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OpEd
i What do you think?
... about Clinton’s State of the Union speech?
Forsyth County News
! P.O. Box 210 !
Cumming, Ga. 30028
LJ
We still have a long way to go to reach the ideals set forth by MLK
Just recently we celebrated
Martin Luther King Jr. day. We
have come a long way in society
towards racial unity, but we have a
long way to go. I visited a website
around that particular day, and the
author was decrying the deification
of King, and pointing out his moral
shortcomings. Some defended King
on the message board of that site,
others didn't, but I was surprised at
just how many people expressed
outright hate for King.
Personally, I respect King for
finding a positive, non-violent way
of bringing blacks and whites
together. I think that a holiday is
appropriate, not because of holiday
quotas, but because King is a sym
bol and example of the positive dia
log that needs to be ongoing, and
because he addressed problems that
we needed to address to knit togeth
er in this great melting pot of ours.
But just as I found some white folks
who seemed to need to move for
ward in their thinking, there are
examples of attitude changes that
are necessary in the Black
Community as well.
Just recently, a cabinet member
of the city of Washington DC was
addressing other folks in the mayors
Congress must allow country to move on
I recently read a truism entitled
“Pudder’s Law.” It reads like this.
Anything that begins well ends
badly. Anything that begins badly
ends worse. This reminded me of
the Clinton Impeachment trial.
Our politicians have allowed the
President’s high priced attorneys
to so cloud the obvious that they
have become the proverbial tar
babies caught in a mess of legal
technicalities, definitions and
ridiculous alternate renderings of
the English language.
The issues surrounding
President Clinton are not that diffi
cult to figure out. Did he lie under
oath and did he try to obstruct jus
tice? Those are the only two ques
tions which need to be answered.
Virtually anyone in America who
has read the transcripts and watched
the video taped testimony objective
ly would answer those questions in
the affirmative. Os course he lied.
Os course he tried to obstruct jus
tice. It doesn’t take a rocket scien
tist to figure that out. The next
question is, should it cost him presi
dency? The answer to that question
is also simple. Os course it ought to
cost him his position. If lying
under oath and obstruction of jus
tice does not disqualify one from
holding the most responsible posi
tion on this planet, what in the
world would? The President of the
United States cannot be held to a
lower standard of justice than those
who serve under him.
The President’s defenders and
prosecutors are both relying on
hyberbole to make their case. I
have heard in recent days the fol
lowing phrases describing the
impeachment proceeding. It has
been termed a “constitutional cri
sis,” agd the most “imßortant deci
sion facing our country this centu-
council. He was describing a fund
that he was managing. He said it
was quite niggardly. This word, of
course means miserly- cheap. This
word was around way before the
word which appears to be its cousin
was, and has no connection in root
or any such thing. It wouldn't be
possible. The other word is an bas
tardization of the word Negro- the
first term given blacks in America
by of course, Spaniards. But
because the cabinet member hap
pened to be white, and the majority
of the mayors council is black, he
was forced to resign for having a
good vocabulary. The mayor
accepted the forced resignation say
ing it was irresponsible to chose
such a word, and that is not the
level of responsibility expected
from top officials.
How far have we really come in
America? Are we so sensitive that
any word, even sounding offensive
should be cause for persecution? I
wonder- if a black cabinet member
had used the term- what would have
happened? It's a sad moment when
we have come to the point again in
our society that you are judged, not
by the content of your character (or
the meaning of your words even)
”phii
ry.” One Congressman stated that
the failure to convict Clinton on the
impeachment charges “will cause a
cancer to be present in our society
for generations.” There have been
numerous references to our nation’s
children and to their children’s chil
dren. There have been appeals
made to on the basis of the hal
lowed dead who have fallen on for
eign soils protecting our nation.
There have been appeals made on
the basis of racial justice and sex
ism. Some have talked about the
terrible change that would occur if
the President was removed in the
separation of powers between the
various branches of the govern
ment. It seems that everybody who
can find a microphone and an audi
ence is wrapping this essentially
simple issue in the America flag,
patriotism, mom and apple pie.
