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Daily Ncbrcckcn
Friday, February 1, 1935
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er.ate confirmation cf Wlllkn C:nnstt es th new U.S. Sew
tsry cf Ejection Is, in d-TTrs' terns, a "gir.r.." Less
certain is what E:r.r.ctt will do cr.ee he gets into the Cabinet
Club.
He will probably be able to keep his job for four years
something Tereil Cell could never be sure cf as President
Eeegan has given up on dismantling the Department cf Education.
However, Bennett is under instruction fccni the top to study the
department and determine its proper organization, she and rob.
Bennett moves to the Education Department after three years
as chiiraua of the National Endowment for the Humanities,'
where he earned a reputation 3 a champion cf the classics.
According to the Jan. 16 Chronicle cf Higher Eduction, he
emphasized restoring "the-, basic Lumsnities disciplines to a
central role in American edacsticn," white at the endowment
Hotever, he ran afoul cf some academics when he appeared to
discount newer fields, such o women's and ethnic studies, as
valid humanities courses.
We applaud the rise cf a defender cf the humanities to the
Secretary cf Education pest We particularly need such a leader
now, during lean economic times for higher education and amidst
ft wave of vocaticralism. A solid humanities curriculum is essen
tial for college students whose decisions will one day afFect other
people. History, literature, art and philosophy courses subject U3
to views which may be contrary to our cwn, give us a foundation on
which to base our view cf the world and allow us to see how others
view the world. - -
.We do not applaud, however, a snobbish adherence to "clas
sics" to the exclusion cf mere recent and just as valid subjects.
Bennett would do well to accept such fields as women's and
ethnic studies as additions to, rather than distractions from
traditional humanities curricula.
The secretary-to-be also would do well to rethink Ms opposition
to affirmative action. While at the Endowment for the Humanities,
Bennett refused to comply with a federal directive, which
requested that he set goals for hiring women and minorities. He
told the commission "different or special treatment by this
agency on the basis of these characteristics (race and gender)
offends our best principles as a nation," according to the Chroni
cle article.
that
That argument misses the point cf affirmative action,
at our choice is not between two evils. We must choose
which is
e either to
perpetuate indefinitely an unfair and discriminatory system or to
redress the error of that system with short terra discrimination.
Affirmative action is the lesser of the two evils and, however
distasteful, is a means of acheiving equality in education.
Equality in education is in turn an essential tenet of equality in
society as a whole. Bennett should stand firm for federal aid which
would ensure an education to anyone who wants one. And educa
tors and students should press him and Congress to do so.
Ideally, everyone could aiTord education and all schools would
be dedicated to quality and equality. But that's not the case. And
until it is, the federal government must provide financial assi
taace and enforce equality that's William Bennett's new job.
t y -n Daily n
EDITOR
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CHAIRPERSON
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Dsn!-:! t':.i'Z
Torn Wpm
OshleSa Thuman
Judi Mygrtn
Vickl Ruhja
Christopher Durbach
WcrdW. TrlpIttlSI
Chrli Chosto 472-873
Den Walton, 473-7331
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ALL L1ATEFJAL COPYRIGHT tZZ5 DAILY KC33ASXAM
tp in at uh Hcoi n
AS VOO KNCW, !U 1980 1 REMISED
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mill
I 4 .-a -U p :r5 --
otto FeM. toilzefflo .lS8ls,
Debts, taxes, bankers force families off farms
f.o a 43-ysr-oid Ne-
fsw months
H. t-Za A&lU ItWU IVtU) U viUIC
his converted AR-15 &utonatic wea
pon jammed. The gas mask and steel
helmet covering his head weighed heavily
as he frantically tried to pull the trigger.
He couldn't anymore, bat it didn't matter.
Two of the 28 screaming bullets that
pierced the darkness that night had found
their mark. Smashing into his chest and
thigh, they dropped him to the ground
killing him instantly.
Arthur Kirk, the Cairo fanner, single
.handedly took on a fully equipped and
professionally trained SWAT team, as well
as numerous sheriffs deputies. Kirk had
not paid the debts that he had accrued on
his property. The officials were to serve a
-court order to require Kirk to appear
before a judge and list his reasons for not
repaying the loans.
ygBgT7j...J-.'.!i.:t-Vr,la
.Van
J., l, o :Z inni jjp 1c o o,
Peouls bom in a citv cannot
understand what it means to have some
thing taken away that has been in your'
family for generations. Your parents, End
maybe even theirs, worked and died there
. doing much the sms work you do. It takes
'all your ertsrgy md strength. When you're
sick, yea just don't cdi the nice tern-psre.tur-ontrsIId
cSca sad tell thc:.i
you won't fca in tedcy. No, you get up and
work bscajisi if yoia don't, your crops and
livestock might ilz. And tha wcrst psrt is
- thst Ell this eS&rt never realry gives you
any ssciirily. Escluss your liveMhosd,
whether it conies cut cf the grcir.d cr
grsws cn top, is slvsys ti the mercy of
unccntrdl'tla forces. You never redly
knew what tomcrrcsw ir.ry bring.
