Page 2/The BattalionTThursday, June 30, 1988
Opinion
Payoffs, bribery and the Pentagon hustlfp s
Sen. Charles
Grassley of Iowa
took a step up in
class the other
day. Not only did
he illuminate the
f ailings of the Pen
tagon and Attor
ney General Ed
win Meese III in
By
Speaking on the Senate floor, he
called into question the enthusiasm with
which Meese and the Pentagon pursued
fraud in defense procurement over the
years, then said:
in his own defense. He called Grassley
misinformed and said:
“A memorable scene in the movie
‘Casablanca’ might sum it up best.
monitoring our
dealings with mili-
tar contractors, he
Donald
Kaul
did it with an anecdote taken from “Ca-
sablance,” the classic World War II film
starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid
Bergman.
So he quoted a movie, you say, so
what? You’re not listening. I said
“Charles Grassley.” I said “Casablanca.”
Grassley is the Senate’s token hayseed.
His idea of formal attire is white-on-
white socks. We’re not talking George
Will here, who quotes Kant’s “Critique
of Pure Reason” when he orders break
fast. Grassley is more your “Ma and Pa
Kettle Go to Las Vegas” intellectual.
“Casablanca” is very high class for him.
“It is the scene in which Claude Rains,
the French chief of police, shuts down
Rick’s saloon on the pretext of his ‘sud
denly discovering’ that gambling is
going on in the back rooms.
“We’re very proud in the Reagan ad
ministration of our record of prosecut
ing defense procurement fraud, as part
of the abuse throughout the govern
ment, and this latest investigation is just
one more example of the fine work that
is being done by tough, experienced,
professional prosecutors.”
“He says: ‘I’m shocked. Shocked to
find out there is gambling going on in
here.’ Just then, a porter runs up to
Rains and hands him a wad of money
and says: ‘Your winnings, sir.’ ”
That’s good, Chuck. (Sen. Grassley
demands that everyone.call him
“Chuck.”) President Reagan, Vice Presi
dent Bush, Meese, all of them have been
walking around saying: “Corruption at
the Pentagon? Our Pentagon? No kid
ding? Who’d have guessed it.”
This ignores the fact that Meese
wasn’t informed about the current in
vestigation until last week because his
name had come up in some of the wire
taps the FBI was conducting. (President
Reagan wasn’t told either, but what the
heck; if you told him, you’d have to tell
everybody.) George Bush, as usual, said
he didn’t know anything about the scan
dal but he hoped it wouldn’t become a
campaign issue. He has a wonderful
sense of humor.
President Reagan was characteristi
cally eloquent and lucid in discussing the
Meese in particular has been vigorous
I think there are some things
•JESSE, THEPE’S SONEVHWG
»- OW- FEEL AS1W0UGW
t 9rtOUU> AfiKYOO*
Mail Call
He who casts the first stone
EDITOR:
In response to Andrew Myers’ letter of 24 June, I
would like to say this: I would much rather be large in
stature than small in mind. The unfortunate consequence
of your letter is that’s actually how you appear.
major and history minor back at A&M. I am really
interested in Historical Archaeology so that’s why I’m out
here in rural southern Maryland sweating from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. five days a week in a range of humid
temperatures from 98-103 degrees!
I had my boyfriend send me copies of The Battalion so
I could keep my sanity and contact with A&M and the
outside world in general.
I realize that you’re probably getting hours of laughter
from the publication of your witty letter, but don’t you
have a better way of spending your time than composing
mindless trash?
In the unlikely event that you reach a state of
perfection, please feel free to voice your judgement of
others.
I want to tell you just how entertaining The Batf really
is. No one appreciates it back in Aggieland. One need to
come to southern Maryland with no TV or newspaper, live
in a cockroach infested house with no A.C., and dig all day
to truly appreciate The Batt.
Heidi Melton Kamei ’88
I’ve amused myself and friends by cutting out the
headlines and pictures to create whimsical sayings and put
them on my walls as decoration.
Let us entertain you
EDITOR:
Thank you for entertaining me out here on my dig!
Virginia Busby ’90
Hey, all the news that’s fit to print, fust call us USA Today.
