The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 309, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 1, 2002 Page: 4 of 12
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Tuesday, October 1,2002
4A The Baytown Sun
Opinion
Wanda Gamer Cash, Editor and Publisher
David Bloom, Managing Editor
I
V/
into the GOP strategy as described
About Us
the House and 80-90 votes in the
of Capitol Hill.
Letters
How TO GET NEWS INTO THE SUN
tions when we support a country
I
f
little less arduous.
— Victoria Advocate
Nonetheless, Loy and adminis-
tration officials, conscious of the
hassles and burdens of time that
security piles onto airline passen-
John McGaw, former head of
the Transportation Security
Administration, does not, howev-
er. He argues that there is no way
to prevent terrorist “sleeper
cells,” whose members may have
been in this country for many
Of course, Democrats don’t
believe such pledges for a minute,
as last week’s uncharacteristic out-
burst by Senate Majority Leader
Morton
Kondracke
so is doing a disservice to the
Senate and the country. And it
would backfire.”
Fred Hartman, Publisher Emeritus
1950-1974
Jiaptoton Sun
Founded 1922
Our editorial board
The Baytown Sun's editorial board meets
weekly at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Individuals are
encouraged to visit the editorial board to dis-
cuss issues affecting the community. To
make an appointment, contact Managing --
Editor David Bloom, (281) 422-8302.
Members of the editorial board include:
Wanda Gamer Cash, editor and publisher;
David Bloom, managing editor; Meredith
Darnell, news editor; and Dee Anne Navarre,
business manager.
Let us hear from you
The Baytown Sun welcomes letters of up to
300 words and guest columns of up to 500
words on any item of public interest Guest
columns should include a photograph of the
our European friends and many in
our country are aghast.
Dick HaHum
— energy, terrorism insurance, a
Defense authorization.
“Democrats wanted to talk about
prescription drugs, corporate
20 to 40 airports — including
some huge facilities, such as
Dallas-Fort Worth International
attack, one year after terrorism — to give them time to install
shattered its blinders-on illusion
of immunity to such atrocities?
Officials have made progress.
Americans are safer, but much
remains to be done. A long and
difficult road stretches ahead;
many decisions have yet to be
made.
Air travel is, by most indica-
best. Travelers are almost surely
safer than they were on Sept. 10,
2001. But they’re also waiting in
longer lines, suffering more
intrusive searches and not getting
the full level of protection that
could be in place.
So yes, air travel could be a lot
safer. But day by day, there’s
increasing reason to hope that it
soon will be, while at the same
time the process of getting on
Party split on homeland security unpatriotic
Senate,” said one Democratic lead-
ership aide, “or he can make this a
wedge issue and get 250 in the
House, basically Rgpublicans, and
51 or 52 in the Senate.”
After last week's negotiations, this
aide said it looked as though the
White House was, after all, going
for — and going to get — 350 and
80, including two-thirds of House
Democrats.
So far, so good. But homeland
security is a different story. As Frist
put it, “Given the inept leadership
here in the Senate, there’s been real
obstruction, of bills that the
The Republican National
Committee is preparing to drive the
point harder by publicizing the .con-
tributions — $22 million in 2000 —
that public employee unions give to
Democrats.
But, in truth, the gridlock on
homeland security — and hence, the
lack of patriotism — is bipartisan.
Remaining differences concern
how many and what categories of
federal employees the president can
deny civil service and collective bar-
gaining protection in the name of
national security.
This is an issue that is ripe for
compromise. And Bush' and
Daschle ought to compromise on it.
Otherwise, both will be guilty of
r'
l ®
t
b
writer. We publish only original material
addressed to The Baytown Sun bearing the
writer’s signature. An address and phone num-
ber not for publication should be included. We
ask that submissions be limited to one per
month. All letters and guest columns subject
to editing.
The Sun reserves the right to refuse to pub-
lish any submission.
Letters endorsing or opposing political can-
didates or issues will not be published within
two days of an election, except in direct rebut-
tal to a letter previously published in The
Baytown Sun. Please send signed letters to:
Wanda Gamer Cash or David Bloom, The
Baytown Sun, P.O. Box 90, Baytown, IX
77522.
Or, fax them to: (281) 427-1880. Or, email
us at sunnews@baytownsun.com.