Eat still thra's dwEj's the tax man.
like the gss mm, the electric company
and ths baker, tha tax man stands with
his hand out no matter what disssse killed
your csttla cr what hailstorm shredded
your ccrn. Thty Et3clutt!y must be paid.
Pride be damned, you lost that a long time
ago anyway. It's brass tacks now. Either
they get paid or they take your land, and
everything on jt. You may walk away with
the shirt on your back if you're lucky.
I don't mean to say that all banks are
bad, or all gas men, for that matter. I've
known bankers who are doing a mighty
fine job supporting the farmer. These rare
institutions are sympathetic to his plight
and do everything they can to help, to the
point of going under themselves. Unfortu
nately, these banks are few and far between
and are not getting the recognition they
deserve.
But for the farmer waiting for the
police to steal his life away, alternatives
are scarce. In their fright, people become
cornered animals, willing to seize any
thing that offers the faintest hope of salva
tion. It is then that groups like the Posse
Comitatus, which means "power of the
county," can be most harmful. Like jackal3
attacking a sick animal, these organiza
tions offer sympathy to desperate families,
teach them a violent method of fighting
back and, most important, offer them a
scapegoat. All this is offered in exchange
for m adoption cf the group'3 otherwise
repulsive methods and beliefs.
The Posse is a nationwide orgsnizstian
cf men end women who bdisve ths federal
inccr.3 tax is unconsitutiond. Along with
this, members believe that tha American
dollu has been worthless since it left ths
gold standard. And some, of the mora
extreme Tactions or the group idvocate
dbssivir.?, the federal esvernwM -h
establishing the county sheriff 13 s?inrc
aumcniy.
Not all parts cf the group thst cell
themselves the Possa belicv in tha saiSa
things, but overall, the group advocates
violence as the best means to achieve its
goals. According to the Lincoln Journal
Star, one member cf the group was quoted
as saying that "the only law firm I believe
in i3 Smith and Wesson."
In April 1 2 S3 a copy of a let ter wsssent
to selected members of thu M&hh
Legislature, describing tha correct proce
dure for assassinating them.
T!iS HtCKltea the Posse Comita
tus distributes propagates a jaundiced
view of the world, claiming "Jews are in
control of the meaia ts well as the great
financial institutions of this country, and
thst we must rise up and free ourselves of
this tyranny. For evidence, they cite the
many "Jewish-sounding" names that roll
in the credits cf television shows. Blacks
also are under Ore, but not as vigorously as
Jews. It's hard to complain about someone
that's in a poorer economic condition than
you are.
The Posse Ccmitatus is closely asso
ciated with the American Nazi Party, John
Birch Society, Life Science Churches and
of course, the mother cf them all, the Ku
Klux Klan. Ths organizations belong
together in the toilet bow) of humanity,
where all useless trash belongs. They offer
us nothing but hatred and violence, things
that we can do without. Their list of atroci
ties is long and vgried. They thrive on
discontent and feer wMla purporting to be
something dlHerest. One Posse member
was quoted ss saying, "We are not a bunch
of wild-eyed terrorists but God-fearing,
country-loving, ATT.erics-f.rst patriots."
Wow! Casey bar the dbor, lack out, they're
gonna ssva uswhcth&we wsst to be saved
or not
Evidence suggests thst Arthur Kirk was
being recruited by tEs Fc::3 Comitatus at
the thse cf Mi desth. I hejre the scum that
took EdvssUge cf his predicant crawls
bisk under hh reck end we never hear
frcra him tgsia. Ur.&rtBn&teiy, I don't
thlrLk this li lX:"r;, n 1 v.zzl content
myself by pleading with these people who
fed ther.sshrc3 in Kirk's shecs. Please
stay awag tmm these pc"ps. They proba
bly will ippresch ysu es they did my fam
ily, but don't be eiribsmssd to run them
off. Organize if you must, arm yourselves if
you must, but c'a it cn behalf cf the Ameri
can farnter, net fsr some group of preju
diced parssites th.it criy wants to use you
to achieve its cwn fm$.
, Led Kz S r W J
- s
u
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oiicy
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