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Wait a Mummite
Since a Lancaster county grand jury
indicted Attorney General Paul Dou
glas Monday, many people have called
for and expected his resignation. Among
this group are Sens. Elroy Hefner of
Coleridge and Ernie Chambers of
Omaha.
Douglas' attorney, William Morrow
of Omaha, has said Douglas will not
resign. And he shouldn't, at least not
yet.
Douglas has been accused of com
mitting one count of perjury, a felony,
and one count of obstructing govern
ment operations, a misdemeanor. Both
charges stem from Douglas' dealing in
the Commonwealth Savings Co. col
lapse. The first count accused Douglas of
lying when he said he paid axes on all
. payments he received from Marvin
Copple, a former vice president of
Commonwealth.
The second count accused Douglas
of discussing a Commonwealth-related
letter from the FBI with Copple. Doug
las testified before the Legislature's
special Commonwealth Committee
that he did not discuss the letter.
According to the Lincoln' Star, Sen.
Hefner is sticking by his decision, made
last March, that Douglas "did wrong."
Hefner voted in March to impeach
Douglas, and called for his resignation.
Chambers said Douglas should resign
just because he has been indicted.
"There's no way he can remain in
office," Chambers was quoted as say
ing in the Lincoln Star. Chambers in
itiated the legislation in March to im
peach Douglas.
But wait a minute. Douglas hasn't
been found guilty. Remember the good
ole U.S. cry for justice, that of inno
cence until guilt is proven?
If convicted, of one or both crimes,
then Douglas should resign. Some Lin
coln attorneys have said that if he is
found guilty or even pleads guilty
of a felony that Douglas will auto-
matically be out of office.
According to the Star, one Nebraska
law says office holders must resign if
they are convicted of an "infamous
crime" or if they violate their oaths of
office. Another state law prohibits con
victed felons from holding state of-
fices.
But Douglas has not pled guilty. He
has not been found guilty.
Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln has
said this indictment has served to
further erode any public trust that
Douglas may have had after his im
peachment aquittal. That's what many
people said before the state Supreme
Court began deliberating the Douglas
case public opinion had already
sentenced Douglas.
The public and public officials
should not be so quick to condemn
Douglas. Although evidence ,and pub
lic opinion seem to point to his guilt, he
has not gone to trial yet. And when he
does, the court may override public
and public official's hostilities and find
Douglas not guilty.
Hispanic's group power
not welcomed by majority
When a racial minority begins to the first place, something "illegal" im--grow
in numbers and becomes visible plies being against "the law." The white
to the majority, that majority has ways man speaks of his laws when dubbing
to onset tnose numoers. i nese range something as "illegal. At no time does
from the threat of physical violence to
economic coercion. Oftentimes a sys
tem of "snitches" helps to keep the
masses under control.
Hispanics are rapidly becoming the
largest minority in this country, a fact
pointed out four years ago in a Time
Matthew
Stelly
he consider the fact that the ultimate
laws are the laws of nature.
If this is the case, then that which is
"illegal" is that which goes against the
laws of nature; that which disrespects
nature. That or those who pollute
the air, murder off the wildlife while
claiming it is for "the good of human
ity" disrespect nature. As far as illegal
ity is concerned, technology is anti
natural and is therefore illegal. And
the creator of this technology then,
would also have to be considered a
criminal.
Now, what is an alien? "Alien" is
defined as "someone, who owes his
allegiance to a foreign country." Is not
the American structure legal, politi
cal and ideological a manifestation
lation does not welcome Hispanic's of European culture? Are not, indeed,
power and growth. And the tool the these "Americans" really "Euro-Ameri-
majority has used most effectively to cans?" Do they not, indeed, have a sys-
limit that power and growth is that of tern which is based upon the belief that
"thingification." The majority reduces the more money you have, the more
human beings to objects and then rights you have? .
degrades them. When this is done, the Therefore, who is the alien? Who is
majority nas justincations to "get rid ol the foreigner? A foreigner cannot be
Magazine article. Since then, Hispanics
have used their political power in the
southwestern United States to bring
about some changes.
However, the majority of the popu-
that thing once and for all."
For black people, the term was "nig
ger." Now it is the brown man's turn,
the Hispanic's turn. He is even now
being confronted with a term that is
doubly degrading. The term that I
speak of is "illegal alien."
Such a term has an ominous quality
and character when the social dimen
sions are ana.';ed and processed. In
I I ;fi "f
EDITOR Laurl Hopple, 472-1766
GENERAL MANAGER Daniel Shattll
PRODUCTION MANAGER Kitty Polteky
ADVERTISING MANAGER Tom Byrns
The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the
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and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the
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Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and com
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Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebra
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0448 ALL JAATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1984 DAILY NEBRASKAN
someone who is born and bred in a
particular place. The so-called Native
American is not a foreigner, and since
this continent is connected, the His
panics could not be, either. They were .
both here already. The "alien" is the
white man and well he knows it. Hence,
he blames or labels others for his own
actions or crimes.