Tighter air security
T W There does this nation
b/B/ stand in its attempt to
V w secure itself against
NEWSROOM CONTACT INFORMATION:
Managing Editor David Bloom, 281-425-
8016, david.bloom@baytownsun.com
Editorial assistant Martha Reedy, 281-
425-8019,
martha.reedy@baytownsun.com
After-hours newsroom telephone num-
ber 281-425-8028
Newsroom fax number. 281-427-6283
Newsroom general e^nail:
sunnews@baytownsun.com
Mailing address: P.O. Box 90, Baytown, -
TX 77522
imposed curfew.
Somehow our
that Senate Democrats are “obstruc- being conducted to divert attention
tionist" and that they put “special
interests” — public-employee
unions, in this case — above
national interests.
Democrats suffer, too, because
delay keeps national attention
Republicans and prevents
Democrats from getting their mes-
In an interview, Sen. Bill Frist
(Tennessee), chairman of the
National Republican Senatorial
WAR? HuH-yeah...
WI5IT5WF0R?/
explosiyes-screening procedures
for checked baggage. Most air-
ports will meet the deadline,
although 1,000 big detection
machines and 5,600 bomb “snif-
fer” wands are still waiting to be
deployed. \
One proposal related to air
security that the Bpsh administra-
tions, safer. Perhaps most visibly, tion has embraced but not yet
airports appear to be more secure implemented has some appeal: a
than they were before the Sept.
11 attack. In some respects,
though, that is illusion.
The federal Transportation
nience. The details are far from
set, but indications are that trav-
elers would volunteer to undergo
a federal background check.
These travelers would be given
positive identification — perhaps
through use of a thumbprint or
similar marker — that would be
extraordinarily difficult to coun-
terfeit.
Business travelers, in particular, o
could benefit from the express sages through on economic issues,
check-in that a “trusted traveler”
program would bring.
Airline safety is a mixed bag at
secun<y workers at passenger
checkpoints in 429 airports
around the country by the
Nov. 19 deadline.
Thousands of cockpit doors
have been reinforced, although
airlines have until April 9 to
” ms tall impenetrable barriers.
Airline passengers and crew are
ignificantly more aware of
otential dangers, and have
h snown themselves to be willing
to act against possible threats.
What is not comforting is the
failure of security personnel at 11
;; airports to catch New York Daily
News reporters who smuggled
knives, razors and pepper spray
onto airplanes in their carryon
bags in a Labor Day test of the
system. The training, experience
or competence of the screeners
involved in these oversights has
| to be called, to account.
Then there’s the failure to set
up a program to screen and
secure airplane cargo. And the
plea by James Lay, head of trans- board a flight will be rendered a
portation security, for an exten-
sion of the Dec. 31 deadline for
Many opportunities exist within The Sun
to publish news and information about
people, events and issues within your
community To help get the word out about
your civic organization, school or busi-
ness, review the newspaper departments
listed below to see where you should
send the news release.
Submit news items to the attention of
the following departments, by fax, e-mail, .
regular mail, or by dropping it off at The
Sun office. Send notice of upcoming
events about two weeks in advance.
no intention of turning Iraq into a
campaign issue — but every inten-
tion of doing so with homeland
security.
He said individual GOP senate
candidates might use Iraq against
Democratic candidates who oppose
» Bush’s policy, citing Sen. Paul
Wellstone (D-Minn.) as a likely tar-
get.
But, as the person who approves
all NRSC advertising scripts, he
said, “We’ve got to keep the war on
Iraq out of the political equation.
It's a security issue — not a politi-
issues we are stronger on—
defense, patriotism, support for the
military,’’
The Bush remarks that set
Daschle off last week — that the
focused on security issues that favor could go badly and, if it does, Bush homeland security bill — fit neatly
may be a one-term president. into the GOP strategy as described
Democrats, though, cite plenty of by Frist.
circumstantial evidence that Busli ~ ~
and Rove are “politicizing” the war
— including some of Rove’s own
' statements and Bush’s demand for a
Democrats and President Bush
seem to be approaching bipartisan
agreement on an Iraq war resolu-
tion. So why can’t they do the same
on homeland security?
Both Democratic and Republican
senators say they’ve resolved 95
percent of their differences on the
homeland issue, so a compromise
ought to be possible on the remain-
ing 5 percent.
It is simply unconscionable —
even unpatriotic — that a fight over
civil service rules and collective , ,
bargaining should block creation of Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) made
Many Democrats, evidently American people want and deserve
including Daschle, believe that
Bush’s Iraq policy — and even anti-
terror policy — is being directed
. ' " ' J “Gen.
