Opinion
Burning question
Flag desecration resolution ludicrous
Apparently, some state senators believe the Nebraska Leg
islature has nothing better to do than dredge up old,
pointless arguments.
Yes, the flag burning issue has surfaced again, back from the
depths of wherever ludicrous ideas originate. .
LR222, a resolution to encourage the U.S. Congress to pass
an amendment stating that flag desecration is not sacred under
the First Amendment, was introduced by Sen. George Coord
sen of Hebron and 23 co-sponsors Thursday.
Several officials from veterans’ groups were on hand to lend
their support for the measure.
Eugene Schmitz, Nebraska department commander ol the
American Legion, said polls showed that 77 percent of Amcri- ^
cans believed that flag burning should not be protected by the
Constitution.
Another veteran said he thought flag burning “destroys the
American tradition.”
Last we checked, the Bill of Rights reads the same as it did
the last time the country went through this inane debate. But,
perhaps Coordsen and his 23 co-sponsors thought that the First
Amendment, which has provided Americans with freedom for
over 200 years, should be changed.
Coordsen apparently tninks tnat Americans snouiun i nave
the freedom of expression, unless, of course, what they want to
say is stamped “A-OK” by Uncle Sam.
After all, everyone knows that, throughout history, govern
ments have always been right about everything and have never
sought undue control over their populations. Why, govern
ments arc the most trustworthy institutions around. Just ask the
Chinese. Or the Russians. Or the Germans.
At least one senator was awake Thursday.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha called measures such as
LR222 “a nibbling away by those who say they want to uphold
the Constitution, of one of the most important guarantees”
provided by it.
When Chambers asked Joe LaPadula, legislative director of
the Disabled American Veterans, whether he considered the
U.S. flag or the Constitution more important, he drew grumbles
from the hearing hall, packed mostly with LR222 supporters.
But the outspoken senator took the heckling in stride.
“This is America, so let them express themselves,” he said.
It sounds as though Coordsen and the 23 other mindless
flag-wavers should take some lessons from Chambers on what
it really means to understand American ideas of freedom.
Then they can torpedo LR222 back into the red, white and
blue depths from whence it came.
Art students’ purpose distorted
By reading your Feb. 5 article (“Art
students petition chancellor”), it would
be easy to misconstrue the purpose of
our meeting. Pieces of the conversa
tion were misquoted, badly para
phrased and taken out of context. I
would like to clarify the fact that
College of Arts and Sciences Dean
John Peters was instantaneously re
ceptive to our need for reliable kilns
in the ceramics department last fall;
we petitioned Dean Peters in exactly
the same way and his response was
clearly encouraging. However, with
the elimination of many advanced
classes, the difficulties associated with
the ongoing deterioration of Richards
Hall and the scarcity of funds, our
purpose in petitioning Chancellor
Spanier was to make ourselves and
our concerns known to the new chan
cellor, when so much gets lost down
the tunnels of the administrative net
work. Dean Peters has heard time and
again about Richards Hall; 1 doubt if
Spanicr has ever been inside the build
ing — but we invited h im to come and
see what needs to be done now, be
fore long-range administrative pro
posals would ever make things hap
pen. We went up there en masse to
prove to ourselves that Spanier is as
receptive and approachable as we’ve
heard — and he was. I think we proved
to him that the vitality of our art
department must be actively acknowl
edged and supported by the rest of the
university.
Kjell Cronn
junior
art
State should protect gay rights
The Feb. 5 Daily Nebraskan edito
rial on the Nebraska Civil Rights Act
of 1992 (“Constitution, not state,
guarantees rights”) misses the mark
rather badly by arguing that Nebraska
should not pass a law barring dis
crimination against homosexuals
because such rights should, instead,
be protected by the U.S. Constitution.
11 would be cncourag i ng i f the U. S.
Supreme Court took this view, but it
doesn’L In its 1985 decision in Bow
ers v. Hardwick, the court upheld
state sodomy laws — in this case a
Georgia law providing a 20-year prison
term for consenting relations in pri
vate. In so doing, the court ruled that
the Constitution did not protect homo
sexuals.
The vote was 5-4. Then Justice
Lewis Powell, who cast the deciding
vote, has publicly announced that he
made a mistake. But the decision
stands and the court now has more
conservatives.
Obviously, protection against dis
crimination is not going to come from
the Supreme Court. However, five
states — Connecticut, Hawaii, Mas
sachusetts, New Jersey and Wiscon
sin — have passed laws against dis
crimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. (California recently also
passed such a law, but it was vetoed
by the Republican governor under
pressure from his party.) Unfortunately,
legislative action of the sort proposed
by the Nebraska Civil Rights Act
seems to be the only practicable route
for change.
Louis Crompton
professor emeritus
English
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MARK FAHLESON
Kerrey’s luck running out
Over the years, J. Robert Kerrey
has been called a number of
things: “Rockin’ Bob.” “Mr.
Charisma.” “Prairie Populist 2 —
The Sequel.” I, however, prefer
another title.
Bob Kerrey — The Luckiest Man
in America.
