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OPINION
Tuesday, December 3, 1985
The Michigan Daily
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
The two types of
Vol. XCVI, No. 62
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Er
Gimme shelter
By Patrick Lester
The fat, stogie-smoking baby kisser. We
don't see much of him anymore. Today's
mold of politician has a perfect all-
American past, a polished smile and a
pearly smile. They are the darlings of the
media spotlight and yet, more often than
not, we have no idea who they are or what
motivates them. Just who are these guys
that want to run everything anyway?
Well, there are basically two types of men
in politics. There are the Power Seekers,
men who are primarily interested in power
and all the benefits it brings, and Policy
Seekers, men who are primarily concerned
with asserting their own particular views in
the political arena.
The Power Seeker comes in a variety of
forms, but each is concerned first and
foremost with maintaining or advancing his
career.rSome seek political office for the
monetary rewards it can bring. The
political machines of New York and
Chicago were prime examples of this.
Lester is a senior in LSA.
Some seek political office for the prestige
and honor it has to offer. The Rockefellers,
perhaps, fall into this category. Last, but
certainly not least, are the true power
seekers. These seek power for power's sake.
James Barber described this type as
possessing a lack of self-esteem and self-
confidence which developed from painful
childhood experiences and which has
carried on into adulthood. They seek
power and domination over others as a way
to compensate for their own poor self-
image.
Barber felt that Richard Nixon and Lyn-
don Johnson fit into this mold.
The Policy Seeker, on the other hand,
seeks political office to advance his political
viewpoint. He does not pursue power for its
own sake, but merely to advance still fur-
ther his political beliefs. This type is willing
to risk the wrath of political peers, as well
as his career, to advance his cause. Who are
these men? Quite often they are extremists.
Jesse Helms is one. Jesse Jackson is
probably another (although personally I
would not label him an extremist.)
But what about the vast majority of
politicians who lie around the political cen-
ter? How do we classify them? Power
politicians
Seekers all present policy positions and
goals. They would not get very far if they
didn't. Policy Seekers must strive for power
if they want to achieve anything. Often, as a
result, it isn't easy separating the two.
The best indicator is not what they say,
but what they actually do in office. The
Power Seeker tends to spend most of his
time in office placating interest groups and
pursuing 'pork barrel' projects for his con-
stituency. While the Policy Seeker does not
and cannot ignore such things, he spends a
great deal of his time pursuing legislation
that may not be in the least politically
profitable.
It is for this reason, then, that the Policy
Seeker is the true leader. These are the men
that are the great reformers and the great
achievers. These are the Thomas Jeffersons
and the Alexander Hamiltons. These are the
Abraham Lincolns and the Franklin D.
Roosevelts.
So, the next time you think you know who
you are going to vote for come election day,
take a hard look atrthat guy withsthe
polished look and pearly smile. Who is he
anyway? What does he really want? Then
go ahead and pull that lever and hope you
made the right decision.
W hile illegal immigrants
continue to flow across
America's borders a movement
has grown to protect them from
deportation. The Sanctuary
movement, based upon the idea
that houses of worship are immune
from the arm of the law, provides
shelter and protection for aliens
primarily from Central American
Countries such as Guatemala and
El Salvador which are beset by
violence.
The movement provides a
protection against the Reagan ad-
ministration's misguided enfor-
cement of immigration laws which
have landed 11 sanctuary activists
in federal district court in Tucson
on charges of violating the 1980
refugee act.
The 11 activists include two
priests, a nun and a Protestant
minister. Despite this fact, Judge
Earl Caroll has ruled that their
defense council cannot bring up
evidence of their religious
motivations, arguing that this
evidence would be predjudicial to
the jury. Ironically, he does not
think it is predjudicial when he
4 refers to the refugee act as "wet-
back legislation" and accuses the
defendants of wearing religious
apparel exclusively for the trial.
Caroll has also ruled that the
Y defendants cannot bring up con-
ditions in Central America as part
of their defense. In so doing he is
both crippling their case and ac-
ting illogically. The refugee act
says that an alien cannot be depor-
ted if he has a legitimate fear of
persecution in his homeland. The
Immigration and Naturalization
Service has already declared that
these refugees have no fear of per-
secution and come here only for
economic reasons. Their inter-
pretation is certainly open to
dispute and cannot be effectively
disputed without bringing up
evidence of conditions in Central
America. Caroll has repeatedly
shown his prejudice against the
defense and should be removed
from the trial.
Because of the nature of the law,
even a fairly judged trial would
have unjust aspects. Though most
of the refugees come from areas
where they are at the mercy of
death squads and government
troops, the INS argues that they
must show that they would be a
specific target of violence if they
were to return. While Salvadoran
refugees are not eliminated as
systematically as refugees retur-
ning to other countries, there is a
great deal of evidence that those
who return are quite likely to be
killed by the still powerful death
squads.
