About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2018)
4A OPINION Sttnes gainesvilletimes.com Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com Submit a letter: letters@gainesvilletimes.com The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Two reasons why Trump won’t sanction Saudi Arabia BY THOMAS L. KNAPP Sun Sentinel “We may never know all of the facts surround ing the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,” Presi dent Donald Trump told the nation Nov. 20, but “the United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.” Many find the president’s statement curious given the seeming consensus among the Turkish and U.S. intelligence communities that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But two simple numbers clarify just how much importance successive administrations, including Trump’s, have placed on the U.S.-Saudi relationship. The first number is one. Jamal Khashoggi was one man. He was a Saudi citizen, and considered an enemy of the state by “his” government. He was neither a U.S. citizen, nor was he killed on U.S. soil. He was technically killed on Saudi soil — consulates have the same “sovereign” status as embassies. His killing, while evil and tragic, was really not any more the business of the U.S. government than the execu tion of an American in Texas would be Moham med bin Salman’s concern. The second number is 2,977. That’s how many people 19 hijackers (15 of them Saudis) killed (excluding themselves) at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11,2001. No later than December 2002, and presumably before that, the U.S. government knew that the hijackers had received significant funding and support from Saudi government officials and members of the Saudi royal family. That information remained classified until 2016, when 28 previously redacted pages from Congress’ report were finally released to the public — and still “friendly” relations between Washington and Riyadh continued without interruption. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan (none of the hijackers were Afghans) in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. The U.S. government insinuated a relationship between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq as part of its justification for invading that country in 2003 (none of the hijackers were Iraqis, and al-Qaida was among Hussein’s most implacable enemies). But Saudi Arabia got a free pass, as did the United Arab Emirates, from which two of the hijackers came. Why? Oil, money, and U.S. foreign policy. Saudi Arabia and the UAE control a great deal of the world’s oil, and can threaten to disrupt international oil markets (and international life in general) any time they don’t get their way. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also the top two buyers of U.S. weapons. Finally, Saudi Arabia and the UAE support the U.S. agenda of isolating Iran and frustrating its regime’s regional ambitions, and allow the U.S. military to operate bases on their territory pursu ant to that agenda. Next to those considerations, 2,977 killings on U.S. soil, most of them of Americans, didn’t mat ter to George W. Bush or to Barack Obama. Nor do those 2,977 killings, let alone the killing of one Saudi journalist in a Saudi consulate, mat ter to Donald Trump. But they should. Thomas L Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism. Your government officials U.S. government President Donald Ihimp, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500, 202-456-1111,202-456-1414, fax, 202-456- 2461; www.whitehouse.gov Sen. Johnny Isakson, 131 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510,202-224- 3643, fax, 202-228-0724; One Overton Park, 3625 Cumberland Blvd., Suite 970, Atlanta 30339, 770-661 -0999, fax, 770-661 -0768; isakson.senate.gov Sen. David Perdue, 383 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510,202-224- 3521, fax 202-228-1031; 3280 Peachtree Road NE Suite 2640, Atlanta 30303, 404-865-0087, fax 404-865-0311; perdue.senate.gov. D.S. Rep. Doug Collins, 1504 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515,202- 225-9893; 210 Washington St. NW, Suite 202, Gainesville 30501,770-297-3388; dougcollins. house.gov D.S. Rep Rob Woodall, 1725 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515,202- 225-4272, fax 202-225-4696; 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville 30045, 770-232-3005, fax 770- 232-2909; woodall.house.gov Georgia state government Gov. Nathan Deal, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334; 404-656-1776; www.gov.georgia.gov Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, 240 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334, 404-656-5030; www.ltgov.ga.gov Secretary of State Brian Kemp, 214 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334, 404-656-2881, fax 404-656-0513; www.sos.state.ga.us; Elections Division, 2 MLK, Jr. Drive SE, Suite 1104, West Tower, Atlanta 30334-1530, 404-656-2871, fax, 404-651 -9531 DeVos’ rules for handling campus sexual assault provide balance When Brett Kavanaugh became the latest victim of the unhinged #MeToo move ment, the nation got a look at what happens when some one is accused of a crime, denies the charges and is not believed. Being a respected jurist on the brink of a Supreme Court confirmation did not spare him from an onslaught of defamatory claims and sub versive suggestions. Kavana- ugh’s treatment highlighted what the #MeToo movement, designed to empower women, had truly become — a witch hunt without due process. Betsy DeVos figured it out before the rest of us. Earlier this year, the secretary of education announced plans to modify the rules governing sexual assault on campus to balance the rights of both victims and those accused of commit ting assault. Last week, the final pro posal was presented — and there was plenty of backlash. “I am dismayed with the Trump administration’s cruel proposal that will have the effect of putting power in the hands of abusers and dissuading survivors from coming forward,” John B. King Jr., who was education secretary in the Obama administration, said on Twitter. Others suggested that the new rules would make it much less likely that victims would seek help. Former Vice President Joe Biden, someone who has long been a champion of victims of violence and who spearheaded the Violence Against Women Act, said “(the) proposed rollback would return us to the days when schools swept rape and assault under the rug and survivors were shamed into silence.” As someone who spends a good part of her days help ing victims of abuse in the immigration context, I thank Biden for his admirable advocacy. I also agree with DeVos that “every survivor of sexual violence must be taken seriously.” But after seeing what happened to a Supreme Court nominee with access to the best lawyers and resources, I am thrilled that the Trump administration decided that all college students are also entitled to