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opinion
Battalion/Pages
June 3,1982
By Jim Earle
“Okay, I can see how it would work for this weekend, but
do you really think you can wear it and get excused from
class before every weekend trip.* 9
No itsy-bitsy seals,
only great ones
by Dick West
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Great Seal of
the United States, which is 200 years old
this month, was put together by a con
gressional committee.
This may explain why the Great Seal
has two sides, one of which has never
been used to seal anything.
If a congressional committee had de
signed our postage system, we probably
would have to lick both sides of the
stamps.
Let’s just be thankful the Great Seal
doesn’t have six sides, like Rubik’s Cube.
Incidentally, to save you the trouble of
asking, the name given to the Great Seal
is a bit redundant. There are no Petite
Seals, Midget Seals, Peewee Seals, or any
other kinds of lesser U.S. seals.
The seal whose bicentenriial we are
celebrating could simply have been called
the Seal of the United States, leaving off
the adjective, had the committee been so
inclined. But you know how committees
are.
I don’t have the text of the commit
tee’s deliberations before me, but I would
be willing to bet the Great Seal was the
result of a compromise.
Most probably all committee members
except one favored a seal showing a bald
eagle, symbolizing self-reliance, support
ing a shield whose stripes symbolized the
original 13 states and whose blue top
symbolized Congress.
In one talon, the eagle held an olive
branch while the other talon clutched 13
arrows. (You can make up your own sym-
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Reporters hear Reagan show
Se
by Donald A. Davis
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Picture this, stu
dents of political fantasy:
Jim and June Citizen have put in a
tough week at their offices. They sleep
late Saturday morning, have scrambled
eggs for brunch, toss a frisbee with Jim
Jr. and pet the dog, probably a mixed-
breed terrier named Dutch.
The hands on the clock point straight
up to noon.
“It’s time,” says Jim, “to tune in Presi
dent Reagan’s weekly radio chat to the
nation.”
June, Jim Jr. and the dog look as if
Dad suddenly has been taken ill in the
head. But Jim is a Republican, a political
junkie and concerned with what his pres
ident has to say, for there are major issues
to be explained.
He learned over the airwaves last
week, for instance, that Americans are
out there demanding a federal budget be
passed by irresponsible Democrats.
Then there was the stirring Armed
Forces Day speech about American fight
ing men and their wives, and the talk
about how to protect the peace by build
ing more nuclear weapons. He has
learned about the Caribbean Basin In
itiative, the trouble with Social Security
and a lot about the budget.
At 12:06 p.m. EDT each Saturday,
President Reagan talks to directly to mil
lions of Jim Citizens, without having to
filter his comments through reporters.
Straight from the shoulder stuff. Oval
Office to your living room.
Right? Wrong.
There is no known nose, or ear, count
of how many people actually listen to the
five-minute radio show each week. One
or 100,000 — it makes no real difference.
For the audience the president wants
to reach is never far away. The smooth
delivery and baritone voice is aimed at
the same reporters the administration
claims to be bypassing.
Saturday is what is known in the jour
nalism trade as a slow news day. By
springing a surprise address — the sub
ject is never announced in advance —
Reagan is guaranteed time on the nightly
network news shows, and importantly,
big stories in the Sunday morning news
papers across the land.
It has provided him a springboard to
regularly attack his Democratic oppo
nents, and they have hardly laid a glove
Te>
Mark W
leaker
orther
(T
on him in return. The Democratsi
had a few winners — such as Sen.
Bumpers and Rep. Mo Udall—butJ h 011 ® 1111
their lucid responses could notoven«^ M to
the momentum the president ha$S^[ ner
week by speaking out first and fromp yh e
White House. l os t e d b
Reagan has only allowed reporta 0 f Calve
see him once after giving a speech,ill khe 17
he entertained a cluster of them inalf
Oval Office session to allow photom
to be taken of him at the micropli
That means no questions areaskedal
his assertions.
It is finely-tuned show business,
lored in the White House for gettiitfi
the president’s message withaminin
of fuss and response.
The series was supposed toil
shows. But administration spokesiBjjinai a
are hinting it has been a successandi uled
be extended. Appoint
Jim Gitizen and the handful of required i
ters who have Saturday White Hilpf ^*8
duty may be the only ones whoacti
listen to the live broadcast, but
will see and hear the president’s word!
Sunday morning.
And it’s doubtf ul that even Ji
catch each and every show.
as
Un:
aus:
bolism for that.)
The lone dissenter, for his part, likely
favored a seal showing a pyramid, sym
bolizing heaven knows what, topped by
the Eye of Providence, which may have
symbolized Ben Franklin’s optician.
Although outnumbered, the dissent
ing committee member also happened to
be chairman of a subcommittee that
handled pork barrel projects. So a com
promise was in order.
The result was the two-sided Great
Seal now displayed in the State Depart
ment’s Exhibit Hall.
If you don’t have time on June 20 to
visit to the Exhibit Hall to pay your re
spects, you can see replicas of both sides
on the back of any dollar bill.
Either way, the bicentennial of the
Great Seal is an important milestone and
it behooves us all to give some thought to
how we can best celebrate it.
A formal celebration is being planned
by the State Department, and the U.S.