Immigration laws are further
unjust because they are predicated
on the assumption that poverty is
less of a burden than political op-
pression. Even if the government's
argument is correct, it is small
comfort to be told that you are bet-
ter off because you will starve in-
stead of being oppressed. The
situation might be helped by
opening the door to unrestricted
immigration, or to at least push it
further ajar. Immigration quotas
should be determined on a basis
proportionate to the number of
people from a country who im-
migrate rather than upon the
population of that country.
For now, however, the trial of
Sanctuary activists in Tucson
represents an effort by the gover-
nment to repress an attempt by
these religious groups to lend a
helping hand to refugees from
violence and poverty. Rather than
suppressing such aid, the gover-
nment should be working to foster
it.
Wasserman
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Signs of intolerance
LETTERS:
Physicians group deserves Nobel prize
N THE STAIRWELLS of the
- Modern Languages Building,
:in the carrels of the Graduate
Library, and all over campus
;angry graffiti marks the walls.
*Some passersby are offended,
others ignore it.
The central focus of this graffiti
is an age old expression of hostility
and hatred toward minority and
oppressed groups. In the past, in
*Ann Arbor, diversity and in-
:dividuality have been socially ac-
cepted and encouraged. But recen-
tly a trend toward homogeneity
and ethnocentrism has cut com-
munication among people of dif-
ferent racial, ethnic, religious and
isexual cultures.
In an impersonal, often over-
;whelming atmosphere, students
:don't seek out cross-cultural
,relationships; people who are dif-
;ferent present a challenge to
established values and increase
:the friction in personal lives. In-
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stead, students conform to fit
stereotypical images, and befriend
others like themselves for the
security that is abundant in
familiarity.
The necessity of feeling comfor-
table with friends should not be
minimalized. However, the recent
increase in graffiti seems to in-
dicate a distressing decrease in
social pressure to be tolerant of
others. Sadly, those people who are
intolerant find that graffiti presen-
ts a viable outlet for their angry
feelings.
Cleaning graffiti is a necessary
and expensive enterprise. Beyond
comparing the price of 'graffiti
grabber' and other chemicals, the
University community ought to
reconsider the social structures
here which contribute to cultural
ignorance and conformity and un-
dermine the free exchange of ideas
and beliefs which are the very
basis of education.
To the Daily:
Your editorial of October 22,
1985 entitled "Tainted Prize" was
disconcerting. It argues that
International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War did
not deserve the Nobel Prize not
because of any disagreement
with the IPPNW goal of preven-
ting nuclear war, but because
IPPNW has not alsomtakenaon the
task of attacking maltreatment
of dissidents in the U.S.S.R.
Although not mentioned, it is fair
to assume that the editorialist is
equally disturbed over
mistreatment of Chinese
dissidents by the Den Xiaoping
government, of Philippine
dissidents by President Marcos,
of the Christian Democrats in
South Africa-a list that, sadly
for the human race, could be
multiplied ad infinitum.
Abuse of human rights needs to
be a continuing concern of all
physicians and correcting these
abuses needs to be a continuing
goals for every thoughtful per-
son. It seems to me unreasonable
however, to argue that an effort
to mobilize physicians on both
sides of the fence to prevent what
has rightly been called the Last
F~ic meniiohbt not tfh
medical effects of nuclear war,
their work was distributed
almost entirely in the west..." In
fact, over the last several years
reports initiated by IPPNW have
appeared widely in the Soviet
press. When three American
members of IPPNW visited the
U.S.S.R. in 1982, an hour-long
round table on the dangers of
nuclear war, put on by them and
their Soviet colleagues, was on
prime time television nationwide,
unedited. This program was
repeated several days later as
were other IPPNW presen-
tations.
A determined effort that has
enlisted the support of 130,000
physicians worldwide to preserve
humanity from nuclear war
richly deserves the Nobel Prize.
-Myron E. Wegman, M.D.
November 21
Wegman is Dean Emeritus
of the School of Public Health
Israel caught in regard to Palestinians *
To the Daily:
A recent letter supporting
"Zionism as racism," (Daily, Nov.
13) misses the main points. First,
anti-Zionism is a front for anti-
Semitism. Leon Klinghoffer's
religion was enough for the PLO.
Second, Jews are not a race. If
race were important, why has
Israel taken in Russian Jews,
Arab Jews, and Ethiopian Jews?
Third, Arabs, not Jews, are the
worst enemies of the
Palestinians. During their 18
year control of the West Bank,
Arabs kept Palestinians in
refugee camps. Today, Arabs act
similarly in Lebanon. Do they
lack the money or land to help
their brothers?
Israel has a major
problem-Palestinians dedicated
to overthrowing its government.
Here, we imprisoned Japanese-
Americans who never threatened
our security. We blacklisted
Communists who never acted on
their beliefs. Would we grant full
rights to those who actively try to
destroy us?
-Nat Pernick
November 22
Letters to the Daily should be typed, triple-spaced, and
signed by the individual authors. Names will be withheld only
in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for clarity,
grammar, and spelling.
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