And of course, all the President’s
defenders make mention of the
omnipresent polls which indicate
that “hey, we know he’s a liar and
an immoral guy, but heck, we like
the bum.”
Listening to the entire affair
makes me long for the days prior to
television. It may only be my per
ception of the event, but I see too
many people whining about the
“other side” and making emotional
appeals to other issues, instead of
focusing on the obvious. Did the
Moving forward with
By Paul Coverdell
U.S. Senator
The Senate has been called the
world’s most deliberative body.
Trust me, it is. Sometimes it’s hard
to agree on even the simplest of
matters. But last week, in an
unprecedented and historic moment,
all 100 Senators - liberal, conserva
tive, Republican and Democrat -
put politics aside and joined togeth
er to ensure a fair, bipartisan
process which will lead us through a
very difficult time for our nation:
the impeachment trial of President
William Jefferson Clinton. Together,
we solemnly pledged to “do impar
tial justice according to our nation’s
Constitution and laws.” Polls and
politics must now take a backseat to
a higher purpose.
Since the onset of discussions
about a Senate Impeachment Trial, I
have repeatedly been asked how the
Senate can proceed with both a trial
and the business of the American
people. While the impeachment trial
and the nature of this important
work may dominate news headlines
across the country, this is not the
only work being done on Capitol
Hill. In parallel fashion, Congress is
proceeding with an aggressive leg
islative agenda which seeks to pro
tect Social Security, build a world-
but by the color of your skin.
The simple and sad fact of the
matter is that we have a long way to
go. When the United States
Government dedicates a stamp to
Malcolm X - something is very
wrong. It would be no less offensive
to Americans (not blacks and
whites) to have David Duke on a
stamp. Quite simply, too many peo
ple have lost touch with reality. Too
many have become exactly what
they most hated- they have become
exactly like that which they fought
against.
America still needs much more
dialog. I hate to use that phrase
because it sounds so smarmy and
snooty- and even politically correct.
But what I am talking about is real
dialog. We need to get to know each
other. I am not talking about black
leaders and our government. I am
talking about neighbors, folks who
do business with one another. We
need to end the ridiculous attitudes
on both sides, because they only are
fuel for each other- stupidity begets
stupidity. What we need is to look
beyond skin color.
King’s dream is still a long way
off. There is still animosity on both
sides. There is still great heaping
President intentionally lie under
oath, and did he craftily attempt
to tamper with witnesses in order
to deny his affair and to thwart a
civil action being brought against
him by Paula Jones? The only
defense I have heard from the
President’s lawyers and his own
testimony is that he did not under
stand what the meaning of the
word “is” which is contrary to all
reason. Forgive me for being
simplistic here, but the President is
as guilty as sin. Should he not be
convicted however, the world will
not come to an end.
Our nation is not in crisis as so
many of those involved in the
impeachment trial would have you
to believe. The overwhelming
majority of people in this country
will not suffer because of the
President's actions and his acquittal
or conviction. Generations of
young people will not suffer harm
because of this. Our children’s
morals are shaped more by their
parents and religions than by their
governmental leaders. (Thank God
for that.) The brave men and
woman who died for their country
will not be disrespected by an
acquittal as the House managers
would lead you to believe. Nor will
an undesirable balance of power
result if the president is impeached.
If the President is convicted, then
score one for those who believe in
moral absolutes and equal justice
under law. If he is acquitted, then
score one for high prices lawyers
who deconstruct the English lan
guage and who make the defense of
reasonable doubt an art form.
Either way the war is not lost or
won. The only real losers are those
who place politics over principle.
But then they are always losers.
What do you think?
I ' s
class system of education, allow
families to keep more of their hard
earned dollars, and keep us safe at
home and abroad. Over the past sev
eral weeks, Republican members of
the Senate have met on numerous
occasions to outline a comprehen
sive legislative agenda for the
upcoming Congress - an agenda
that includes the issues most impor
tant to hardworking men and
women across the nation. Number
one on our agenda: preserving
social security and providing greater
retirement security for every
American. Long ago, we made a
promise to millions of current and
soon-to-be retirees that Social
Security would be there for them.