Postal Service is issuing a commemora
tive stamped envelope with glue on the
inside of the flap only. But that doesn’t
mean we, as private citizens, can’t crank
up our own festivities.
My inclination would be to tie in the
Great Seal observance with the demon
strations against the slaughter of baby
Harp seals in Canada. There is plenty of
symbolism in this linkage.
Naturalists warm that continued kill
ing off of Harp seals could threaten the
entire species with extinction. Which is
exactly the plight of the bald eagle seen
on the front of the Great Seal.
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Democratic party needs agreemen
on alternative to Reaganomics
The Battalion
USPS 045 360 T „
Letters Policy
Member of
Texas Press Association Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in
Southwest Journalism Conference length, and are subject to being cut if they are longer.
The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for
Editor Diana Sultenfuss style and length, but will make every effort to maintain
City Editor . BernieFette the author’s intent. Each letter must also be signed, show
Sports Editor Frank L. Christlieb the address and phone number of the writer.
News Editors. . . Tracey Buchanan, Dan Puckett Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, and
Diane Yount are not subject to the same length constraints as letters.
Staff Writers Cyndy Davis, Susan Dittman, Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor,
Terry Duran, Colette Hutchings, The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M Uni-
Hope E. Paasch, Joe Tindel Jr., ^eraty. College Station, TX 77843, or phone (713) 845-
Rebeca Zimmermann
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Photographers David Fisher, Peter Rocha,
John Ryan, The Battalion is published three times a week —
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — during Texas
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days. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news- per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates
paper operated as a community service to Texas A&M furnished on request.
University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions ex- Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald
pressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or the Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of 77843.
Texas A&M University administrators or faculty mem
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Questions or comments concerning any editorial mat- Second class postage paid at College Station, TX
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by David S. Broder
When the House of Representatives
rejected all the alternative budget prop
osals last week, the country was denied
the show of fiscal discipline it needs from
government in order to have any chance
of crawling out of this crippling reces
sion. But if there is any solace to be found
in the House’s budget fiasco, it is this:
The voters saw a clear demostration of
where the problem lies.
Part of it lies in President Reagan’s
stubborn resistance to a “mid-course cor
rection” in his own policies — a resistance
which inhibits most of the congressmen
of his own party from supporting any
such change.
But a larger problem is the inability of
the Democratic Party to forge an internal
agreement on an alternative to Reagano
mics.
The House was, as always, a near
perfect reflection of those external reali
ties. By March of this year, Washington
Post-ABC News polls showed a shift in
public opinion from the earlier broad
support of Reagan’s policy. By a 2-to-l
margin, those polled said Congress
should make “substantial” changes in
Reagan’s budget. A follow-up poll in
April found most saying his tax cuts and
domestic spending reductions were too
deep.
The House votes last week reflected
that judgement. First, a majority
amended the Reagan-endorsed budget
to shift $4.8 billion from defense to
health care — a straight-out Medicare vs.
military test. Then, the House rejected
the overall Republican plan, which still
sacrificed domestic spending to defense
needs and the scheduled tax cuts.
There were cheers from the Democra
tic majority on that vote, for never once
in all of 1981 had they been able to derail
the President’s legislative express train.
But the cheers were short-lived. Hav
ing cleared the agenda, at least tempor
arily, of Reaganomics, the Democrats
failed, on three tries, to find a majority
for any plan of their own. They could not
muster a majority for a plan devised by
five of their brightest young members, in
conjunction with a handful of moderate
Republicans. Nor could they unite be
hind either the original or a modified
version of the Democratic budget re
ported by the House Budget Committee
and presented by its chairman, Rep.
James R. Jones, D-Okla.
In abjectly failing to meet their legisla
tive responsibilities, the House Demo
crats confirmed another finding of that
March poll. The voters — who are rarely
fooled — said that as far as they could see,
the Democratic alternatives were not bet
ter or worse than Reaganomics; there
were no alternatives at all.
The seriousness of the failure is
heightened by the fact that, this time, the
Democrats really did give it their best
shot. Rep. Richard Bolling of Missouri,
perhaps their most skilled parliamenta
rian, devised rules for debate designed to
give every faction in the party a dean
on its pet provision — in hopes tl
would support, and not disown, theft
product. The agenda guaranteed
Democrats would have the last chan«
assemble a majority.
That they could not do so shows ft
politicallly divided and intellect®
bankrupt they really are. They are"®'
off, in both respects, than they werf
year ago, when Reagan was riding hi?
Last spring, the Democrats were ablt ;
get 176 of their members to support^
Jones budget against Reagan’s prefen*
plan. This year, Jones could mustero 1
171 votes for his product.
Last week, the defections came
both ends of the Democratic spectrum
not just the conservative wing. Ba®
half the 63 Democrats who voted aga®
the Jones budget were southern
weevils.” Most of the black Democrats"
angered by what they regarded as 11
attention to their own budget propos*
— also balked, as did a dozen or so wh"'
liberals.
The conventional answer of Den 11
crats is to say that if only they had in 01
members in the House, they would
better.
But the voters will not be satisfied"i 1
that. They will want to know: Do wha 1
That question ought to be at the top 1
the agenda for the Democratic Part)
mid-term mini-convention in Philad<l
phia at the end of this month. Reagan*
mics is in trouble. But Democrats s®
have to learn that you can’t beat sott f
thing with nothing.
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collet