Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 7, Ed. 1 Monday, November 10, 1980 Page: 2 of 16
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2A -Burleson Star, Monday. November 10. 1980
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Editorials/Opinions
_our own and others'
A New Television Hit
(Reprinted by permission of
The Atlanta Constitution)
The Abscam video tapes may
be the surprise hit of the new
television season — and justifi-
ably so. The tapes have a little
of everything — suspense, cor-
ruption in high places (not to
mention a considerable amount
of buffoonery), X-rated lan-
guage, a hint of foreign intrigue
— in short, all the elements of a
first-rate cloak-and-dagger op-
eration.
| Now that the Supreme Court
has decided, correctly, we think,
to permit, a public showing of
these tapes (and, by extension,
any othefs brought into evi-
dence in a1 court of law), we can
iexpct the juicier excerpts to be-
come a regular feature of the
evening newscasts. And if the
first tape is an example of what
is to come, it could be quite a
show.
This is the tape that led to the
conviction of Rep. Michael J.
Myers on bribery charges and in
his expulsion from Congress. In
one crucial segment we
watched an exchange between
Myers and an undercover FBI
agent posing as a representative
of an Arab sheik. The drab black
and white setting, the uncertain
lighting, the congressman’s
braggadocio — all conspire to
suggest a B-grade movie of the
late ‘30s or early 40s. With a
.mixture of concern and amuse-
ment we observe the congress-
man as he falls for the agent’s
line about the need for special
legislation that would allow the
sheik to settle permanently in
the United States. But there is
more concern than amusement
as Myers goes on to brag about
how he knows all the right peo-
ple down in Washington and
about how “money talks” and
about how the sheik is sure
“going about it the right way”
because he, Myers, has got plen-
ty of “clout.” All the while the
FBI agent is egging him on,
nodding approvingly, and, at the
climactic moment, turning over
to him bundle of cash that is the
first payment on a promised
$50,000.
Naturally the world was wait-
ing to see how Myers would ex-
plain his embarrassing role in
Allies In Spirit Only
On a recent day one could
count 32 American warships in
the Indian Ocean or the Arabian
Sea. They are not alone in rep-
resenting the naval power of na-
tions relying on oil shipments
from the Middle East. France
has sent 16 warships into the
area. There are another six
BURLESON STAR
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Wayne Hutson Editor It Publisher
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The Burleson Star is an indepen-
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Editor. Burleson Star, P.O. Box 383,
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POSTMASTER: 8end address
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this little episode. He convinced
no one with his explanation, but
he bravely made the attempt.
He gave us to uderstand that he
was only play-acting — an apt
description, one might think.
Yes, he took that money but
never intended to do anything
for it. The way he looked at it, it
was just another legal fee,
which begs the question of why
he was using his office as a
means for the collection of any
sort of fee, legal or otherwise.
The jury didn't believe Myers,
and Congress rightly proceeded
to expel him. Yet even as we
prepare to cast him into the
outer darkness, some nagging
questions remain. Was $50,000
(only part of which he was to get
for himself) way above the
going price for a congressman?
Was it an enticement even the
most honorable of public ser-
vants would have found difficult
to resist? Was the FBI guilty of
entrapment? Was Myers actual-
ly set up and instructed (as he
contends) in what to say? And
what is to be the impact of all
this on the individual congress-
man who must decide how to
votee on a future FBI appropri-
ation bill? Will the fear of some
embarrassing Abscam-like rev-
elation tend to put him in the
FBI’s corner?
These are troubling questions
with which the Supreme Court
will have to grapple when it
calls up the Abscam matter for
review. More troubling still,
however, is that neither Myers
nor South Carolina Rep. John W.
Jenrette Jr., the second man
convicted on an Abscam bribery
charge, seem to have quite got-
ten the point that one does not
use his office as a way of enrich-
ing himself, regardless of
whether he intends to “do any-
thing” with the money. There is
a moral blind spot here some-
where — one standard for con-
gressmen (so it would seem) and
another for the rest of us. Daniel
Webster never hesitated to re-
mind the New England shipping
interests — for whom he was an
eloquent spokesman — when his
“retainer” was late. Fortuntely,
Webster’s view has prevailed
neither in the courts of law nor
in the higher tribunal of public
opinion.
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© Copley News Service
Letter To
The Editor
Dear Mr. Editor,
I would like to say a few words in
favor of the American people. I served
as Election Judge for Precinct 25
during the general election. A precinct
record 1413 votes were cast during the
12 hours the polls were open. But what
impressed me most was the pleasant
and friendly disposition of those voters.
