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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1984)
Wednesday, February 29, 1934 PCQ3 4 Daily Nebraskan o i ciia-tioiraa. Jesse Jackson's rainbow coalition apparently docs not include as many groups as he would like us to believe. At least one group the Jewish community just doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. Jackson, one cf eiht Democratic presidential candidates, has traveled coast to coast talking about his desire to see all people live as one, but remarks he has made indicate he is just as human as the rest of us when it comes to prejudices. The most recent incident, of course, is Jackson's reference to Jews as "Hymie" and New York City as "Hymietown." This blatant name-calling should be considered no less serious than James Watt's reference to a government commission as "a black . . .a woman, two Jews and a cripple." Jackson insists that the term was not used in the spirit of meanness, that it was just an innocent slip of the tongue, but it took him several days to acknowledge the use of it. According to USA Today, Jackson apologized Sunday for his "delay in coming to this temple" and denied that he i3 anti-Semitic. If Jackson did not know the term was considered offensive by most Jews, it seems that he would not have hesitated in admitting the use of it. The recent name-calling incident is only one of the many indications Jackson has given that he is anti-Semitic. According to syndicated columnist Morton Kondracke, whose material appears in the Lincoln Journal, Jackson has hinted in many of his speeches that the United States is wrong to be allied with Israel. He also has often indicated his support for PLO leader Yasser Arafat, an enemy of Israel Kondracke quoted Jackson as saying he is "sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust and having America being put in the position of a guilt trip." None of this should make Jackson an unap pealing candidate to those who have supported his policies throughout the campaign. Political candidates are human and one slip of the tongue, one personal bias, however appalling it may be, should not swing the election. But the sad truth of all this is that everyone has unfounded prejudices against certain groups of people. Jesse Jackson is no exception and his supporters have been wrong to believe otherwise. Letters Favors open primary In response to the editorial on the wide-open primary bill (Daily Nebraskan, Feb. 27): I feel the opinion expressed is typical of a basic conservative afraid of change. I feel that a non-partisan, open primary ballot would be great. It would allow more freedom of choice, allow the voter to see the whole spectrum of candidates and bring to conscious exactly how many people are running with some line of hope, nse there is a greater number of independ ent j, w. sould be fair and allow them to also have a voice in wl o will be in the final showdown. Granted, there may be some "election mischief but it would be foolish. More people are going to vote for the most qualified candidate than try to undermine the opposing party and every vote will count. With the number of Democrats in the race, it is almost silly to think one could strengthen the Republicans by vot ing for the weakest politician. As for undermining the two-party system, this is doubtful What is more likely to happen is it will be strengthened. The Republicans are a conservative lot and will not change just because the ballot does. As idealistic as the Democrats are, they will stick to the most idealistic Democrat. Nebraska as a whole is too conservative for political trickery. What the open primary bill will do b get Nebraska out of its conservative rut and for once it will be marked as a progressive state. Kellie M Carter junior political science Camatai stirring 'wo interesting dialogues With the New Hampshire results in, the 1934 campaign finally is under way. Here are a couple of thoughts about the campaign so far. The CBS Morning News reported ) Mike ' Frost that Ronald Reagan spent something like $400,000 for his New Hampshire campaign, nearly the same amount spent by Walter Mondale. Why would the president spend so much on a primary he is already assured of win ning? Reagan supporters say the expendi tures are justified. They claim it en- sures their candidate the same kind of favorable media coverage the Demo crats are receiving during their more competitive primary battle. TheyYe right, too, as this segment that Reagan did on a New Hampshire talk show bears out. Gross: Hey everyone, I'm Paul Gross and welcome to another edition of Cool People in the Granite State. To day's cool person is Ronald Reagan, who co-starred with Humphrey Bo gart in Dark Victory, and currently is President of the United States. Reagan: Well, hello Paul, and hello to all the cool people out there in the Granite State. Gross: Ronald Reagan: Call me Ronnie., Gross: Cool Ronnie, is it true you spent nearly $200,000 in New Hamp shire? Reagan: $200,000 pah. I spent al most 400,000 smackers. Gross: Wow, that's cool Reagan: You bet it's cool I didn't even have any real opponents. Gross: You mean you spent it...to be cool? Reagan: You bet. Money is something more than just a means to oppress the masses and manipulate the political system. It's something to be cool with. Here, can I light that cigarette with this $100 bill? Gross: Ooh, how cool! Well that's all we have time for today with Ronald Reagan, cool guy and President of the United States. Tomorrow on Cool Peo ple in the Granite State, the ghost of William Lcob, still feisty after all these years. You have to feel sorry for Dave Nagie, the chairman of the Iowa Demo cratic party. Nagle claims the all-important Iowa caucus was ruined be cause the durned media spent too much time projecting early results. (Evidently, Nagle finds not even the smallest irony in telling news reporters from four networks and various news papers that Iowa received too much media attention.) To add insult to injury, Nagle testi fied on the matter Monday, in front of the House telecommunications sub committee. Things did not go well, as this transcript bears out Ccr.tir.uci cn Page 5 r (La Vhat do you think of the proposed university performing arts cenCor? " "