I 4 OPINION Monday, March 2, 1987 Page 4 The Michigan Daily Two By Buzz Alexander & Alan Wald The recent "Contra-gate" revelations about the Reagan administration's abuse of power came as no surprise to many University of Michigan faculty. Those of us who have been following U.S. foreign policy over the last decades are well aware that U.S. intervention in Central America is dictated by the political and social needs of a ruling group in the United States that has violated and will continue to violate the laws of the United States, as well as the will of the majority of the population, to pursue its own narrow economic interests. Moreover, the lessons of U.S. inter- vention against the people of Vietnam weigh heavily on those of us who came of political age in the 1960s. At that Buzz Alexander and Alan Wald are professors in the Department of English and members of Faculty for Human Rights in Central America. They visited Nicaragua in the fall of 1986. rofs call time, as in Central America at the present moment, an illegal and immoral war was waged for the sole purpose of preserving and extending U.S. hegemony. The authentic facts about U.S. activities were cynically falsified by the government, and the genuine aims of U.S. foreign policy were deceitfully masked under the familiar rhetoric of preserving "democracy" and fighting "communism." However, unlike the University of Michigan faculty in the 1960s, we have failed to keep sufficiently active and vigilant during the past several years. Many of us have sat passively by while students and community members have acted upon the ideals that we profess in our classrooms and in our scholarship. Somehow we have allowed a "new professionalism" to set in that disparages social activism, demonstrations, and rubbing shoulders with students and working people in committees and on picket lines. Yet the reality is that our scholarship and pedagogy will become eviscerated, diminished and dehumanized to the extent that we divorce ourselves from practical activity in the cause of social emancipation for all people, of all colors and all nations. While we fail to express and act upon our political and moral concerns, our government is once again, in Nicaragua, engaged in an illegal and immoral intervention that threatens to involve us in a devastating war. It is imperative that we awaken and attempt to halt the U.S. support of the Contras now, before it is too late. One form of action that University of Michigan faculty might take is direct humanitarian aid to the Nicaraguan people. The city of Ann Arbor has adopted a Sister City, Juigalpa, and is currently engaged in developing a program of medical and educational assis - tance. The Central America Task Force of Ann Arbor needs the contributions of anyone who can offer technical skills as well as financial aid to the many insti - tutions of Juigalpa that so desperately need our help - especially the schools, hospitals, museums, and social service departments. Here at the University of faculty also have the poss adopting sister universities academic departments in N educational institutions. Wha first of all are the most e supplies: paper, pencils, b laboratory equipment. But Ur Michigan faculty may also programs to train Nicaraguan st faculty; for example, by brin to Ann Arbor for special cour traveling ourselves to Nicarag classes and programs. In addition, University of faculty have many opportuniti actively to halt the United Sta Contra invasion of Nicaragu present time many University signing a major advertiseme New York Times to den Congress end Contra aid. Ever afternoon there are demonstra Federal Building, or else at th Guard Armory or Naval recruit to protest United States interve March 29 there will be for faculty activism Michigan, demonstration in Detroit to demand a halt sibility of to the war, and on April 25th there will and sister be a large mobilization of all anti- 4icaraguan intervention activists to descend on t is needed Washington, D.C. to demand the lementary complete cessation of hostilities against ooks, and our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. niversity of engage in Today there are many critical causes udents and demanding a re-engagement of our hearts: Iging them and minds. Among the pre-eminent ses, and by issues are the anti-apartheid struggle in :ua to offer South Africa, the dispossession of the Palestinian people in the Middle East, the nuclear arms race, the continuation of f Michigan virulent racism inside our own country, es to work and the U.S. effort to crush movements rtes-backed for social amelioration in Central a. At the America. The Faculty Committee for faculty are Human Rights in Central America -nt for the (FACHRES-CA), which will meet at 12 nand that noon on Wednesday, March 11 at Guild y Thursday House (802 Monroe Street), is one of tions at the several vehicles on the campus by which he National we can return to our role as authentiq ing offices, teacher/scholars - ones whose intellect ention. On are devoted to resolving the primary: a mass social issues of our time. Ii4 M1i)4an iaig Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCVII, No. 102 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. LETTERS: Meese's policies hurt Constitution Welcome back A S STUDENTS RETURN TO CLASSES today from "spring break," which ended about three weeks before spring begins, thoughts turn to remaining midterms and another eight weeks. The, break provided an opportunity for needed rest. For many it also provided