There were long lines during most of
the day. Many waited for 30 minutes,
even 40 and 50 minutes. But I heard no
complaining. Just a friendly, deter-
mined mood prevailed as they waited to
mark their “X” on the way they wanted
things to go the next four years.
And the 15 ladies and one gentleman
who worked as election clerks and
counters, most of them for as long as 13
and 14 hours, deserve a round of
applause. Getting that many people
voted and their ballots counted is a
tough job, and it was done in an
efficient and first class manner. My
thanks to each one of them.
C.A. Austin
Burleson, Tx.
The Changing Of The Brother
BY JAMES MOODY
Even if Ronnie & Co. succeed in doing
all the things they say they’ll do, it still
just won’t seem the same, this life
without Carter. There will be left a void
in all our lives that can only be filled by
time. That and politics. Between the
two of them anything can, and general-
ly does, happen at sometime or the
other.
But Carter—well, there’s never been
another like him and he’ll be a long
time replacing. The hero of the working
class. The informal ambassador of an
oil rich nation The best and nobelest of
Miz Lillian’s brood.
Few in the annals of history have
accomplished what he has done. Sure,
now they’ve named a beer after J.R
but he had to get shot to earn that
distinction, and he’s not even real
anyway.
But you, of Billy Beer fame, are
bigger than life. Unparalleled in belly-
flopping. Unsurpassed among basic
“good ol” boys.
Personification of hoof and mouth
disease—his foot was always either in
his own mouth or that of his brother, the
president.
AND WHAT CAN Ronald Reagan
offer us in the way of a brother to
compare with you? Some dullard in a
grey flannel suit, that’s who.
I’ll have to confess I don’t even know
the guy’s name. In fact, to take
confession a step farther, I didn’t even
know the jerk existed until I got a brief
glimpse of him beside the president-
elect just before Reagan made his
acceptance speech on election night.
I wasn’t impressed.
Whatever he answers to, I’ll bet it’s
not a good redneck name like Billy. Or
Lem. Or Jed.
He looked more like a Percival to me
(can you imagine Percy Beer?). Or a
Lionel. Or a Conrad.
Shoot. I’ll bet he doesn’t even pump
his own gas at a self-serve station much
less own his own station.
Probably looks for one when he really
needs it, though. Why I’ll bet he’d even
drive for miles in search of a gas station
before i t would ever occur to him to just
order the motorcade to stop beside the
highway so he could get out to relieve
his misery.
Percy (or whatever) may have the
bladder, but he just doesn’t have the
gall (sorry about that one. It must be
the shock of losing Billy as First
Brother).
JUST THINK OF IT though. How
would Ronald Reagan's brother look
wearing a baseball cap (turned side-
ways of course) sitting reared back in a
wooden chair downing a six-pack (Per-
cy Beer. Yuk!).
Ridiculous, that’s how he’d look. Why
that clunk probably thinks Libya cash
is Johnny’s daughter.
The transition period between Presi-
dent Carter and President elect
Reagan may indeed be the smoothest in
history, as the president has indicated,
but no transition team can cushion the
shock the nation will feel at the “chang-
ing of the brother.” It’s going to be a
sobering experience, at best.
Nope, Billy, he’s just out of his class
trying to follow a First Brother act such
as yours. So I guess we ll just have to
learn to live with having a president’s
brother with no character, one who isn’t
the subject of a Congressional investi-
gation, who doesn’t throw little temper
tantrums, belch in public or drive a
pickup truck.
It does look like the least he could do
is drive a pickup, though. Maybe put a
gunrack in it and later even add a
bumper sticker: Beer Drinkers Make
Better Lovers. And then he could. .
But no, it’s no use. It still just
wouldn’t be the same. There’ll never be
another Billy Carter. He’s truly an
original.
BUT WAIT! There’s still some hope
left. Maybe Reagan has a sister. And
she just might be an evangelist, you
know. After all, wasn’t the “moral
majority” pulling for Reagan?
But still, even then, we’d miss you
Billy. Breathes there a soul who hasn’t
uttered these words of kinship for you
upon hearing about another one of your
misadventures:
Oh, brother!
First Brother
Billy Carter
Coat Tails Are Short In County
from Great Britain, and six
from Australia.
That makes 60 naval vessels
from Western-oriented nations
facing the threat that the Iran-
Iraqi war will disrupt the move-
ment of oil from the Persian
Gulf through the Strait of Hor-
muz. Their numbers also make
the Soviet naval squadron of 29
ships in the Indian Ocean look a
little less formidable.
The trouble is that the 60
ships of friendly nations have no
blueprint for coordinating their
operations if there is a need for
naval power to keep the sea
lanes open. The U.S. Defense
Department says naval attaches
of the governments involved
have discussed the possibilities
of forming a “combined fleet,”
but no action has been taken.
