The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 11, 1992 Page: 4 of 16
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4 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11. 1992 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
Attack based on distorted views and misinformation
by Javier Thomas Duran
As a member of the Rice Re-
publicans, I feel obligated to re-
spond to Tony Chen's misrepre-
sentation of the Republican na-
tional Convention. Mot only did
his editorial totally distort what
really went on inside the Astro-
dome last month, his brand of
criticism serves no other purpose
than to obfuscate the issues and
engage in political negativism.
At the beginning of his article,
Chen acknowledges the fact that
the purpose of modem political
conventions is to 'stroke a party's
ego." That being the case, why is
he so outraged that issues were
sacrificed for rhetoric? What was
he expecting, and was the Demo-
cratic Convention so rhetoric-free?
Chen's editorial demonstrates
his extremely condescending atti-
tude towards the American voter,
as well as a severe case of politi-
cal naivete. Chen's stated rea-
sons for writing the article were
his astonishment over the nar-
rowing gap between the two can-
didates in the polls and his suspi-
cion that the "supposedly in-
formed electorate" was "inhaling
the smoke screen issued forth by
the conventioneers." He further
states that as responsible voters,
"we must be careful not to suo
cumb to Republican politics and
dirty tricks."
While I commend Chen for his
sense of civic duty, his efforts to
further enlighten the voters fail
m iserably. Chen's article amounts
to no more than a thinly veiled
version of the exact kind of politi-
cal smoke he so indignantly ac-
cuses the Republican national
Convention of billowing.
first of all, it is common knowl-
edge that party conventions al-
ways produce a bounce in the
polls for their respective candi-
dates. The Democrats er\joyed a
similar bounce in the polls after
their convention, and it is absurd
that Chen should pout over the
narrowing gap in the polls follow-
ing the Republican Convention.
The primary focus of Chen's
article, although attempting to do
it in a very creative, witty, and
humorous way, was not to engage
in any kind of substantive political
debate over the issues; instead,
he chose to engage in the exact
kind of political negativism he so
disdainfully accuses of Pat
Buchanan. Perhaps that is why
Chen seems so fascinated by
Buchanan's speech and devoted
so much of his editorial to this
one speaker; indeed, emulation
is the sincerest form of flattery.
Chen fails to realize that Pat
Buchanan does not speak for the
majority of Republican voters.
Buchanan's success in the prima-
ries was more of a protest vote
against President Bush than genu-
ine support for Buchanan. His
address before the convention
was nothing more than a dis-
gruntled presidential candidate's
endorsement, although a luke-
warm one, of the party and its
nominee—his views are no more
representative of the majority of
Republican voters than Jesse
Jackson's or Jerry Brown's views
are of Democrats.
The Republican party is actu-
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ally very diverse, and those view-
points were reflected throughout
all four days of the convention. It
is important to note that, unlike
the DemocraticConvention, those
viewpoints were allowed to be
heard. Chen also failed to realize
that there was much more to the
convention than the three hours
or so that the mayor networks
chose to interrupt re-runs of
"Cosby," "Cheers," and
"Roseanne." Had he even both-
ered to watch the C-Span or Cnn
coverage, perhaps he would have
seen the address by the staunchly
pro-choice Secretary of Labor Lynn
Martin, or the address by Mary
Fisher, founder of the Family AIDS
network, or the speech by Jose
nino. Chairman of the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce.
The point is, the Republicans
are not, as Chen would have us
believe, the party of augers and
like-minded WASP bible-thump-
ers out to impose our way of life
on every single American man,
woman, child, dog, and cat. Fur-
thermore, the Republican party is
not the party of rich, alcoholic,
womanizing, northeastern elitists
who think they are above the law.
As a Republican and supporter
of President Bush, I see only two
options on how to respond to
Chen's other negative remarks; I
can either continue to categori-
cally refute this political name-
calling and continue to remind
him that the Democrats are them-
selves guilty of the similar rheto-
ric, which would ultimately yield
nothing, or I can try to engage in
a substantive political debate of
the relevant issues and policies of
the incumbent administration.
