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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1992)
Opinion Soul jah stirs hatred Governor Clinton’s remarks are justified The fire on Vice President Dan Quayle’s criticism of television character Murphy Brown has begun to wane, but not before an outbreak in another area. Only this week the target is different, and so is the issue. Arkansas governor and democratic presidential hopeful Bill Ginton has been praised by some and condemned by others for his rebuke Saturday of rap singer Sister Souljah’s views on the L A. riots. Souljah was quoted by The Washington Post as saying, “I mean 11 DiacK people kiii black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?” Ginton called the remark, “the kind of hatred we do not need.” Jesse Jackson said Ginton’s comments showed poor judgment and constituted an attack on Souljah’s character and reputation. Souljah said her remarks were taken out of context and criticized Ginton of trying to win moderate white voters. Others commended Clinton for gambling that more white Americans would be impressed that he stood up to Jackson than black people would be offended. Our own Sen. Bob Kerrey said Tuesday that Clinton merely did what was right. "What the rap artist was quoted as saying was ignorant, racist and self-destructive. Nothing more,” Kercey said. “These comments on their face warrant an outcry of condemnation.” Doing, or rather saying, the right thing seems to be the issue here. Souljah’s comments can’t do any good. How much more encouragement is needed for the killing to continue? One life taken, white, black or any other color, is one life too many. Her statement is filled with hatred. The fact that more black teenage males die of gunshot wounds than any other cause is a great tragedy, but so is taking life so lightly as to celebrate a week of killing white people because they’re white. We don’t need this haired. Hatred started this war, but it can’t end it, only keep it going. ^ -EDITORIAL POLICY Staff editorials represent the offi cial policy of the Summer 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its mem bers are: Adeana Leftin, editor; Cindy Kimbrough, features editor, Jeff Singer, copy editor; Stacie McKee, photo chief; James Mehsling, art director. Editorials do not necessarily re flect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The Daily Nebraskan’s publishers are the regents, who established the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the edito rial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. -LETTER POLICY 1 he Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all read ers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publica tion on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also are welcome to sub mit material as guest opinions. Whether material should run as a let ter or guest opinion is left to the edi tor’s discretion. Letters ana guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be relumed. Anonymous submissions will not be considered for publication. Letters should include (he author’s name, year in school, major and group affili ation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Ne braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. m/J FOR JtfMn CkfC--CiIM tt~ movz. crco& -rmR oi of? rntrii wwfc our H0(? m i W mesm H16H QMflt cm to M rt&ivfflf MD, fmm of iMCDfr Can Perot become president? He has been called a monster by White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwatcr and a tem peramental tycoon by Vice President Dan Quay le. And because people seem to be blindly following him, he has even been compared to Hitler by the Mayor of Cleveland. He’s Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire who announced, seemingly out of the blue, that if enough petitions were gathered to put him on the ballot on all SO states, he would run for president as an indepen dent candidate. George Bush and Bill Clinton are both stunned by Perot’s strength. Po litical experts don’t know who he’s hurting more. His name is on the ballot in eleven stales already, includ ing the two important slates of Texas and Florida. He has been leading Bush and Clinton in poll after poll. And the parties have no one to blame but themselves. Critics of Perot say he hasn’t de clared a stand on most of the impor tant issues or proposed plans to solve problems facing us, but here’s what we do know about Perot: As Presi dent, he would hold frequent national town hall meetings where the Ameri can public would call in and vote on the issues. But our system is a repre sentative democracy, with the public electing individuals to represent them in Congress. An important issue of his is the budget deficit. He says if he'selected, he would “go in there and fix it.” But that’s all he says. This John Wayne type of solution might have worked in his financial operations, but it won’t work in a more complex problem like the budget deficit. It it were that easy, we would have a balanced budget by now. He appears to be a man of action as well as a risk taker. He launched Electronic Data Systems in the early days of computers. He profited gready from having a contract with the Texas stale government to modernize its Medicare system. In 1978, he hired a retired colonel, Bull Simon, to rescue two of his EDS employees who were being held hostage in Iran. He suc ceeded with the unintentional help of the Iranian Revolution. The revolu tionaries stormed the prisons and freed all the prisoners, including Perot’s employees. Some of his past actions have raised questions. An article appeared in the National Review about Perot that he There is a joke T-shirt that reads, “Perot for President: don’t ask why, it doesn’t matter.” It doesn’t matter so far to his supporters what his stands on the issues are. Example: At the Republican Na tional Platform hearings, a key issue was the reconsideration of the party’s stand on abortion. Outside were pro life protesters carrying signs support ing George Bush. Suddenly, some of them crossed out Bush’s name and wrote in Perot’s. But Perot is pro choice, which he has admitted on national television. Another example is that members of the NR A have been seen at his rallies, even though he said he is for gun control. People on both sides of important issues, such as abortion and gun con trol , are supporting Perot because they see the budget deficit as a pressing problem that could affect future gen erations. They support him also be cause both parties are not getting prob lems solved and they see Perot as someone who could do it. Bill Clinton has the support of Congress, which will hurt him, because Congress is part of the problem. Bush has been a disappointment. He promised no new taxes in the 1988 campaign, but when he became president, hie did raise taxes. Also, Bush has increased the budget deficit more than any other president. People don’t want prom ises, they want action. If Perot gets the support on Elec tion Day that he has now, he could throw the election to the House of Representatives. I predict that it won’t come to that. Perot will lose support when he gets specific on the issues. But a warning to both parlies: if you continue to be stagnant and voters slay fed up, then this may not be the last lime we see a strong independent candidate run for president. Paul Robinson Is a junior news-editorial major and a DaUy Nebraskan columnist. -m People on both sides of Important Issues, such as abortion and gun control, are sup porting Perot because they see the budget deficit as a pressing problem that could af fect future generations. -—-tt - didn’t like, so he called William F. Buckley, editor-at-large of the maga zine, asking him to stop the article. When Buckley told him the magazine had already gone to the presses, Perot offered to buy up all the copies. Buckley declined the offer. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, he was committed to serve four years in the Navy. But after two years, he wanted a discharge because he found the Navy to be a “godless organization.” What does he mean by that? Mr. Perot, this is the Navy, not the church. Another story from Perot’s days in the Navy is that he claims the captain of the destroyer he was serving his lime on, wanted him to use the crew’s recreation fund to decorate the captain’s cabin. Perot refused. The captain denies the story.