To honor that pledge, we must once
again come together in a bipartisan
manner to resolve problems within
the system. To that end, we call on
the President to work with us to put
the security back in Social Security.
Because nothing is more impor
tant than the education of our chil
dren, we are committed to creating
first-class public schools. Just as we
met the great challenge of placing a
man on the moon, this generation of
political leader’s must meet the
challenge of reforming and dramati
cally improving our nation’s educa
tion system. We must put children
first by returning power and money
amounts of ignorance such as firing
someone for the use of the word
niggardly because his skin has less
melanin than yours. Until the day
comes when a celebrity's trial is not
important because he was black and
killed his white wife and his judge
is of Asian heritage, we won't see
that dream. Until we don't have to
fear rioting in the streets because
some stranger with one skin color,
beat up some drugged up stranger
of another skin color, we are far
from that dream. Until we lose the
infallibly ignorant hyphenations like
"Native American" (I am a native
American by the way, just not a
Native American) or "African-
American or "Irish-American" we
I DEMAND!
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wedne*d»y, F«tKU»ry 3,1999 I
the people’s business
to parents and local officials,
strengthening our commitment to
basic academics and quality instruc
tion, and eliminating the scourge of
drugs in schools and on our streets.
The third tier of our legislative
agenda will allow hardworking
Americans to keep more of what
they earn by continuing to provide
much-needed tax relief. While the
Republican-led 105th Congress ini
tiated this important effort and
achieved some initial success, there
is much more to be accomplished.
Our goal is to allow every American
to keep at least two-thirds of their
paycheck. Currently, Georgians
keep a little more than half of what
they earn. To return more of their
hard-earned money to Georgia fami
lies, we must rein in wasteful
spending, increase oversight, force
greater accountability at the federal
level, and eliminate the programs
that are wasteful, duplicative and
unnecessary.
American deserve to be safe at
school, work and home. The toll
illegal drugs place on our country
will not allow us to ignore this prob
lem. We must devote greater
resources to stopping drugs at their
source, as well as increasing penal
ties for those who possess illegal
substances. The crime and devasta
tion our country endures as a result
will never be close to that dream.
I guess the best we can do is con
demn foolishness on both sides.
Sometimes the only way to bring
people together is one person at a
time. It begins with you and me, espe
cially because Sharpton and Duke are
too busy running around hating one
another. The first step is to realize that
we are all a little prejudiced. Man was
made with a territorial sense in him.
We are a communal species, but we
are fiercely cliquish. We can't just
erase all these millenniums of nature
merely by saying "can't we all just get
along?". But we can start by being hon
est to ourselves. Next we must be hon
est with each other. Enough of this
clouded demented politically correct
of illegal drugs calls for swift and
severe action. We must act now to
rid our society of this dangerous
plague. ’ n
Finally, our legislative agenda
will provide the men and women of
the military the tools and support,
they need to protect the America
people, both at home and abroad.
We’ve all heard the stories of the,
“hollow military” - insufficient;
funds to train our pilots, house our *
marines, resupply our sailors, and
take care of all military servicemen
and women when they retire. This
trend must be stopped. *
A strong, well-prepared national
defense is an essential part of our
country’s legacy. Failure to respond
to the challenges we face in this
area is irresponsible, unacceptable
and leaves the safety of the
American people to chance.
1 am confident that, just as we
came together in a fair and biparti
san effort last week to fulfill our
duty to the Constitution, we will
also come together on these impor
tant legislative agenda items that
will improve life for all Americans.
The American people deserve, and
should accept, nothing less.
Paul Coverdell, a Republican, is
Georgia's senior United Stases
Senator. , ■
Carl L.
jibberjabber. Enough with an attitude of
accusation, assumption, and mistrust.
Enough with government programs
which keep some blacks under the boot
of democrats by offering table scraps
designed to keep people needing mote.
Enough, already with this woefully
short-sighted bi-culturalism, bi-lingual
ism, ebonies and self-segregation. It is
time for honesty and openness.
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