Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, October 20, 1992
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
764-0552
Editor in Chief
MATMIEW D. RENNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL'CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
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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.
Perry Bullard for district judge
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A nn Arbor residents will have the opportunity
to elect a new district judge on November 3.
When students vote, they should consider which
candidate would best protect their rights in the
courtroom. Considering Bullard's long and distin-
guished record as an advocate for student rights,
the Daily endorses State Rep. PERRY BULLARD
for Ann Arbor district judge.
Bullard's opponent, Assistant Prosecuting At-
torney Elizabeth Pollard, has compiled an impres-
sive resume and has served theAnnArbor commu-
nity well. But Bullard's consistent and sincere
commitment to student rights, despite anti-student
community sentiment, is impressive and impos-
sible to overlook.
When the University administration first began
the process of deputizing its own police force,
Bullard proved to be the only reliable advocate for
student opposition in Lansing. He recognized that
a new, armed University police force would fur-
ther threaten student safety, waste scarce Univer-
sity dollars, and cause jurisdictional conflicts be-
tween the Ann Arbor and University police depart-
ments.
Unable to prevent passage of the deputization
bill, Bullard successfully tacked on an amendment
that required the University Board of Regents to
hold two public hearings before they made a final
decision regarding deputization.
Another example of Bullard's commitment to
student rights is-his 1976 Michigan Open Meet-
ings Act, which he later amended to specifically*
include the University. As a result, students now
have the opportunity to be party to information
regarding the hiring of administrators - that is,
when the regents follow the law.
Recognizing Ann Arbor landlords' mistreat-
ment of student tenants, Bullard guided the state's
most liberal tenants' rights bill through the legis-
lature. The Landlord Tenant's Act allows tenants
to-withhold rent from their landlord if thelandlord
fails to meet their responsibilities.
On issues outside of students' rights, Bullard's
progressive voice has often been a lone sane voice
in Lansing. The Michigan Freedom of Information
Act, as well as countless acts protecting consumers
and the environment bear Bullard's name.
Moreover, Bullard has always made himself
available to students. He appears frequently on the
Diag and residence.halls, handing out literature
concerning legislation that affects. students. Few
representatives are so approachable.
Pollard has addressed many women's issues in
her campaign.. She held a seat on the board of
Safehouse, and serves on the board of directors of
the Domestic Violence Project. But it is important
to note that Bullard has been a strong'and powerful
voice for Michigan women. His consistent pro-
choice stance has earned him the endorsement of
many women's groups. Bullard sponsored legisla-
tion calling for mandatory arrest laws for domestic
disputes, and-has actively worked to inform rape
and assault victims of their rights.
As a district judge, Bullard would face a wide
variety of cases, ranging from noise and open
beverage violations, to trespassing and tenant-
landlord disputes, to sexual assault and harass-
ment. When considering which candidate better
represents student interests in these and other ar-
eas, there is one clear choice: Perry Bullard.
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Columbus Day Pro-choicers fight Suhy's letter
program, enlightening
Dear first-year male student I happen to feel, therefore, that
To the Daily: Michael Suhy: I have legitimate grounds to
I would like to take this I assume you have written believe that I am more pro-woman
opportunity to thank my fellow your scathing letter about than you are. Your claim that pro-
victims of western culture for abortion ("Abortion is murder," choice supporters do not inform
setting the record straight on 10/13/92) based upon the vast women of alternatives and they do
Columbus Day. . experience that you have had not tell them to seek a second
Columbus didn't really with this issue in all of your 18 or opinion is absolutely ridiculous.
discover America, as I had always 19 years. You have missed a The utter absurdity of your
believed. He never even set foot fundamental concept that commentary - which seemed to
in the state of Michigan, let alone underlies the pro-choice move- be largely founded on baseless
Ann Arbor. ment - choice. No one likes claims - shows that you know
Slavery and human suffering abortion, Mr. Suhy. Pro-choice virtually nothing about the
did not exist until Columbus and does not mean pro-abortion. reasoning that lies behind the pro-
his fellow conspirators exported it I am pro-choice, and what that choice movement. That reasoning
to the New World, marking the means is that abortion is a viable happens to be based on the
"beginning of the world's gravest alternative for dealing with an concept of being free to choose an
sin, to take a man born free, bring unwanted pregnancy - it does alternative.
him down and sell him." (Please not, however, mean that abortion I would request that you stop
forgive the non-gender-neutral is the sole choice or the correct espousing your claims as to what
language; I am quoting Nation of choice for everyone. I would pro-choice supporters do, think,
Islam leader Rasul Muhammed, . really like to see you substantiate feel and say until you have
and I want to be sure to maintain your claim that "pro-life support- actually learned a little bit about
the integrity of his words.) The ers are more pro-women than what it really means to be pro-
character of Western Civilization pro-choice supporters." choice.
in the last 500 years, especially in You, Mr. Suhy, are not a Carrie Fletcher
America, can be summed up in woman, and I am. LSA senior
one word: oppression.
