Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, July 15, 1987
— r" l l' ii
Opinion
niwminniwi ii
Americans are blind to Ollie’s ambitious e£
i* North
concluded his
sixth day of . . ■
testimony before JGITy C-ZSlIH
the Irim-contrn
investigating
comniittee ■
Guest Columnist
Tuesday with
another brilliant performance.
The hurt expression, the forthright
demeanor, the right touch of anti
communist fanaticism all came perfectly
together in his excellent portrayal of the
“good soldier just following orders.” If I
were a drama critic, I would give North
four stars.
Ifi fact. North’s performance was so
good that many in the country could not
distinguish between Lt. Col. North the
patriot and Ollie the overambitious mid-
levef bureaucrat.
Supporters of North in Texas, Illinois
and New JVIexico have even announced
the formation of “Oliver North for
President” clubs. Many have sent
telegrams in support of North, while
others have contributed more than
$100,000 to his defense fund.
A New York Tiines-CBS News survey
even found that an overwhelming
majority of Americans believe that
North is telling the truth about the Iran-
Contra affair.
All this f or a man who has already
been caught lying about the arms for
hostages deal, who has admitted lying
and who a Justice Department official
said would probably lie again?
All this for a man who accepted a free
security system for his home and then
falsified documents in an attempt to
cover it up?
All this for a man who shredded
documents to keep investigators from
knowing the truth about his
involvement in the affair?
All this for a man who used money
from the profits of the arms sales to pay
food bills and buy snow tires?
Americans are noted for short
memories, but this must be a new
record.
But then again, maybe theyjust don’t
care.
Maybe Americans will believe
anybody in a uniform whojumps up
and says he did it all for the love of his
country. Maybe they’ll believe anybody
who portrays himself to be the
embodiment of great American virtues.
I hope not, but it seems this wolf in
sheep’s clothing is successfully using an
old defense to deflect criticism. After
all, it’s been more than 200 years since
Samuel Johnson wrote, “Patriotism is
the last ref uge of a scoundrel.” (I knew
that someone in the Reagan
administration would eventually give
me an excuse to quote Johnson.)
I don’t doubt that North loves his
country. I do doubt that what he did was
for the love of his country. It was more
for the love of Ollie. Egotism was his
motivation. Patriotism was his
rationalization.
During his testimony, North
described himself to chief Senate
counsel Arthur Liman as a person who
gets things done, a person who can cut
through red tape and a person who
“fixes” things. It seems as if North had a
definite idea of what he was all about.
Ronald Reagan, CIA Director
William Casey and former National
Security Adviser Robert McFarlane
were probably all familiar with North’s
can-do attitude when he came on board
the National Security Council. They
probably knew that all they had to do
was drop a hint and Ollie would run
with it. If the plan were successful, they
would reap the benefits. If the plan
failed, North would get the blame. Such
manipulations are nothing new in
politics.
But what did the country have to gain
with the dealing of arms to a country
whose leaders are our sworn enemies
and the subsequent release of the
hostages? Some good feelings?
Certainly. More freedom in
counteracting terrorism? Probably.
Better relations with Iranian
moderates? Maybe.
What about the diversion of money to
the contras} Could the United States
really destabilize a militarized country
like Nicaragua through the use of a rag
tag group of intermediaries? Who
knows?
What’s clear is that the Reagan
administration would have benefited
politically from the release of the
hostages, and that North would have
benefited personally from the release
and from finding a creative way of
supplying the contras without Congress
knowing about it.
Albert Hakim, one of North’s
operatives, testified that the Marine
lieutenant colonel told him the
President wanted the hostages home
before the 198() elections, forpoi
reasons. North later testified (nan
had lied when he told Hakimtk
Nevertheless, North knewthil
Reagan wanted the hostageshoiDtl
what better way to score pointskl
chief than accomplishing whatseJ
to be an impossible task? WhatbeJ
way to climl) up the adnnnistraiio
ladder than to please the bossi
A pat on the head f rom Reap
would have been a big ego boost!
workaholic like North whowasaii
trying to get ahead.
Former Presidential Spokesnu:
Larry Speakes was quoted in Tim
magazine as saying that NorthY
always starring in his own movie."
better way to be the hero than toll
the hostges home or to helptoppit
hostile dictatorship?
Oliver North is probably not tin
villian some make him out tobel;
is certainly not the sainted patriot
of the count ry likes to thinkheis.fi
more of an ambitious junior exeat!
who got caught breaking the rule,
trying to get ahead.
T
Jerry Oslin is a graduatejoumale
student and opinion page edilorbA
The Battalion.
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Mail Call
Library change to improve operations
EDITOR:
Phis is in response to the letter of Niels K. Bauer concerning the change in the'
procedures of the Current Periodicals Department (CPD) of the Evans Library. First,
no circulation policies were changed. Current periodical issues do not circulate
outside of the building except for photocopying. What was changed was to combine
the areas used by the CPD and the Reserve Department and to discontinue the
securityChecking at the entrance to the area. What this means is that users will no
longer be checked when they leave the area. I( is hoped that patrons will continue to
use materials in the area, but there are no restraints on individuals leaving with
materials.
The change in procedure was instituted in an effort to conserve staff and
therefore improve operations. The change was put in place with the understanding
that the system would be monitored to determine the degree of success or failure of
the procedure.
r. . To cJ/UC.diere have only been a few complaints about locating materials. Statistics
are being kept on reshelving but nothing is conclusive at this time.
