratic organizations went to beat Schundler The election of these two white businessmen in heavily minority cities clearly suggests that the Democratic "lock" on city hall is as mythical as the Republican "lock" on the White House proved to be last year Riordan benefited from the visible loss of energy in the regime of retirDemocratic Mayor Tom ing was It the jailing of the previous Bradley Democratic mayor of Jersey City that created the special election last November in which Schundler won a narrow plurality victory over 18 foes In May when he went with a single To :57:::::::s::::o: ::'::: :::::::::: ":::::::: - ':-:- y:-:- -- -- :: :':' ::: ::::::: ? (5 The cgoicletyr fecobliN6:-- ' ::::: :::::::::::::::::: :: David Broder gf D-N- contender for a full term Schundler trounced him Both men profited from the issue that has been a staple of national Republican campaigns Riordan won middle-clasvoters by promising to put 3000 more police on the streets in the next four years Schundler sharply increased foot patrols during the eight months between his first and second campaigns and was able to brag of a 13 percent reduction in crime But beyond that neither man offers a 2-- :07: 1::::'::::M::::::::::::::::: :::: Democratic k ld one-yea- card-carryin- r a Wall Street whiz who was a registered Democrat until three years ago and WASHINGTON — A Republican big-cit- y mayor is an exotic creature In recent times the League of Cities and the US Conference of Mayors eager to appear bipartisan have recruited Republicans When submitting letters to the Public Forum please include your full name signature ad dress 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 Mail to Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Why are sound walls going up on Interstate 215 in Salt Lake City all the way from 4500 South to 6200 South? That section of freeway had actually been termed beautiful Now it is being turned into a dark cheerless view-stopp- double-- spaced Utah 84110 Sports Violence If the sports world is any indication of where our culture is prospect heading the long-terfor the neighborhood is a glum one This past season there was more blatant in the once gentlemanly National Basketball Association than ever before In a startling announcement after the end of the regular season Magic Johnson basketball's recently retired superstar came out in favor of the Roman arena format for pro ball fist-fighti- Magic admitted as how there is nothing the league can do to stop fighting The Associated Press quoted him as saying "You've got to do it you got to stand up and fight" The message for neighborhood crime watch efforts all around the country is not hard to figure out referees and a herd If of regular police standing only a few yards away cannot stop edubrawling among highly-paicated men in front of a national TV audience how can we ever expect to use thinly dispersed city policemen to stop the brawling between poor uneducated gang members? d During Game 2 of the NBA finals Magic criticized a player who broke a rule during Game 1 and who then apologized to the player he harmed Magic advised the millions of youth watching the game "You don't apologize to anyone" As for owners coaches TV net- works and commercial sponsors of professional sports events these pillars of the community are not doing nearly enough to stop woofing and fighting In fact our sports gurus seem to sense the commercial value of prime-tim- e hooliganism The league assesses fines amounting to pocket change for dollar players and the next fight breaks out minutes later ROBERT K SHINKOSKEY Salt Lake City multi-millio- n Utah Department of Transportation says the people who live near it have the right to sound protection Most homes are well below the freeway so why are the rights of hundreds being placed over the rights of hundreds of thousands who travel the freeway and like to see the city? If the sound walls are so important why don't the people who live even closer to the freeway on the west end of the valley have sound walls? Pity the poor commuters who could actually enjoy the commute as the vista of the beautiful Salt Lake Valley spread out before them now to be replaced by miles of dreary claustrophobic tunnellike freeway DEBBIE TYLER Salt Lake City Zero Tolerance The Citizens on Alcoholic Beverage Control a quorum of seven decided that the people in Utah should have a "zero tolerance" level for charging someone with drunken driving Once again the LDS state government has found another way to impose its religious beliefs on the people in Utah We are so fortunate to have a moral conscience committee do our thinking for us Since their definition of drunken driving does not meet any legal or medical definition of the charge it is likely that it would be another case that would be tried in the Supreme Court only to be paid for by the citizens of Utah Laws are made to protect the citizens from harm This would be a law that is unenforceable unless the morality police follow everyone from restaurants clubs and the privacy of their homes There is no point in making a law that is unenforceable unless there is an ulterior motive such as religious beliefs We have laws and punishments governing legitimate drunken drivers and they should be the ones we use to the fullest extent possible If these concerned citizens really have the safety of the public in mind why don't we pass and enforce laws that will save lives and prevent injury? Let's cite drivers who don't use seat belts or have a "Utah Air Bag" (a child on their lap) or that allow their children to ride unprotected in cars WILLIAM REVENE Murray Pat Nixon: An 'Ideal' First Lady Who Found Her Place Inside the Home FF LOS ANGELES TIMES SYNDICATE — Thelma Catherine WASHINGTON Ryan also known as Pat Nixon didn't like politics But she spent most of her life in the profession because of her husband She was always supportive of him in good times and bad in sickness and in health just as she promised in her marriage vows (She died the day after their 53rd anniversary) On occasions when she was asked to represent her country abroad she did so with dignity Some derisively called her "plastic Pat" but that was because they misjudged the surface and could not see into the inner woman — to her real substance — which was not plastic but steel What else can explain how she could sustain herself during the thrill of victories in congressional races in the '40s for the races with Eisenhower in '52 and '56 and then the runs for the presidency in '60 '68 and '72? Just the Watergate affair would have driven lesser women to despair Through it all Pat Nixon carved out an image for herself that was never tainted by scandal She never intruded into the political arena and did not presume to promote her own agenda on the national stage Those of us who knew Pat and Richard Nixon knew that stories about them being cold and unloving were not true (They didn't believe in showing emotion publicly Nixon used to refer to it as "wearing your heart on your sleeve") In private they were humorous and warm IMIEIII 41'1 ) it- Cal Thomas - 4 1 lk to their friends and to each other Charles Colson Richard Nixon's special counsel called Pat an "ideal" First Lady "She never thrust herself into the middle of anything" he told me "She was a supportive wife and devoted mother which is not very politically correct today" Maybe not but it seemed to work well for generations of Americans who like Pat Nixon thought there was more to success than political and business accomplishments It was not like her to criticize other people including career women But she had found something she considered better Success was unflagging devotion to her husband and daughters Colson paid her the ultimate compliment noting that "if you want to know how good someone is look at their children Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Tricia Nixon Cox not only grew up in the White House they had to suffer the fishbowl existence that accompanies positions of power and of course they had to suffer through Watergate" Pat Nixon helped them do it with the same class courage and grace she unfailingly exhibited Pat Nixon's life revolved around her husband her children and grandchil7 dren Though you don't often see these kinds of women on the talk shows or featured in too many "women's" magazines opinion polls always ranked her among the top 10 most admired women in Amer- lea That says something about what virtues most people still regard as of paramount importance in life (though for economic and other reasons they may not always be able to follow her example) It might also be said that she defined a' virtuous woman of whom the Bible says "her children will rise up and call her blessed" Indeed they have And America was blessed by her life and example 1 4604 440-01-6 406 01141104 40 41 okveLot wo65 A001 44-- "dlAt ot4 |