The combined commands of
the North Atlantic Treaty Or-
ganization do not recognize se-
curity responsibilities in the
Middle East, despite the fact
that Western Europe is more
heavily dependent on oil from
the Persian Gulf than the United
States. France clings to military
independence even in regard to
NATO.
The naval forces of the free
world now gathering outside the
Persian Gulf are “allies” only in
spirit — in being drawn to the
scene by a threat to their com-
mon interest. Their interest
would be far more secure if they
were prepared to act as allies in
a literal sense.
BY BOB SONDEREGGER
When the national press gets to thinking
about it, they may proclaim Texans
some of the most discreet voters in the
nation.
While they went for Ronald Reagan
and George Bush in Tuesday's general
election, they split the ticket elsewhere.
Few Democrats in Texas can
legitimately complain that their
Republican opponents rode in on
Reagan's coat tails.
Republicans in the other races had to
earn their votes.
Johnson County was no exception.
While the County went for Reagan, it
was reasonalby well split between
north and south.
The Republican President ticket won
by a comfortable margin in the four
Burleson boxes and both Joshua boxes.
They also won in nearby Tarrant Coun-
ty Precincts 23 (Crowley) and 24 (Oak
Grove-Rendon).
REAGAN TOOK LILLIAN by a
healthy 873-242 margin and Keene 751 to
257 for two of the more awesome vic-
tories.
Reagan took only two Cleburne boxes
and split a pair of Grandview box-
es—losing to the Demos overall by eight
votes there
The Democrats won eight Cleburne
boxes, took both Alvarado boxes and
won in Venus, Rio Vista, Godley and
Bono. Reagan took the small Brazos
Valley precinct 39-37.
But you can’t take those results to
conclude that northern Johnson County
is a Republican stronghold or that rural
Texas holds Democratic strength.
After Reagan the strongest showing
by a Republican was by C.L. Clay of
Joshua in the sheriff’s race against in
cumbent Stuart Huffman
HE LOST BY ABOUT 3,000 votes but
had his troubles outside Joshua. He won
both boxes there and took Box 11 in
Burleson as well as Keene.
Keene was the only precinct going for
Republican Jay Brumett of Cleburne
against Bob Glasgow in the state senate
race. One Cleburne precinct gave
Glasgow only a one-vote edge.
Ruby Haley Horton also scored a vic-
tory in the Keene precinct to spoil
Democrat Bruce Gibson of Godley from
sweeping his home county in the race
for state representative.
His Republican opponent is also a
Cleburne resident
Perhaps Phil Gramm didn’t get
enough Republican opposition to pro-
duce even a coat-tail affect for the
Republicans in the race for Congress in
District 6 He even took the Keene
precinct
THEY HAD A REAL race for Con-
gress in northern Tarrant County
where Jim Wright had to take several
precincts on his own against
Republican Jim Bradshaw who didn’t
Complete County
Vote Totals
On Page 3A
Blood Drive
Sponsors '
Members of (he Burleson High School Health Co-op and the VAC will be coor-
dinating and sponsoring a Burleson High School and Community Blood Drive on
Thursday at the high school. Donors can designate that the blood go toward any
group or plan or pledge it to the community drive where it can be used by any
person needing it. Story on Pngel. Star Photo
•
seem to benefit greatly from the
Reagan landslide
In Texas, the western portion is
generally conservative while East
Texas is moderate to liberal
Dolph Briscoe rode the West Texas
conservative vote to the governership
and West Texans put principal ahead of
party in helping Republican Bill
Clements win two years ago.
They also went for Reagan for the
most part but so did some of the larger
East Texas counties.
Reagan captured Reagan County in
West Texas but produced more of a sur-
prise by taking Anderson County in
East Texas.
Except for the counties containing
such larger East Texas cities as Tex-
arkana, Tyler, Longview, Marshall and
Nacogdoches. East Texas was general-
ly Carter Country. So were the Rio
Grande Valley counties.
WHAT DOES IT ALL mean? It may
have helped to be conservative and it
didn’t hurt to be a Republican in the last
election but the most important thing
was that a candidate, regardless of par-
ty or label, did the best job of convinc-
ing voters they deserved their vote.
If the politicians in Texas do a
reasonable job of running the govern-
ment, it appears Texas voters will do a
reasonable job of voting for the best
person.
Texas can be a one, two, three or
four-party state. It depends only where
the candidates choose to go. The voters
have shown they are willing to split a
ticket.
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Hutson, Wayne & Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 7, Ed. 1 Monday, November 10, 1980, newspaper, November 10, 1980; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761137/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.