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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1985)
4- Tuesday, September 24, 1985 Daily Nebraskan First World not the epitome of logic, reason we think it is In Zimbabwe, where I recently visit ed, there is a certain witch doctor medicine man (maybe internist, too) who dammed a stream to grow mermaids. He also restricted the flow of water to nearby farms. The govern ment dispatched an official who report ed that the local people didn't think much of the mermaid scheme, but they did of the medicine man. If he were overruled, they thought they would starve to death. At last report, the stream was still dammed. Chuckle, chuckle, we say. This is the way things sometimes are in the Third World where logic and rationality can be scarce commodities and where the crackpot idea of a medicine man can result in the ruination of several farms. But as someone returning from abroad, 1 find myself thinking the same thoughts about the United States. Logic seems to have taken a powder here. Take, for instance, the current mild panic over the trade deficit. When I left the country nearly three weeks ago, this was only a potential issue. When I returned, it had achieved such impor tance that it not only had made the cover of the news magazines, but the president himself was paying atten tion. As with South Africa, he was try ing to figure out a way to stop Congress from taking some meaningful action. You may ask why, after years of mas sive trade deficits, everyone is sud denly so concerned about the problem, You would think that the administra tion would by now have a plan to deal with it and in a sense it does. It will continue doing what it has been doing and hope the deficit goes away: This is the U.S. version of growing mermaids. f Richard Cohen In fact, you do not have to stretch the analogy very far to conclude that President Reagan is our national medi cine man. With the exception of some scattered supply-siders who, like theo retical communists, are waiting for their theory to be applied in its purest form, there is almost no one who does not think that the trade deficit is tied to the federal budget deficit. The lat ter, a $200 billion annual mistake, con tributes to the overvalued dollar which in turn makes American goods non competitive abroad. And yet, the administration and a Iobotomized Congress does nothing about the budget deficit. Congress tried in the last session, trimming the budget by about $50 billion, only to learn after recess that it made almost no difference. The government is starved for funds. It cannot keep the defense industry rolling in dough and at the same time keep taxes where Reagan put them with his 1981 tax cut. The obvious answer is to raise taxes, but a popular president won't permit it. Like the Zimbabwian medicine man, there is no way around him. In this and other matters, people sort of stand around and wait for the medicine-man-in-chief to change his mind. Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker has now joined much of the civilized world in saying that maybe a tax increase is in order. But nobody much, certainly not the president, paid attention. Instead, the president is pushing for a tax-reform bill that would be revenue neutral in other words, besides the point and that oxy moron known as the congressional leadership is wondering whether it can be done. Meanwhile, the deficit ticks like Edgar Allen Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart." The bane of the Third World is irra tionality. But the First World is hardly the epitome of logic and reason that we think it is. In the same way that the Zimbabwe medicine man is waiting for his mermaids to grow, the administra tion is waiting for the budget and trade deficit to go away. Keep your eye on Zimbabwe. When they succeed in growing mermaids, we may close the deficit. 1985, Washington Post Writers Group Cohen writes an editorial column for the Washington Post. TONIGHT AT THE ROYAL GROVE DYNATONE Rocking Saxophones Bring Your Friends Great to Dance and Party to! FREE Bud Hats to the First 100 People - So Come Early! 3.oo at the door ROYAL GROVES Lincolo'i Entertainment Oasit 340 W. Comhustcer 477-2026 1:00 a.m. Heinous murder wasn't 'especially heinous' ROYKO from Page 4 he detected a pulse. So he put her head under water in the tub and went home. Now, it is possible she was already dead, but her body was still twitching. If so, I'm wrong. He didn't drown her. So, there are my glaring errors. He didn't stalk her. He just watched and. waited. He didn't actually rape her. He used her unconscious body in another sexual way. And maybe he didn't drown her. Maybe all he did was strangle her. In any case, the murder wasn't "especially heinous,, atrocious, cruel, or manifested exceptional depravity by ordinary standards of morality and intelligence." At least, that's what the judge and three of his associates say. I'm glad the judge straightened me out. And I'm so impressed by his eye for detail the significant difference between stalking and waiting and watching, and the clear difference between "heinous" and "especially heinous" that I now wish I lived in Nebraska. Yes, I'd love to be a resident of Nebraska. Especially when the voters there get a chance to decide, as they soon will, whether Justice Krivosha should remain in his job. 1985 By the Chicago Tribune Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc. Royko is a Pulitzer Prize-winning col umnist for the Chicago Tribune. If you havenY tasted our hot SchlatzsSss' Original sandwich lately, the world is passing you by. fir As s&&&iM m Don't be a schtranger to Schlotzsky's! If you've forgotten the incredibly delicious world of hot hamsalamispicedmeat-mozzarellaparrnesancheddarcheeseripeoliveslettuce-tomatoes et cetera in our Schlotzsky Original sandwich, come in and get reacquainted at lunch, dinner or anytime. Leave It to Schlotzsky's to put any appetite on top of the world in the most original way! ' A whole world of flavors In every b!teM SANDWICH SHOPS Corner 12th & 'V Sts. Call 476-2224 for Carryout OUR FALL GIFT TO YOU! ' ; ft ' f ' i 0."'" . - J ; 7 ; j i If i ,i . V ft I I t - moo oGKffeEiea $io.oo Gift Certificate This certificate is worth $10.00 toward any purchase amounting to a value of $20.00 or more at the Post and Nickel. Redeemable in regularly priced merchandise only at the Lincoln Post and Nickel, 144 N. 14th, Lincoln, NE. Not transferable. Void after Saturday, Sept. 28, 1985. This offer only good for NU students registered for fall '85. Limit one Post and Nickel certificate per person. 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