Columbus was Jewish, and his To the Daily: "1,500,000 babies slaughtered
mission was financed by wealthy I am writing to thank Michael each year." The idea of fetus
Jews. As an agent of the Interna- Suhy for his enlightening letter viability has been strongly
tional Jewish Conspiracy, he ("Abortion is murder," 10/13/92). associated with the idea that
sought to bring the world under I can't believe that I have spent women should have control over
the control of the Zionists. I . four years on this campus thinking their own bodies, and Suhy's letter
would personally like to attribute that abortion is a personal matter has shown me the dangers of
this bit of wisdom to the percep- and that women should have the thinking this way.
tive mind of Rasul Muhammed, uncontested right to choose. It was nice to read that the
whose scholarly insight was on Apparently, the great number "pro-life" movement will supply
display in Angell Hall last of pro-choice activists to whom I support to pregnant women who
Sunday. I, for one, was not aware have spoken have lied. The pro- find their access to abortion
that the Jews were planting their choicers I know have always tried restricted. I'm sure that the "cribs"
shifty seeds of world domination to get across the fact that they are Suhy speaks of will be very
at this early stage in world not pro-abortion, but that they are helpful to women facing the
history. Thanks, also, to all other interested in defending a woman's economic and emotional hardships
organizations who helped to both right to keep all of her options of raising a child.
shed light on the sinister legacy of open. But Mr. Suhy's letter tells Had I not read Suhy's letter, I
Christopher Columbus and to give me that "pro-choice supporters do would have continued to sport my
me a personal sense of empower- not inform women of alterna- pro-choice buttons around campus
ment. To quote Rasul tives"-and although he-never and voted such in the upcoming
Muhammed, "If we don't deal offers any evidence to support this elections. Thank you, Mr. Suhy. I
with the facts, we will be subject "fact," how can I help but to guess it took a man to set me
to propaganda." believe him? straight.
Joshua A. Darsky dis m aso glad that MrfSuhy Amy Kushner
LSA senior viability when he spoke of the LSA senior
Cinton 'S pro-Israel bias hurts peace
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Bush is more Nixon less Truman
Thankfully, most of the comparisons to Harry
Truman in the presidential campaign have
subsided. Unfortunately, the comparisons between
the Bush administration and the lawless Nixon
adninistr.ation accumulate daily. Last week, The
Washington Post reported that senior State De-
partment officials ordered U.S. embassies to con-
duct an "extremely thorough" investigation of
Gov. Bill Clinton's college days. These searches
-which violate State Department rules - smack
of the dirty tricks that typified the Nixon White
House.
"It is obvious that Clinton's anti-war activities
are of no great importance to U.S. .national secu-
rity, and that the.State Department was only fish-
ing for evidence that might hamper Clinton's re-
election bid. Unfortunately for the Bush adminis-
tration, the State Department has rules that explic-
itly prohibit it from bumping such politically sen-
sitive materials to the top of its roster because of an
election.
The details of the search indicate that the em-
bassies investigated Clinton with unusual vigor
and speed. The search of embassy files would
usually take months to execute. But Clinton's files
were investigated within a matter of days after the
State Department's request. According to one
embassy official who checked Clinton's files, the
search yielded nothing.
A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee and a
Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee are look-
ing into a similar matter. At issue here is whether
the State Department deviated from normal proce-
dure when it tried to retrieve Clinton's passport
files from the National Records Center. Here, as in
the previous incident, the State Department cites
media Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) re-
quests as justification for the -search. But FOIA
requests usually take months to process, and these
searches were conducted immediately.
The State Department has since apologized for
its conduct in the Clinton search. But the Bush
administration has yet to apologize for the low-ball
sleaze-riddencampaignitisrunning. Bush's shoddy
economic record continues to plague his cam-
paign, and his promises of change and recovery
ring false coming from the mouth of an incumbent
dedicated to preserving the status quo. Without a
successful past record or an articulate vision for the
future, Bush has resorted to a negative campaign
against his opponent.