Although I vehemently disagree
with Chen's assessment of the
Republican national Convention,
I choose the latter option. 1 will
examine the three issues that I
feel have been the most widely
misunderstood.
Hie Economy
Clearly, Bush is in his current
political mess because of the state
of the national economy. Before
the recession, his approval rating
was the highest ever recorded,
and sincetheeconomyhasslowed
down, his approved rating is among
the lowest. Before we condemn
President Bush for the state of the
economy, it is perhaps relevant to
first ask whether he is actually
responsible for this recession.
Anyone who has taken high
school economics knows that the
business cycle isjust what it says—
cyclical. There are periods of ex-
pansion followed by periods of
recession. The state of the na-
tional economy has less to do
with President Bush's policies and
than with the fact that we are in a
global recession.
Furthermore, those who criti-
cize the President for the reces-
sion fail to realize what powers
the President has at his disposal.
Any veteran of Dr. Ward's Presi-
dency course knows that the presi-
dent has very little unilateral power
to dramatically affect the
economy. Congress deserves
equal, if not more, blame for the
state of the national economy
because all forms of economic
revitalization require Congres-
sional approval, and there is ab-
solutely no incentive for Demo-
crats in Congress to approve any
type of economic relief while the
president is so low in the polls. In
fact, Congress has yet to even
consider the economic growth
package submitted by the presi-
dent earlier this year. Indeed, the
President was correct when he
stated, "Our policies haven't
failed, they have yet to be tried."
Taxes
The President was sincere when
he said "Read my lips, etc..." While
Clinton continues to indict the
President for presiding over the
largest tax increase in U.S. his-
tory, he fails to realize that the tax
increase was a result of an elev-
enth-hour compromise in which
the tax increase was forced upon
the president by the Democratic
leaders of Congress in exchange
for the toughest spending limits
ever. It was the final option short
of a massive shut down of federal
agencies. In any event, the Presi-
dent acknowledges that it was a
m istake to go along with the Demo-
crats in Congress and has since
called for the repeal of that tax
increase. Just imagine what the
increase will be with the same tax-
hungry Democratic Congress and
an obliging Democratic President.
Judiciaiy
Much hoopla is made of the
charge that President Bush has
and will continue to appoint right-
wing Supreme Court justices
whose sole purpose in life is to
take away a woman's right to
choose whether or not to have an
abortion. This charge, like most
other Democratic propaganda, is
not supported by the record. Presi-
dent Bush is openly pro-life,but
his record on Supreme Court ap-
pointees does not show him im-
posing his personal beliefs on
matters of the judiciary.
President Bush continues to
state that there are nolitmustests
forjudicial appointees, nominees
for the Supreme Court are not
required to promise to vote one
way or the other regarding any
matter that will com e before th em.
Associate Justice Souter's unwill-
ingness to overturn Roe v. Wade
in the recent Pennsylvania case
manifestly demonstrates this.
I ask you to compare this judi-
cial record with Clinton's promise
to appoint a pro-choice justice.
He puts the endsabove the means;
in his haste to affirm a constitu-
tional right to abortion, he pro-
poses to do it by overtly politiciz-
ing the judiciary, a move that can
only serve to erode the court's
legitimacy.
These issues only scratch the
surface of what this campaign
should really be about: the indi-
vidual candidates, and not nega-
tivism. I ask that students like
Chen refocus their frustrations
into a more constructive discus-
sion about the issues and not on
cheap shots.
Javier Duran is a junior at Brown.
Blame
From page 2
Thresher covered their fight, surely
they would have been invited to a
meeting before January. The col-
lege presidents asked to appoint a
representative. Had Binford been
pressured by the press, he might
have allowed that before the final
committee meeting of the year.
When one looks at what hap-
pened in the decision making pro-
cess, one can only conclude that it
was not Shields (who was not presi-
dent until March) who failed us. I
don't mean to remove blame from
where it belongs—the administra-
tion . But on the student side, it was
Thresher staff whose interest was
piqued too little, too late.
Shaila K. Dewan, Arts and En-
tertainment editor, is a senior at
Baker
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 11, 1992, newspaper, September 11, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245817/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.