Irene B. Hoadley
Director
Where hove oil the rockers gone?
EDITOR:
As I left the house Friday morning to go to school, I glanced at the sky. I saw big,
billowy cumulonimbus wonders that threatened to drench College Station and
possibly ruin the chances of Saturday golf.
I smiled because I knew that on a cloudy day I could get Houston radio stations on
my car stero.
The fact is that THERE IS NO ROCK AND ROLL ON THE AIRWAVES IN
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION. Maybe many of you out there share my frustration
at the lack of decent local programming. If it weren’t for cloudy days, rooftop
antennas or Eastgate Live, I seriously doubt anyone would hear any good non
country music in this area.
The irony of this situation in a college town really hit me several months ago when
local station KTSR was transformed into the “people’s station.” A disc jockey who
sounds like a reject from the Casey Casern school of broadcasting announced for
several weeks that they were building a radio station based upon listener input.
It sounded like a good idea at first. Until I heard the milktoasts they aired on the
radio requesting music. Some of them touted how wonderful the music they
ALREADY were playing is. More Fogelberg. More Loggins and Messina. And how
about throwing in that rockster Barry Manilow. Give us a break.
What is even more ironic is the fact that the other popular non-country station in
town is nothing more than a pop clone of the first. I sincerely hope that the music
scene on the Bryan-College Station airwaves is not an accurate depiction of the
demographics and attitudes of most people who live here.
John MacDougall
graduate student
Congress should listen to the public
EDITOR:
The rash of articles pertaining to the Iranamok hearings currently being held in
Congress should point out to our nation’s elected representatives the wishes of the
people they condescendingly chose to ignore. A Wall Street Journal survey found that
71 percent of the American public approves of Oliver North and his agenda in
general. Many acts perpetrated in this scandal were indeed illegal and in conflict with
his oath to uphold the constitution. However, the laws that were broken are not felt by
the general populace to be in the best interest of our country. We must be able to
respond to unfriendly governments (does anyone recall the warm welcome Daniel
Ortega received in Moscow?) in a manner that fits the occasion. Congress, in wanting
to be in on all decision-making processes of the presidency, is rendering our
government incapable of conducting foreign policy in a way that allows the U.S. to
pursue its best interests. The president should have the power to apply pressure to
governments which call for the destruction of all other political systems and restrict
the freedoms of the people they represent. No public servant or citizen should take
lightly the duties of ascribing to and upholding the laws of this great country, and no
elected of ficials should force upon us laws which do not reflect the wishes of the
electorate. Members of the Congress take heed: spend more time with your
constituencies rather than engaging in a partisan campaign to ouster the current
president!
W. Bachmann ’88
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Mcmljcr of
Texas Press Association
Soul Ii west Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Sondra Pickard. Editor
Jerry Oslin. Opinion Page Editor
Rodney Rather, Citv Editor
John Jarvis, Robbyn L. Lister. News Editors
Homer Jacobs, Sports Editor
Robert W. Rizzo. Photo Editor
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THE-
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>ept
Sex in a rocking chair gets you no when
My friend Rigsby,
the lover, called in
great distress.
“I’ve been
thinking about sex,”
he said, “and I’ve
just had a horrible
thought.”
Most of us think
about sex, but
nobody thinks about
sex more than
Rigsby, who, at last
count, has had 48
•nT
Lewis
Grizzarc!
real-life sexual experiences published in
Penthouse magazine’s Forum.
“I walked into the diner and there were
three beautiful girls ordering waffles. I
grabbed a stick of butter and walked over to
their table -” began his latest work, to be
published in a future issue.
“What,” I asked Rigsby, “is your horrible
thought?”
“It’s like this,” he began, “all this talk abut
AIDS is making people really cut back on
their sex lives, right?”
“Those who have sex lives to cut back on
in the first place,” I said.
“I’m serious here,” Rigsby said. “You can’t
just go out and have sex with anybody you
please these days because you might catch a
disease and die.”
“There’s nothing new to that idea,” 1 said.
“But here’s what’s bothering me,” Rigsby
went on.
“In 25 years, they’ll probably Find a cure
for AIDS. Until they find that cure, people
are going to do a lot of abstaining.”
“But after that, when it’s safe to have sex
again, it will be like the repeal of Prohibition
all over again. People are going to go wild
and crazy and run naked in the streets.
“You won’t he able to find a vacant motel
room, an empty hack seat or an uncrowded
hayloft anywhere.
“And let me tell you what really is my
horrible thought,” he continued.
“You know where you and mewil
when the next sexual revolution conies
along? We’re going to be sitting in arodij
chair in some home.
“We’re going to be so old, it won’tr
to us that it’s safe to have sex again.
“All we’ll be doing is playing gin and
waiting for the next serving of prunes,a
young people will he out there havin|
that fun.”
1 admitted to Rigsby that wasn’ta(
thought.
“By the way,” 1 also mentioned,“wbai |
really happened with the three girlsin
waffle shop?”
“You’d he surprised,” Rigsby grinned)
know just how much fun you can have#
jar of syrup.”
If Rigsby can’t participate in thenexi
sexual revolution, I thought to myself,fitl
at least he a hit at the home when heshaj
his memories with the rest of us.
Copyright 1987, Cowles Syndicate
Wmm
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Hyflt-COtlTRA
Ci
w The committee calls
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^ Witness stand