The campaign theme Bush forwards is "who
can you trust?" This theme might be an effective
strategy for victory in November, but it does not
even attempt to forge a broad national agenda. To
raise the question of trust, the president has labeled
his opponent a draft dodger, and questioned his
-patriotism by raising the communist specter he
claims to have defeated. Now, his administration is
digging through Clinton's past.
Such cynical campaigning should not come as a
surprise from the man who brought us Willie Horton,
the pledge of allegiance, and other such lemagogic
tactics. .
This year, however, the tactics represent not a
devastatingly effective sneak attack on a hapless
opponent, but the desperate flailings of a doomed,
visionless incumbent.-
I used to be excited about the
candidacy of Gov. Bill Clinton.
Clinton has promised an adminis-
tration which includes Americans
of all ethnic backgrounds and view-
points. He claims his foreign policy
will focus on the promotion of de-
mocracy and human rights.
In his efforts to woo the big
bucks and votes offered by the pro-
Israel lobby,
however, he has
closed his mind
on the issue of
justice and peace
in the Middle
East. With the
more moderate
Yitzhak Rabin
RED
Katherine
Metres
not to mention thepeace and justice
proponents in Israel and the Arab
communities.
Let's not kid ourselves. A ma-
jor factor in the success of Rabin's
Labor party was frustration with
the increasing isolation of Israel in
theinternationalcommunity. Presi-
dent Bush's insistence on delaying
the $10 billion loan guarantees un-
til Israel modified its policy of set-
tling the Occupied West Bank and
Gaza Strip sent a potent message to
Likud's Yitzhak Shamir.
The Israeli public, tired of be-
ing economically and morally bank-
rupted by Shamir's hard-line mili-
tarism, elected Rabin on a platform
of compromise - with the Arabs
and with the Americans. Bush and
Rabin came to an agreement on
building in the Occupied Territo-
ries, and then the loan guarantees
were granted.
Bush's rationale was that the
peace negotiations could not suc-
ceed without indications of good
faith from Israel. For reasons of
both security and trade, the United
States has a compelling interest in a
more stable Middle East. With Is-
rael moving to make the annex-
ation of Palestinian territory irre-
oppressed and persecuted." ForJew-
ish immigrants to Israel, these de-
scriptions hold true. But consider-
ing the plight of the Palestinians -
treated as aliens in their own lands
- this praise rings hollow.
Clinton wants the public to be-
lieve that his pro-Israel bias stems
from personal conviction. But the
fact is he has actively sought the
massive funds promised by the
American-Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), and his cam-
paign is top-heavy with AIPAC-
related managers. He and Hillary
wear buttons openly proclaiming
them "Pro-Israel." Such one-sided
posturing by the United States,
which is supposed to be an honest
broker between the parties, may cost
the region its best chance for peace.
Furthermore, Clinton promised
us ethnic pluralism. Yet he actively
excluded Arab Americans at the
Democratic National Convention
from speaking and sitting on the
platform committee.
I hope these incidents represent
only ill-considered campaign strat-
egy. I hope if Clinton is elected, he
lives up to his human rights, democ-
racy and minority inclusion rheto-
ric. Mavbe he'll turn out to be an
Campaign spreads political bug
his past winter, the popular opinion through-
out the country was that the 1992 election
would be a repeat of 198 8: the campaigns would be
negative and sleazy and the candidates wouldn't
provide a satisfactory choice.-Many complained
that our two-party system had evolved into a one-
party, Washington-insider political oligarchy. Due
to a refreshing turn of events, like the emergence
of several viable female dandidates, popular sen-
timent may have changed. The New York Times
reported on Monday that voters were registering in
and education, rather than the non-issues promoted
in 1988.
The debates were unusually substantive, allow-
ing the American people to recognize that there
were differences between the candidates.
President Bush supports public and private
school choice, while Gov. Bill Clinton supports
only public school choice; the president claims to
support a constitutional amendment banning. all
abortions, while Clinton is pro-choice; the presi-
dent promises tax-cuts, while Clinton promotes
now leading Israel,Clinton is sound-
ing more Zionist than the Israelis.
Although he.says he will con-
tinue the peace process if elected,
Clinton indicates his unwillingness
to push for substantive change in
the Middle East. On whether Israel
should be able to continue settling
the lands it has occupied in defiance
of international law since 1967,
Clinton has said, "The settlement
issue should be addressed in nego-
tiations between the parties.and not
as American policy ... The Arabs