a change of scenery from the dreary and gray -surroundings which permeate Ann Arbor this time of year. Perhaps having the break in winter has its advantages. Though there isn't much that can be said for this time of year, weatherwise, soon Ann Arbor's greenery will return. With it will come frisbee on the diag, the beginning of baseball season, and, perhaps too soon, the end of classes. While the campus may lack the visual beauty of a beach or the mountains, it makes up for it with intellectual ferment in the coming month. On March 23-24 the entire campus votes on a new MSA leadership which will face crucial questions about the role of the assembly. The students will also be faced with two ballot proposals dealing with PIRGIM funding. Unfortunately, students also will be denied the opportunity to vote on the jurisdictop of the assembly. Prior to break the assembly meekly passed a resolution limiting the assembly to "student concerns;" what a student concern is was not defined in the ressolution. The University commuity will also face the growing problem of racism on campus in the coming weeks; the most recent example of which is the racist broadcast on campus radio station WJJX. On February 18, students occupied the station to prtest the broadcast. This issue requires renewed attention to defuse racism on campus. Students should not allow themselves to become too burned out from coursework or apathetic to concern themselves with issues of importance. To the Daily: In life there is a certain discontinuity between the ideal and the actual. Recently this gap became increasingly more pronounced in certain areas. While our attention is constantly focused on the global situation, the world view as it were, there are serious issues here at home that require our attention. They may not be as glamorous as world hunger or Apartheid,sbut they are no less significant. One such issue is the steady, sickening trend of increased repressiy, censorious activi - ties. To illustrate let's consider Attorney General Edwin Meese. He deserves special attention not only due to his exalted position, his behavior in which crime is enough, but due to his particularly fanatical behavior. Why is it that this God-fearing, patriotic, well meaning, family man should inspire such fear and loathing? Let me count the ways; his blatant disregard for Cons - titutional rights, his unnatural views on civil rights and government censorship, and last, but not least, the fact that he ista vicious, narrow minded bigot. If you think I'm getting carried away, let's see anyone but a WASP try to buy his summer home in New England. Oh, where to start. How about with the thing closest to Meese's tiny heart, his baby, the President's Com - mission on Pornography. This year-long Odyssey into the heartland of moral squalor and depravity cost the American taxpayer thousands of dollars. What did it discover - nothing, just like all the previous examinations of the "problem." What it did do is sprout some of the most heinous lies and contortions of truth since the McCarthy era. It was a politically charged agen- da and personal vendetta from the start. Objectivity was the point and scientific method had no relevance - the conclusions were already made, all that remained was to create some supporting evidence. It was the Fundamentalist Right at its best, half boied theories, hand picked "witnesses," self righteous bullshit, and fear tactics. (Again, if you think I'm kidding, just ask 7-Eleven.). They set out to prove their own limited point of v"ew; they succeeded in exposing to us all their own brutal and depraved moral and ethical shortcomings. It was an vicious silliness that Ed has been at the bottom of, the discussion going on concerning the attempt to repeal the Miranda decision - I ain't talking about Carmen. It seems Ed feels that this piece of law protecting our rights gets in the way of truly effective law enforcement, especially inter - rogation of suspects (Ed is into "interrogating" rather than "questioning"). He's probably right, the Spanish Inquisition had a much higher confession and conviction rate than our pathetic modern-day legal 'systeniAl knew Vfeel the -biie rising in my throat when an obviously guilty demented thug goes free on some stupid, bleeding-heart technicality. I want to see that dirty punk dragged kicking and screaming by his hair into the dark bowels of our justice system, beaten senseless, given a fair trial, and thrown in jail for the rest of his unnatural life. But, I guess unless Ed can get this whole Miranda thing straight - ened out, we'll just have to turn to places like Turkey for real justice. I don't think I want the police force in this country running around with the unmitigated power to drag me in, rough me up, lock me away, then later at their leisure get around to bothering with those technicalities like my rights. "Sorry mister. We thought you were someone else who was given usbsome trouble." Thanks, but no thanks. A system run by human beings in a world of infinite shades of grey should probably err on the non- punitive side. The founders of this country came here to escape arbitrary government intrusions on their personal freedom and dignity. They suffered and died to create a place where tolerance, rather than intolerance, was the norm, the standard, the ideal. Now a small bank of rabid self- righteous mutants are quietly and steadily rolling back the rug of social progress and eroding such cornerstones to personal freedoms as the Constitution, the First