Daily
Nebraskan
•• , ?,• '*j Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
JeffZeleny. Editor, 472-1766
Jeff Robb. .. Managing Editor
Matt Woody .. .Opinion Page Editor
DeDra Janssen......Associate News Editor
Rainbow Rowell......Arts & Entertainment Editor
James Mehsling ..Cartoonist
Chris Hain.. Senior Reporter
Cutback?
Military closings need to be monitored
Amid a flurry of government cuts, the military is about to take
another hit.
The Pentagon recommended Tuesday the closings and realign
ments of 146 military bases in the fourth and possibly final round
of closings since 1988.
Sixteen of the recommendations involve closures that would af
fect more than 1,000 jobs, and six of the proposed realignments
would claim at least as many jobs at bases remaining open.
Defense Secretary William Perry said the “painful process” of
downsizing would save $6 billion by 2001. Perry said there was no
alternative.
But even with this round of closures, the military will have more
bases than it needs to maintain its forces, Perry said. Another round
of closures could occur with three or four years, he said.
At a time when the American public is fed up with outrageous
government spending, the military should take some cuts. Perry is
right that cuts in force structure and budget are necessary to main
tain the quality of the military in the future.
But Perry must know when enough is enough.
If the downsizing continues at its current rate, that quality may
not be able to be ensured. The closures may not hurt the military’s
strength now, but if they continue, they might.
Finally, eliminating thousands of jobs will only hurt the nation’s
morale and economy. How many jobs will be lost before the
downsizing is complete?
Running away
When good candidates sit out, U.S. loses
The New Hampshire primary, the first in the presidential elec
tion process, still is nearly a year away.
But don’t let that fool you. The campaign is in full swing, just
four months after the last election.
Sensing a vulnerable president in Washington, Republicans seek
ing the upper hand in winning the party’s nomination have flocked
to the state to hit the campaign trail.
And in the race for the White House, New Hampshire is every
thing. Winning there can jump start a faltering campaign or solidify
an already strong one.
Republicans Phil Gramm, U.S. senator from Texas, and Lamar
Alexander, former Tennessee governor, already have officially an
nounced their campaigns. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole is ex
pected to make his campaign official in April.
Up to six other Republicans, including conservative commenta
tor Pat Buchanan, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Sen. Ri
chard Lugar of Indiana, are likely to run.
But because of the long, grueling campaign process, Republi
cans find themselves without some of their strongest prospects in
the campaign mix.
Dick Cheney, former defense secretary; Jack Kemp, former HUD
director; and former Vice President Dan Quayle have announced
they will not run. They all cited personal and family concerns as
reasons for their decisions.
Why the system forces qualified candidates to choose between
their families and their careers is a topic for great debate.
But no matter the reason, one thing is clear. When the best can
didates don’t run, the American public loses.
- Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Spring 1995. Daily
Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily
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Buchanan is nation’s best bet
The time to fight had been
engaged.
On July 4,1776, a group of
American colonists gathered in
Philadelphia. Plagued by a govern
ment that no longer cared about
citizen sentiment, the men scribed
the following:
“When in the course of human
events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them
with another... a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind requires
that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation.”
And so with their Declaration of
Independence, the American patriots
affirmed their break from British
rule. The only thing left for them
was to begin the fight.
Today, two centuries later, a new
dominant authority has taken hold.
In 1995 America, the federal
government, the media, the arts, the
schools, the universities and big
business have all combined forces
as the new tyrants.
And just as King George and
Parliament before the Revolution,
the present-day rulers no longer care
about citizen sentiment. Rather, they
wish the traditional ways of Middle
America assaulted and left for dead.
For conservatives and traditional
ists, this is one of those times, in the
course of human events, when it has
become necessary to overthrow the
authority that threatens our culture
—our very identity. Tlie only thing
left is to begin the fight.
One of our major weapons will
be the 1996 Republican presidential
nominee. However, the arsenal is
low.
There is the expected lineup of
habitual, resume politicians: Bob
Dole, Phil Gramm, Lamar
Alexander, Pete Wilson. But in this
new era of conservatism, it is high
time an outsider be brought in; that
is, someone who can bring govern
ment back under the popular control
Americans demand.
Only one viable candidate for ’96
"can do that.
When columnist/commentator
Jamie Karl
Pat Buchanan lost a respectable
fight in the 1992 Republican
primaries to incumbent George
Bush, he was scorned for dividing
the party. He was even blamed for
Bush’s troubles in the general
election.
But today, three years after the
Bush presidency died, the cause of
the Buchanan campaign lives on.
Buchanan’s run for the presidency
set the tone for the current national
debate, as his ideas took root
throughout America. Now the words
coming from Capitol Hill echo the
Buchanan campaign. That alone
may land him in the Oval Office in
’96.
And Buchanan seems poised to
make the run again. In his final
column before campaign work
begins, Buchanan declares
the reasons for resurrecting his
campaign:
“The U.S. Establishment is
detached from Middle America. No
one wants their New World Order.
“Americans want their country’s
sovereignty restored and her
independence reasserted. They want
America’s borders defended from an
invasion of illegal aliens. They want
to end foreign aid, outlaw racial
quotas, roll back federal taxes, and
restore their rightful powers to the
states.
“Sensing, rightly, that America’s
culture is under attack from within,
they are looking for a leadership that
will cease appeasing those who
despise America’s past... and mock
our traditions and beliefs. There is a
war on for the hearts and minds of
our children ... a war for the soul of
America, and it will not end in a
brokered peace.”
Buchanan’s words are not
campaign slogans. His ideas go far
deeper than those of any run-of-the
mill politician. Buchanan is in touch
with Middle America.
If the old Republicans — the
country-club types who have been in
control of the GOP since the days of
Nixon and Ford — think their party
is going to walk away with a
landslide win in ’96 using a Dole
type candidate, the party may as
well concede early. The fact is, the
old Republicans, who believe
economics drive the world, will
have a difficult time defeating any
Democrat, even one as vulnerable as
Bill Clinton.
But Buchanan is a new Republi
can. He knows the problems of our
time go beyond the dollar sign. He
is out to take back the traditional
beliefs of the republic, and bring
back the cultural norms and moral
values on which his generation was
raised.
That is the difference between
Pat Buchanan and the old Republi
cans. Buchanan understands we are
indeed in a fight. Bush never did.
The Dole crowd and their political
pals never will.
There are still those Republicans
who are living in the past. They
want the feminists to love them; they
want the gays to love them; they
want the civil-rights activists to love
them. Buchanan won’t lose a wink
of sleep knowing very well these
sorts don’t like him and probably
never will.
Those men who gathered in
Philadelphia more than two centu
ries ago had the idea that any good
citizen with sound principles could
hold public office. Buchanan has
shown he knows as much, if not
more, than the whole field on die
Hill. Simply put, Pat Buchanan
offers the most for Middle
America’s vote.
The time to begin the fight is now.
Karl Is a Junior news-editorial major,
and a Daily Nebraskan columnist and night
news editor.
The Daily Nebraskan wants to hear from you. If you
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kan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, NE
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