Opinion
Monday, October 31,1994 Page 4
Nebraskan
Edtorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
JeffZeleny.Editor, 472-1766
Kara Morrison.Opinion Page Editor
Angie Brunkow..Managing Editor
Jeffrey Robb.Associate News Editor
Rainbow Rowell.Columnist/Associate News Editor
Mike Lewis.Copy Desk Chief
James Mehsling.Cartoonist
-a i- - -
Campaign ‘94
Daily Nebraskan Endorsement
Gutsy politician
Kerrey is a mighty force for Nebraska
Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Kerrey is too valuable a
political voice for Nebraskans to lose in November.
Kerrey is simply a leader.
He is well-known and respected in Washington and throughout
the nation. He has made himself a force to be reckoned with.
Kerrey was the only freshman senator to sit on the Appropriations
Committee for the 101st Congress.
In these days of strictly partisan politics, Kerrey often has had
the guts to challenge his own party for new and better solutions,
and has consistently received bipartisan support for his views.
Republican challenger Jan Stoncy has offered nothing new to
her party’s platform. Undoubtedly she has been a successful
business leader in the state, but she lacks the vision and insight to
look toward the long-term progress of the state and the country.
Stoney will add nothing positive to Washington.
Kerrey has consistently been unafraid of talking about substan
tive issues such as health care, and like Stoncy has advocated
finding ways to control spending.
He also has been a needed friend of education. The University
of Nebraska-Lincoln can thank Kerrey for the new George W.
Beadle Center for biogcnetics research.
And, Kerrey is not a Clinton clone as Stoncy charges.
He was a leading critic of Clinton's initial economic plan.
Kerrey and Sen. Hank Brown, (R-Colo.), proposed an amendment
that would have cut $94 billion in spending over five years. The
amendment was defeated in the Senate.
In August, White House lobbyists failed to convince Kerrey to
support the president's $496 billion deficit reduction plan.
Last year, Kerrey voted for family and medical leave, which
allowed workers to take up to 12 weeks in unpaid leave for the
birth or adoption of a child or to care for a family member.
Stoney supports tightening what she deems “the lax Criminal
Justice system,” advocates capitol punishment and opposes any
gun control legislation.
Throughout the campaign, Stoney has consistently misrepre
sented Kerrey's views by painting him as soft on crime and
inconsistent on a number of views — despite her own admission to
seeking a lighter sentence for a personal friend who plotted to kill
his own family.
If you happened to sec the banner flying over the Nebraska
Colorado game Saturday, the Stoney camp even failed to spell
Kerrey’s name correctly.
Kerrey, on the other hand, is a visionary and respected senator
who, unlike most politicians, acknowledges his mistakes and
accepts criticism, yet remains a strong leader.
In the Nov. 8 election, the Daily Nebraskan endorses Bob
Kerrey for the U.S. Senate.
Staff editorial* represent the official policy of the Fall 1994 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent
the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish (he UNL
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its students.
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others.
Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space
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Bully fights have global effect
President Clinton has revealed
why he could be so surprisingly
tough in the way he confronted
Saddam Hussein of Iraq and
disposed of the military thugs of
Haiti.
It all goes back to his childhood
in Arkansas.
When he was just a lad in
school, Clinton told Time maga
zine, a bully wanted to pick a fight
with him.
“There was a guy who was a
year older than me but not as big as
me.
“He started picking on me at
school one day when I was in the
eighth grade.
“I felt sort of sorry for him,
because I knew he had a difficult
life, and he was always in kind of a
sour mood.
“...I was walking home from
school. I bet that fellow followed
me for 30 minutes trying to hit me
on the shoulder. And finally, I
turned around and decked him, and
he ran off.
“I was really afraid I’d hurt him.
But finally I told him not to do it,
and he didn’t believe me.
“And the people who are dealing
with me in the U.S. will find that
out. I realize since the people I deal
with around the world may not
know me as well as the people I
grew up with, and may have never
seen that story — that's something
that I have to be very clear and
explicit about.
“I think it is clear and explicit
now in a way that it may not have
been six months ago.
“And I would hope that what
happened in Haiti and Iraq would
make it clear for all other countries
in the future for as long as I’m
sitting here.
It is a revealing story in many
ways.
For one thing, it shows that
President Clinton has always been a
compassionate person, because he
felt sorry for the bully, even while
being taunted.
And it shows that he has
remarkable restraint and patience,
because he waited 30 minutes —
*
I had an experience that was eerily
similar to that of Clinton. It has
been many years since I thought
about it. But his story brought my
own back to me in vivid detail and
with greater understanding of
what it meant in my development.
just walking along — before he
decided to settle the matter.
But finally, he confronted the
problem and dealt with it firmly
and decisively, putting a quick end
to it.
Most important, though, is that
he recognizes the significance of
that incident. Think about that. We
all had unpleasant childhood
tussles. But we lack the vision to
put them into a global context.
By coincidence, I had an
experience that was eerily similar to
that of Clinton. It has been many
years since I thought about it. But
his story brought my own back to
me in vivid detail and with greater
understanding of what it meant in
my development.
There was this obnoxious kid in
my eighth-grade class who was
always swinging cats by their tails,
pulling the wings off butterflies and
pigeons and shouting fire in
crowded movie theaters. I felt sorry
for him because he always seemed
glum.
He disliked me because 1 was the
only person in the school who
understood Einstein’s theory of
relativity, and I refused to explain it
to him, because I knew he would
put the knowledge to evil use.
One day, he followed me for 10
hours, dropping spiders down my
shirt, shaking his soda bottle and
squirting me in the eye, eating
Twinkies without offering me dibs
and swinging a three-foot machete
within an inch of my Adam’s apple.
Finally, 1 decided to resolve the
conflict. I threw my best punch.
Unfortunately, it missed, so he
dealt me a vicious karate kick to the
brow, sending me spinning into the
street, where 1 was grazed by a big
black car belonging to an alderman
I was not injured, but in ex
change for a signed release from
liability, the alderman gave me two
cigars and $S, a large sum in those
days.
This sudden wealth gave me the
means to rid myself of the bully.
I went to the next neighborhood
and looked up the notorious Belch
brothers, Bruno and Bronco, and
used the cigars and $5 to hire them.
They then sought out the bully,
chasing him into a vacant lot,
where they beat him with sticks,
jumped on his chest, twisted his
ears, gave his scalp noogie-rubs,
tickled his bare feet and pantsed
him, thus revealing to the world the
humiliating fact that he did not
wear clean underwear.
From that day on, the bully knew
that he could not mess with me.
And he also learned to wear clean
underwear in case he got into^an
accident and didn't want the nurses
laughing at him.
In truth, 1 did not see a signifi
cance in that incident until I read of
President Clinton's experience.
Then I was able to put it into a
global context and recognize how it
had shaped my development, just as
Clinton’s childhood experience
with a bully shaped his.
And what knowledge did I gain
from that experience?
I guess it must mean that I am a
Saudi prince.
Copyright 1994 Trtbi ne Me4ta Service*
Inc.
