opinion
Battalion/Page!|
June 9,
Slouch
By Jim Earle
*
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cAfcLe-
‘Have you seen my armadillo?"
Senator wants
better GOP image
by Steve Gerstel
United Press Internationa]
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Pack-
wood, once a bit of political boy wonder,
is now perilously close to 50 and in need
of a cause to lead.
The one he has chosen is most merito
rious: to improve the Republican party’s
image with blacks, hispanics, Jews and
women. To achieve this goal, the third-
term Oregon Republican wants to lead a
drive against restrictive social and civil
rights legislation.
“I’m reaching 50 years of age,” he said
recently. “I’ve been in the Senate 14 years
and right now am looking at what I want
to do with the rest of my life.*
In a period when the Republican Party
is terribly dominated by conservatives,
the moderate-liberal wing is in desperate
need of a strong leader.
If he assumes the mantle, Packwood is
in for a frustrating and very probably
hopeless fight.
In the past, the concept of a more open
Republican party committed to social
and civil rights has not been embraced by
the GOP except in cheap rhetoric.
Strong, well-known national leaders of
the recent past such as Nelson Rockefel
ler, Jacob Javits and William Milliken
were frustrated.
Packwood is not, at least not yet, in
their class and the climate is much worse.
The Oregon senator claims a “lot of
senators” have indicated their support
for his positions but are reluctant to
speak out.
“They say to me, Tm glad somebody
said that,” Packwood said.
At least Packwood is perfectly situated.
The Senate is the showcase arena where
conservatives are pushing the most re
strictive social legislation.
The Senate has already approved
legislation which forbids courts to order
school busing more than 5 miles or 15
minutes one way — tantamount to out
lawing the practice.
Packwood was the self-appointed Re
publican leader opposing the sale of
AWACs to Saudi Arabia. But to the dis
gust of his allies on the Democratic side,
Packwood turned out to be strong on talk
and weak on the grinding work that
builds majorities.
And Packwood cannot get any help
along the way from the White House.
His brand of Republicanism is not in
favor at the other end of the avenue and
his recent potshots at President Reagan
have shut down communications.
It would help the Republican party to
have an eloquent and effective leader for
the small but still loyal moderate-liberal
wing of the party. Packwood may not be
the man.
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77843.
It’s 11 p.m. — do you know
where your dogs are now?
by Dick West held in the University of Maryland please, but they must kno
T Traitor! P*-*»cc Tnt«>**natirknsal Si T*rY1Si Yi f tf \ f 4
by Dick West
United Press International
WASHINGTON — I don’t suppose
we’ll ever see the day when we can keep
teenagers at home at night simply by
leading them to their rooms and com
manding “Stay!”
In fact, if strapped to a polygraph
machine, I would have to confess I never
had a dog that would go to bed at a decent
hour either.
The only dogs I ever owned roamed
all over the house at night, barking at
imaginary intruders, shedding hair on
the parlor sofa and making waves for the
Tidy Bowl Man.
And my kids were equally trouble
some.
held in the University of Maryland
armory.
I don’t know which dog won what, but
Willett gave me two booklets published
by the contest sponsor, the maker of
Gainesburgers and other canine goodies.
The titles are “The Dog in Society” and
“What Every Good Dog Should Know.”
Substitute the word “child” in the
appropriate places and you have publica
tions a parent could find instructive, too.
When I started questioning Willett ab
out his line of work, he said: “I wish I had
gotten involved in it sooner. I might have
done a better job of raising my two
daughters.”
please, but they must knowwhatii
want them to do "
I told Willett the only thingni
ever learned was how to bury theirs
in a supper dish, a trick for whirl SC 01
lured
needed no guidance.
Willett, ever alert, obviously hai
trained to recognize a dog food®
cial cue when he hears one.
“Good nutrition is a primere(|iiii 7 p' ni
obedience training,” he said. “Doj [RRA
ers should always think of thetotil roadv
being of their pets.’
It was, however, the twobookl® ?XAS
In the best of all possible worlds, kids
and dogs would respond to the same di
rectives — heeling, fetching one’s slip
pers and refraining from chasing cars at
a given signal.
This sugarplum vision began dancing
in my head after a talk I had with Steven
Willett, director of the Eastern Regional
Dog Obedience Championship recently
Asked to elaborate, Willett, whose
household includes a golden retriever as
well as teenage girls, told me:
really opened my eyes
“In some extreme situations,tht
ly dog may be the only means o!
munication in a household,”
“Family members under stress nil
“Dogs and children are alike in want
ing to know what’s expected of them.
Kids are always testing their perimeters
the way dogs are. Consistency is the most
important element in training both. And
the trainers should be lavish with praise.