Sen. Kerrey has been graced with
more luck than a four-leaf clover, a
rabbit’s foot and 10,000 horseshoes
combined. Rarely can a public offi
cial go through life waffling on issues
and reeking of impropriety and yet
escape unscathed as Kerrey has.
The junior senator’s string of for
tuity traces all the way back to his
college days at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. Kerrey, who in
1965 was a member of the university
student council, was discovered to
have pocketed $380 from the coun
cil’s sale of merchandise discount
cards. The incident, long rumored but
hardly forgotten, was recently resur
rected by Morton Kondrackc of The
New Republic.
As Kerrey’s luck would have it,
the student counci 1 j udiciary comm i t
tee, by a vote of 4-1, absolved him
and let him keep the money and his
seat on the student council. Appar
ently, ambiguities existed in rules
governing the disposition of profits.
Onward rolls the luck of Bob Kerrey.
The injury that Kerrey sustained
during the Vietnam War was, of course,
a tragedy. However, the manner in
which he has parlayed his injury into
instant credibility and patriotism is
very fortuitous.
Unlike other wounded war heroes,
such as Sen. Robert Dole, Kerrey
leaps at every chance he gels to mention
his injury. During the December debate
between the Democratic presidential
hopeless hopefuls, Kerrey mentioned
his war-hero status so many times
that I felt as if I were watching a Navy
SEAL recruitment video. In reality,
Kerrey is lucky to have his injury-, for
without it, his political resumd is a
null set.
As Nebraska’s governor, Kerrey’s
administration was clouded by con
troversy, yet luckily, he left office
with a high public-approval rating. In
1983, then-Gov. Kerrey created the
Nebraska Investment Finance Author
ity, a state agency whose purpose was
to provide low-interest loans to a variety
of entities, including commercial
ventures.
All agencies have a board of direc
During the December
dehate between the
Democratic presiden
tial hopeless hope
fuls. Kerrev men
tioned his war-hero
status so mans times.
that I felt as if l were
watching q Navv
SEAL recruitment
odea,
tors, right? Kerrey happily fulfilled
his gubernatorial appointment duties,
lapping many of his beloved cronies
as board members, including his
campaign manager, William L. Wright.
From this it should not come as a
surprise that one of the NIFA’s first
acts was to provide a low-interest,
S2.55 million loan for the construc
tion of the Prairie Life Center, owned
in part by Gov. Kerrey.
Kerrey admitted to The Omaha
World-Herald that, as governor, he
did some things he “never should
have done.” And yet, as Kerrey’s luck
would have it, he simply forged ahead
unharmed.
After deciding to make his move
for a career in Washington, D.C.,
Kerrey challenged appointed Sen.
David Karnes. As is a time-honored
tradition here in the Cornhusker stale,
the candidates squared off at a debate
at the Nebraska State Fair.
During the Kamcs-Kerrey debate,
Karnes committed political suicide
when he answered a farm-policy
question by saying, “We need fewer
farmers at this point in time.” Re
gardless of the veracity of Karnes’
remark, he was nearly pitchforked to
death at the polls by angry farmers
and, as luck would have it, Kerrey
began packing for the nation’s capi
tal.
Serving on the Senate Agriculture
Committee is a dubious honor, espe
cially for a senator representing a
state whose backbone is the agricul
ture industry. Apparently, Kerrey
wanted to take an active role in agri
cultural trade. It was recently revealed
that in 1989 Kerrey speculated at least
17 times in cattle futures despite his
position in formulating the nation’s
ag policy. Luckily, Kerrey was able
to plead ignorance, and the issue was
dropped.
Kerrey is a liberal and has been
rated by the National Taxpayers’ Union
as “the biggest spender’’ in the Sen
ate. As such, he believes that govern
ment should play an active role in
American lives, protecting and nur
turing us.
While campaigning in New Hamp
shire, Kerrey frequently has ques
tioned the current administration’s
failure to protect our jobs, our health
and our safety. This would presuma
bly include government’s duly to
protect us from Bob Kerrey. On Dec.
17, the Department of Labor found
Kerrey’s restaurants guilty of 106 child
labor law violations. Luckily for
Kerrey, the enslavement of children
isa non-issue in this year’s campaign.
Throughout his political career,
Kerrey has flip-flopped on many is
sues. Yet, as the Kerrey luck would
have it, no one has held him account
able for his fence-riding.
Originally in favor of a flag-burn
ing amendment, even chiding Presi
dent Bush for apparently laughing at
a miniature flag, Kerrey soon vocif
erously opposed the amendment. His
stance on abortion has “evolved” from
one advocating protection of the unborn
to one arguing for the codification of
Roe v. Wade. Once a registered
Republican, Kerrey says he became a
Democrat because of John F. Ken
nedy, although Kerrey didn’t register
as a Democrat until 1978.
Luck isa finite force, and Kerrey’s
luck is showing signs of running out.
His presidential campaign has been
riddled with staff exoduses, plunging
polls and bad jokes. Kerrey’s presi
dential aspirations appear to be doomed
and he is vulnerable for re-election to
his Senate seat in 1994.
Now, we’re the lucky ones.
Fahleson Is a third year law student and a
Daily Nebraskan columnist.