Amend - ment, and the Bill of Rights as we all stand by giggling and slapping our thighs at how ridiculous and demented they are. They couldn't possibly be serious, could they? Who's afraid of Edwin Meese? I am. Very. He and his ilk represent all that is wrong, bigoted, narrow minded, and intolerant in this world. That is more then oninh fnr meW fueled by Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, William Shake - speare, James Joyce, and other scum-sucking pornographers and subversives as he merrily Participation To The Daily: As Americans we tend to pride ourselves as privileged people. We believe that we have the capability of guiding our lives to any aim we choose, believing also, that we have the same power to direct our government. The right to' participate in government is one of the founding principles of this country's political. ideology. Ironically though, because of the established fundamental nature of this right, we seem to overlook it. This right is overlooked to such an extent that more than one half of the eligible voting population did not vote in the last presidential election. This political apathy is neither healthy nor feasible for a strong democratic state. In the last twenty or so years, Americans have been losing control over their government and it seems that now this realization has hit square in the face. In the sixties and early seventies, the Vietnam War became a national crisis. The vehement protests answered by police retaliation marked such a schism that the "government of the people" became the "government and the people." Former President Richard Nixon went as far as to say that the greatest single weapon working against the American forces were the American people who did not support the cause. Later, this same president was charged with illegally obtaining audio tapes of members of the Democratic party. However, he never went to trial. He resigned as was pardoned by his successor. The President had put himself above the very law that he was entrusted to execute. As law abiding people ourselves, we were not allowed to see justice hums "Deutschland Alles." Ober 4 -Christopher K. Duff February 12 overlooked done. His presidency left a bitter aftertaste. In order to forget Nixon, we 4 needed a new face in government. We chose Jimmy Carter but he also put himself abovethe law and ordered a rescue mission for the American hostages in Iran. This hastily worked mission was a disaster, resulting in the deaths of eight American soldiers. Carter did not inform the Congress. He made his 4 decision in the late, late night while Americans were sleeping unaware of what was happening. Again we chose to forgei the past and opted for a new face. We chose a great communicator. He lifted the spirit of the country. But we did not look any deeper into this administration, and now we find an elderly man who doesn't seem to remember if he approved an illegal arms deal or not. President Reagan whd seemed to have believed in all those great "American values' has been caught right in th middle of his own lien conspiracies and manipulations. 4 However, no matter how deceitful, wrong, or stupid these men have been, it is up to us the people to beq responsible for government. It is true that Nixon deceived and lied to us. But we probably did not pay close enough attention to what his administration was doing. The same is true for Ronald Reagan's adminis- tration. We are too willing to let other people run thing. We as a people need to demand the truth and expect our government to answer to us. The only way we will be able to direct our government is tf we ourselves are informed dl the issues and are willing to participate and get involved in our government. -Suzannah Whorl February 5 Contra publicity scam Y ET ANOTHER DISTURBING breach of legality and ethics in foreign policy has come to light. The State Department secretly awarded a contract to a public relations company to lobby for the Contras according to recent press reports. The firm reportedly worked with Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North in planning a $1 million television advertising campaign. Its purpose was to bolster con - gressional support for military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels. Sources also say that the public relations company funded visits by Contra leaders to lobby Congress for additional backing. Whether or not profits from the Iran arms sale went towards the public relations contracts is still undetermined. Scandalous revelations have ema- nated from Washington in rapid succession for the last few months. responsible. Regan, McFarlane, Poindexter and North were eliminated, with great fanfare, from "further corrupting the core of the executive branch." As proceedings continue, however, investigators find more widespread attempts to sway the minds of the public and the votes of Congress. The object of the television ads was two-fold: to link the Nicaraguan government to Col. Muammar Khaddafy of Libya and terrorism and to attack congressmen who opposed military aid to the Contras while calling for support of Reagan's plan to send the rebels $100 million. The proponents of the public relations campaign strove to artificially induce a public and legislative sentiment for interventionism. This secret contract may or may not breach a law which prohibits Federal spending of funds "directly or indirectly" to influence votes by Congress. In any case it is outraigeous that the executive MY DI ON'T "T-ST sm ;? SORRY It CANT EA YU