What do we have then? A violator of
the "laws" of nature and humanity and
someone who comes into a situation
with a set of "foreign" values and eth
nocentric notions. He is an illegal alien.
The Mexican-American community
is therefore victimized by a term that
invokes fear in the population.
Illegal alien is a double negative that
can only serve to justify any act or
endeavor that is anti-Chicano: pro
posed "taco curtains" made of barbed
wire along the border; illegal search
and seizure; identification badges and
of course, physical violence and brutal
ity by the Texas Rangers and "Ameri
cans" of that ilk.
l R ji e a
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Refusal to choose hurts left
The left has suffered sufficient dis
appointments to have learned equa
nimity. Nevertheless, when two spo
kesmen for that tendency are invited
to voice a comprehensive arraignment
of conditions and manage only to exer
cise a sedative effect, the exhaustion of
the left is startling.
Puzzled by the relative silence of the
left, The New York Times Magazine
invited Irving Howe, editor of Dissent,
George Will
and Michael Harrington, co-chairman
of Democratic Socialists of America, to
explain what the left thinks. The result
was tepid porridge.
Howe says the left's role is "to put a
little starch into traditional liberalism," .
meaning the Democratic Party, while
keeping alive "the ideas of democratic
v socialism." He and Harrington begin
with regrets about President Reagan's
foreign policy, but are at pains to
speak about national security, a con
cern they say was inadmissible on the
left 15 years ago.
It is telling that they talk so much
about U.S. foreign policy, and "north
south" redistribution of income, and
the International Monetary Fund being
mean to Third World governments
that are on the dole. Philosophically
interesting arguments are about do
mestic policy: how people should live
together under a common sovereignty.
There is no classic volume of political
philosophy about relations between
nations, which is a matter for pruden
tial maxims. When the left is preoccu
pied with foreign policy, it is adrift
from its philosophic tradition.
But when Howe and Harrington come
to domestic policy, you understand
why they do not seem eager to do so.
The left's program turns out to be
"Forward into the 1870s!" (rebuild the
railroads) or "On to the 1940s in
Britain!" (economic planning).
Perhaps Harrington is, as socialists
usually are, eager to shock the bour
geoisie, of which he is a member. In any
case, he says the idea of economic
planning "is pretty fough stuff for
many Americans." Not really. What is
rough is the task of convincig many
Americans that planning by govern
ment would be an improvement on the
sort of planning done by, say, IBM.
A more specific proposal is for a 35
hour work week creating opportun
ity not by economic dynamism but by
increasing pay relative to productivity.
Harrington calls for "structural change"
in the economy, which is like calling for
night to follow day. In this country,
change is not a choice, it is a constant.
Harrington says: "If a company was
willing to go to McKeesport, Pennsyl
vania, and open up a profitable mod
ern steel nlant. then fine. I would he fnc
j 1-
giving them a big tax break for creating
jobs." Forward to 1981: The investment
tax credit nas been with us since
Kennedy (1962), and accelerated cost
recovery (1981) is called, depending
on your preference, "Reaganomics" or
"trickle down."
It is extravagant for Howe to des
cribe the new Eastern Airlines con
tract (in exchange for wage conces
sions, some workers get a percentage
of equity in the corporation and seats
on the board of directors) in socialist
language. He calls it a step toward
"workers' control of their economic
life." In true socialist terms, such con- .
trol means not just involvement in a
corporation's decision-making, but govern
ment management of market forces.
Eastern is more subject to those forces
today than it was a decade ago.
Howe says he can give only "a few
telegraphic clues" as to what he means
by socialism. But even if the Swedish or
British and East Bloc experiences are
not clues enough about socialism, surely
socialism, and the constant agenda of
the left, must involve at least this: cen
tralized state power used to promote
material equality, through state direc
tion of production, or state allocation
of the product. However, what has col
lapsed under the weight of evidence
during the last generation is precisely
the belief 'that such measures are a
reliable route to an open, progressive,
dynamic and just society.
Harrington stresses "democratic, parti
cipatory, bottom-up" planning of this
nation's gigantic economy. He deplores
"elitist" governance by "experts" con
cerned with 'technical details and fine
print." But the policies he advocates
require a regime he deplores.
It is idle sentimentalism to expect a
modern welfare state to be both a power
ful engine of distributive justice and a
model of Jeffersonian "bottom-up" demo
cracy. To govern is to choose. The left
has made itself irrelevant to the con
temporary political conversation by
refusal to choose. It ha refusal rooted
in a willful sentimentalism. The result
is blithe disregard of the costs of both
the means and the ends of the pro
gram of the left.
1284, WtsMngton Pest Wr!:r Greup
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Friday. June 22. 1984