protection. If accusa tions could nearly take down a man as respected as Kavanaugh, what hap pens to someone who doesn’t have that level of clout and legal prowess? Due process exists because not every person accused of a crime has actually com mitted it. Or, as DeVos said, “Every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined.” The changes to the Obama-era rules create a balance for both victims and the accused. First, they revise the definition of sexual harassment. Before, harassment was defined as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.” That was so overly broad that a wolf whistle and sustained ogling would qualify as harassment. Now, the conduct has to be “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.” I’m glad they used the phrase “objec tively offensive” because #MeToo has raised the sensitivities of some women into legal causes of action. As the great Camille Paglia noted 20 years before women started march ing in their pink hats: “A male student makes a vulgar remark about your breasts? Don’t slink off to whimper and simper with the campus shrinking violets. Deal with it. On the spot. Say, ‘Shut up you jerk! And crawl back to the barnyard where you belong.’” Second, colleges are no longer required to use the relatively lax “pre ponderance of the evidence” standard of proof and can now require that an accuser prove a case with “clear and convincing evidence.” Third, colleges are now obligated to investigate incidents that occurred only on campus or at sanctioned events. The fourth and most important change is that the accused now has the right to confront his accuser through cross-examination. While he (or, in the rare case, she) does not have the right to directly confront the person making the claims, a lawyer can be hired to represent the accused. The right to confront your accuser is the single most fundamental principle of our criminal justice system. Colleges used to act like lawless Star Chambers and err too heavily on the side of helping victims while sometimes ignoring the damage done to young people too easily tarred as “rapists” without any substantive proof. Christine M. Flowers is a lawyer and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. CHRISTINE M. FLOWERS cflowers1961@ gmail.com 9HENEMAN TRBUNEC0NTENTASENCY WE WERE JU5T TRYING TO MONETIZE YOUR PERSONAL DATA. PROFITTING FROM THE UNDERMINING OF DEMOCRACY WAS JUST A BONUS. FACEBOOK MAKES ITS CASE AGAINST REGULATION DREW SHENEMAN I Tribune News Service Another good idea from Finland we’ll probably ignore: No spanking Last week President Don ald Trump annoyed some of the victims of the California wildfires when he suggested that the disaster might have been avoided if Californians had taken lessons in forest management from Finland. The Finns, Trump said, “spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don’t have any problem.” But if Trump believes that Finland is ahead of us in forest management, what other good ideas might we find there? Publicly funded higher education for all students? It works well in Finland. Universal health care? The Finns have figured out how to do it. And here’s another idea that we should think about: In 1983 the Finns passed legislation prohibiting striking a child under any circumstances, includ ing spanking your own child in your own home. This is a drastic notion for Americans, a majority of whom believe that spank ing is an appropriate tool for disciplining children. In fact, we use spanking gener ously, despite considerable evidence that it not only is ineffective, but it actually does harm. This has been the opinion of the American Academy of Pediatrics for two decades. In 1998, when more than 90 per cent of American families admitted to using spanking, the academy, represent ing 64,000 doctors, strongly discouraged its use even in its most benign forms. Parents who spank, the academy said, are also more likely to use more abusive forms of pun ishment. And the more chil dren are spanked, the more anger they report as adults. Further, children who were spanked are more likely to spank their own children and to approve of hitting a spouse. The academy’s report is clear and emphatic: “Spank ing has been associated with higher rates of physical aggression, more substance abuse, and increased risk of crime and violence.” In the 20 years since the Academy’s “Guidance for Effective Discipline” was issued, the evidence against spanking has become stronger and clearer. Last week the New York Times reported that in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics the Academy will update its guidance on spanking based on research that was not available in 1998. Recent research confirms that chil dren do not benefit from spanking and, in fact, ordinary spanking, as practiced in many American homes, is associated with increased aggression and defiance at levels comparable to those of children who have suffered more extreme forms of abuse. Thus the science on spanking is solid, and the doctors who know most about children agree: Do not spank your chil dren, under any circumstances. Our use of spanking has diminished. In 2013 a Harris poll indicated that 67 per cent of American families use spanking, compared with 90 percent in 1998. And in 2014 another poll reported that 70 percent of American adults still agree that a “good, hard spanking is sometimes necessary to discipline a child.” Nine teen states allow corporal punishment in public schools. So despite what experts say about the harm that a “good, hard spanking” can cause, our national mood doesn’t seem particularly open to meaningful reform on corporal punishment. Our president publicly embraces violence. Here’s one example, representative of many: Trump said of a protester at a rally: “I’d like to punch him in the face.” And as Trump demonstrated last week, he is more likely to reject the moral principles of Finland in favor of those of Saudi Arabia, a country that still uses brutal corporal punishment on adults. In 2014 Raif Badawi, a Saudi writer and dissident, escaped the fate of Jamal Khashoggi but was sentenced to 1,000 lashes. So the outlook isn’t promising for American children, who, despite the evi dence against it, are regularly subjected to corporal punishment that often scares, humiliates and hurts them. It’s odd: In general, we have stringent rules against hitting each other. I can’t hit you; you can’t hit me. For the most part we’ve made hitting against the law. Just about the only group of Ameri cans that we hit with impunity is made up of people who can’t defend them selves and who are the most likely to suf fer harm from it: children. John M. Crisp lives in Georgetown, Texas, and can be reached at jcrispcolumns@ gmail.com. JOHN M. CRISP jcrispcolumns@ gmail.com She Stines EDITORIAL BOARD Founded Jan. 26,1947 345 Green St., Gainesville, GA 30501 gainesvilletimes.com General Manager Norman Baggs Editor in Chief Shannon Casas Community member Brent Hoffman