Rove” — White House political responsibility, Social Security
I’ve talked to Democrats who
think that both the war against al-
a department designed to thwart ter- clear.
rorism.
Bullheadedness on both sides is
to blame for the impasse — first,
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WVa.) fili- .
. bustered, and now GOP senators are not by the Pentagon, but by
doing so on Bush’s behalf — but P*—^u,
Democrats are likely to suffer more adviser Karl Rove. Literally,
politically if it continues.
Failure to pass a bill plays into'
Committee (NRSC), told me he has Congressional authorizing vote
before the election.
On the other hand, Democrats,
too, have been handling the war
politically —- first, by thinking
about delaying the vote, and then by
trying to get it “out of the way”
as fast as possible. And some
Democrats with deep doubts about
the war are going to vote for it
strictly to save their seats. \
After the White House unveiled-
the first draft of its war resolution
— an open-ended, “Gulf of Tonkin”
authorization — Democrats said the
v r litmus test of Bush’s “politicization" politicizing the war on terror
cal issue — and anyone who does plans was whether he'd agree to , k
changes. Morton Kondracke is executive
“He can either go for 350 votes in editor of Roll Call, the newspaper
“trusted traveler” program,
designed to speed frequent air
travelers through the security sys-
tem without compromising safe-
Safety Administration has confis- ty. The airlines and passenger
cated more than 200 guns, nearly groups strongly favor the plan.
5,000 box cutters and well over
100,000 knives from passengers
since Feb. 17, when it assumed
direct responsibility for airport
security. Some 2.3 million pro-
hibited items of all types have *
been seized.
That’s reassuring, as is the sight years, building innocuous
of security agents using metal resumes for themselves, from
detectors to scan many individual getting into such a program,
travelers passing through security I’
gates, as well as the more thor-
ough searches that some people’
are subjected to. Also encourag-
ing is the fact that the govern- gers, appear to feel that the sys-
ment says it will successfully hire tern can remain secure while
and employ more than 30,000 new minimizing passenger inconve-
devastateft West Bank headquarters
and the killing of nine more
Palestinians, including six civil- tax dollars, the Sharon government States the aggressor and responsi-
ians. Earlier this week, I read that has refused to respond to our pres- ble for killing many innocent civil-
Israeli soldiers gunned down a 12- ident’s appeals to restrain their ians not to mention young
year-old boy for breaking the attacks. Israel incites the Americans who will lose their
Palestinians to respond in the only lives. How can we Justify attacking
government way they can — suicide bombings -a country for ignoring United
abstained from the Security in their desperate attempt to call Nations Security Council resolu-
Council vote while we are request- world attention to their plight. tions when we support a country
ing the Security Council to vote I find it terribly ironic and sad that ignores the UN resolutions and
with us on resolutions concerning for the United States that in one we threaten to wage war without
Iraq. This is in addition to our instance we financially support a UN support? No wonder -r.nst of
House this year passing a spending country which defies our president
bill that contains an additional and the United Nations Security
$200 million for Israel to “defend Council while “our president has
itself” while our surplus from a asked Congress for authority to use
Attacking Iraq would make U.S. the aggressor
This week, I read what is most year ago has turned into a tremen- all means that he determines neces-
disturbing and ironic. It is very dis- dous deficit. We have been supply- sary, including force to implement
turbing that the Sharon government ing Israel with several million dol- United Nations requirements that
in Israel would defy a United lars daily to wage war to acquire Iraq disarm.” It has been threat-
Nations Security Council demand additional territory. Isradhas been ened that we would act unilaterally
to end its six-day siege of Arafat's known for undermining Security even if in opposition to the
~ ‘ ‘ Council resolutions. Even with this Security Council.
extreme financial support of our Attacking Iraq makes the United
now, economic issues,” he said.
“But gridlock on homeland secu-
rity drives it home what they are not
two Republican campaign themes; Qaida and the war against Iraq are getting done and directs attention to
away from the weak economy and
to elect Republicans in November.
It’s ridiculous. It assumes that
Bush would risk his presidency to
win a Congressional election. There Senate “doesn’t care about*national
is aity number of ways that the war security” because it can’t pass the
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 309, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 1, 2002, newspaper, October 1, 2002; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1184706/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.