UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, June 15, 1994
5
Watch out for presidential watchdogs
I'm getting so sick of seeing continuing news stories based on the president's character instead of his policies. The subject is not just getting stale; it's starting to stink. President Clinton is no saint, but continuing this character debate is fruitless. It's much more constructive to examine the nature of the debate.
What troubles me is that these issues of character have surpassed the scope of legitimate concerns. How far does "inquiry" go? When does a "concern" become an "obsession"? How can anyone with a shred of credibility claim that the Clinton character issue has not become just another tool used by the administration's opponents to thwart its policy?
Personal assaults have begun to overshadow any discussion of the president. Republicans and right-wingers were able to put flascoes like Paula Jones and Whitewater onto the national scene because they are legitimate areas for inquiry. But now, these same issues have mushroomed into an obsession.
Much of the problem lies with professional dirt-diggers like Floyd Brown, a henchman of the Republican Party whose sole objective is to discredit the president personally, not politically. Brown and his cohorts do everyone a disservice because they don't care about the issues. Rather than pose a solution or an alternative, they just try to erode the president's power until the next election when they can start really heaping on the slime. That's no way to set an example. It's more than mean-spirited; it's useless, and it is only going to hurt both sides.
Even our own Sen. Bob Dole is guilty of such divisiveness. During the initial Whitewater feeding frenzy, Dole actually threatened to shut down Congress if the Clinton administration didn't agree to a special prosecutor. Come on, senator. You have more character than that, or you wouldn't be where you are today.
Brown and Dole take legitimate inquiry too far. When concerted efforts are devoted to the singular goal of smearing the president's character, realistic concerns have obviously become obsessions. When Dole linked character issues to policy battles in Congress, he used unacceptable means to achieve a policy end. Such tactics are unethical, and they make hypocrites out of otherwise respectful dissenters.
One person who has been able to remain objective about this character controversy is Sen.Nancy Kassebaum who recently was discouraged by the constant criticism aimed at the administration and Congress. Kassebaum pointed out that these attacks
undermine the president's ability to lead at a time when no one holds a consensus on which way to go. She suggested that those who criticize should do so with a clear and viable alternative in mind.
The issue is deeper than a mere question of criticism. When people show such a blatant lack of respect for the president, they transcend the man and degrade the office itself. Ultimately, such criticism diminishes his capacity to do good.
We all should follow Kassebaum's advice and stop listening to bad examples like Dole and Brown. Clinton didn't seize power through a military coup or by manipulating the election. He took it by campaigning on a premise of change. Like it or not, we at least must respect that until the next election. Until then, we must strive to provide constructive alternatives. Nobody needs three more years of divisiveness.
Jack Lerner is a Lawrence senior in English.
Rape responsibility rests with perpetrator
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has raised some interesting questions in its recent decision that saying "no" is not enough where rape is concerned.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I'll make sure that when I'm ready to start my vigilante castration of rapists it will be in Pennsylvania, so that when I'm caught, I can plead that all they did was say "no," and that I didn't realize that they meant it.
Why is rape the only violent crime where what the victim does or does not do is the determining factor of whether a crime was committed or not? Doesn't the responsibility for the crime lie with the perpetrator? If a person commits murder, but all the victim did was say, "No, no, please don't kill me," then they really didn't commit a crime?
I like this reasoning. It comes from the "boys will be boys" belief system where men aren't expected to be in control of themselves and where women "ask for it."
This decision is nothing new. What is new is that it made national news. Women are raped every day. Their rapists go free. Defense lawyers can use almost anything about the victim's behavior, looks, dress or demeanor to get their clients off.
The weapon in rape is power. The victim is not to blame. Whatever the victim does or does not do has no bearing on the responsibility of the perpetrator.
The reason this kind of ludicrous decision could be handed down in the first place is because the court is part of the patriarchal, misogynistic power structure endowed with protecting white male power and prerogative.
Marion Dyer
Otisfield, Maine Graduate
Student
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