“Both pets and children are eager to
iMPL
Brazo
on th<
activit
ISCC
Roust
other usually can relate via ail
affection and concern fortheirpel
been suggested that veterinariani
be valuable members of comi
family health counseling groups.
Ah, yes. As the old saying goes,
ly that paper-trains together, rt|
together.
A bill is pending which rules that hu
man life begins at inception — making an
abortion a murder. Other anti-abortion
measures are in the wings. There are also
moves to permit voluntary prayer in pub
lic schools and efforts will be made to stop
an extension of the voting rights act.
It is a perfect time for Packwood to
begin displaying his leadership. The
question remains whether he can or will?
Over the off-and-on nine months the
Senate spent before finally passing the
busing measure, it was Sen. Lowell
Weicker, R-Conn. — not Packwood —
who did the leading.
In fact, the opposition to the busing
legislation was pretty much a solo job by
Weicker except during rollcall votes.
Although Packwood’s opposition to
abortion legislation is well-known, clear,
frequently enunciated and long-held,
there have been other senators who took
on more clearly-defined leadership roles
for the Republicans.
For many years, as the legislation be
came more and more restrictive, former
Sen. Edward Brooke of Massachusetts
carried the torch. Later, it was again
Weicker.
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III
Public allowed to see both sides
by David S. Broder
WASHINGTON — Yesterday (Satur
day), President Ronald Reagan made the
last of ten scheduled weekly Saturday
afternoon talks to the nation. An hour
after he finished, the seven radio net
works that carried his talk also broadcast
the Democratic Party’s reply, delivered
by Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-
Ohio).
Strange as it may seem, this unre
markable sequence represents a signifi
cant breakthrough in the cause of public
policy debate. These talks were, from ev
erything I can learn, the longest sus
tained exchange of views between
spokesmen of the opposing parties,
under near-equal conditions, in recent
political history.
Nor is this the only good news on this
front. Twice this year, the major televi
sion networks have afforded the opposi
tion party the opportunity for quick re
plies to televised addresses by the Presi
dent, under terms that provided access to
audiences of equal or nearly equal size.
One came after the President’s State of
the Union address, when GBS and NBC
followed immediately with a half-hour
film prepared by the Democratic Party,
and ABC aired it with only a half-hour
delay. The second came after Reagan’s
April 29 speech on the budget, which all
three networks followed immediately
with the response by Rep. Richard Boll
ing of Missouri, the Democrat’s
spokesman.
tent in seeking broadcast access, when
they saw last year how effectively Reagan
was using the air waves to build support
for his legislature program in Congress.
In one instance—confirmed by both
sides—a turndown by a network news
chief of the Democratic request for reply
time was followed by a call to the network
president from O’Neill and then by a call
to the chairman of the parent company’s
board from Byrd. On the third try, the
Democrats got what they wanted.
been no change of policy. ABC Ne«
ecutive David Burke said, in a com
typical of many others, “If theDe®
think they have established a preo
that every time the President speaks
will reply immediately, they’re in
land.”
The result has been that on these occa
sions, and on the past ten Saturdays, lis
teners have heard two sides of the case,
not just one. The quick relies have also
meant a better dialogue between the par
ties in the next morning’s newspaper
stories.
But if the policy has not changed
practice seems different. In recent®
under Presidents of both parties
right of reply, the date, the time,#
mat and—in some cases—even thed
of the opposition spokesmen see®
depend, not on the wishes of thef
leadership, but on the whim of thei* 1
casters.
Broadcast executives from the three
networks with whom I discussed this his
tory all said they were simply following
their traditional policy of “fairness,” in
according expression to contrasting
views when the President is discussing
controversial subjects.
For understandable reasons, they
were all eager to maintain that there has
In those days, as an O’Neill aid
marked, an opposition-party con!
sional leader was apt to find himseli
of a smorgasbord of responses, bro! ;
two days after the presidential a#
and given no more status than any®
interest-group spokesmen invited! 1
network to comment.
This year’s pattern representsaf;
provement over that. The partie 1
political process and the public are 1
served by what has been happen#
Congratulations are in order for both
the broadcast executives and the Demo
cratic Party officials who pushed very
hard for what has been achieved.
Senate Minority Leader Robert C.
Byrd (D-W.Va.), Speaker of the House
Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill, Jr. (D-Mass.),
Democratic National Chairman Charles
T. Manatt and their top public relations
aides became both aggressive and persis-
the small society
by BrickmoJ
WITH THi«
INFLATW^U
rte wife <2F eve?
©1981 King F««turM Syndicate, Inc. World right* reaarved.