I was just reading Mail Call and now that the amount
of letters is down, I decided to write.
— The Editor
I am on an archaelogical dig in St. Mary’s City,
Maryland for 10 weeks this summer. I am an anthropology
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BLOOM COUNTY
that you can see in something as com
plex as that whole process and the num
ber of corporations and all — corporate
heads probably are surprised at what
they’re learning also — because you
can’t be down there watching several
million people in the total of all the com
panies and of the Defense Department
every day in what they’re doing or what
phone calls they’re making. . . . And 1
have to say that I think that it should he
understandable how such things can
happen in something as big as our gov
ernment is.”
Be honest, isn’t that a little disap
pointing? Here’s a man who, when the
Democrats ran things, got jacked out of
shape every time a welfare mother
sneaked a slug of vodka with her orange
juice. His people allegedly throw billion-
dollar contracts to the highest briber
and all he can say is: “Oh well, those are
the breaks. You can’t be everywhere.”
No you can’t, but you can be some
where and the president isn’t.
Grassley would have finished ahead
of the game had he ended his little
College
Irinking fl
he first tir
iwn water
Charles
nd water
hase of fli
pproved
,vailing foi
speech with the “Casablanca”
he had to go on.
“Now, I do not mean to si
association between thesceneint
blanca’ and anyone in ourgover®
The point 1 am making is simply
There is a perception out thereat ege Static)
this country that many of ourgoii : ' on * 01 a "
ment offices are like the French din
police in the scene of‘Casablanca.’
Right, Ch tick, and the publicpeM^y, the
lion isn’t that far off the mark. On
eminent has been corrupted in
and in fact by the vast sums ofmont
spend on defense. Generals retire
walk into high-paying cushy jobs
defense contractors, sometimesasi
ward for services rendered w
Pentagon. Congresspersons trade
votes in return for defense jobs in
home districts. And now, outrighi
ery.
Grassley had one thing right,
Claude Rains’ chief of police war
like anyone in the Reagan admins
lion. Rains had a lot more classthai
of those yahoos.
Copyright 10HH, Tribune Media Senictsk
Station pi:
its water by
“There’:
iation will
Dr. Russe
-g(
selll
at He
New York rape case
heading for round tw
HOUS’l
diamond i
n auction
ptten gai
Irug deal
>1.25 milli
About 1
lour auct
ies where
mated $2
lighest hie
The jev
Wednesda
For months,
I’ve been marvel
ling at the re
straint shown by
public officials in
the New York.
They’re the
ones who have
been trying to
make some sense
out of the case of
Tawana Brawley,
16, the black
Emery “Pi
lawyers. They sent thousands of da :onvicted
for Tawana’s fund and shared in
rage at the way Tawana wasbeint
pnved of justice. Just as some
wrongly believe that the avera
md is now
U.S. M
icribed C
dealer wh
— north o
a criminal, some blacks wronglvbei T1Hnev
Mike
Royko
that every white is out to get them
But now the con game appearsi:
nally be over
A private iuvestigator who
worked for the preacher says hew
volved in the case from the begint
ie was m
Trillion a y
Money
;oes into I
dealers of
The If
oned wit
schoolgirl who said she was kidnapped,
raped and smeared with filth by six
white racists.
When her story first came out last
year, it was a national shocker. A nice
schoolgirl so terribly abused in Wap-
pinger’s Falls, a quiet town on the Hud
son River.
Prominant blacks demanded justice,
and rightly so. Rewards were offered. A
fund drive was launched. Bill Cosby and
the publisher of a black magazine put
up $25,000. Mike Tyson said he would
pay for Tawana’s college education.
But as time passed, the pieces didn’t
seem to fit. The story made less and less
sense. Evidence mounted that there had
been no abduction or rape.
And it made even less sense when Ta
wana’s lawyers refused to let her and
her family cooperate with investigators
while ranting that they couldn’t get jus
tice.
They said everybody was conspiring
to protect the rapists and deprive Ta
wana of justice — Gov. Mario Cuomo,
the prosecutors, the police, the entire le
gal system.
They even said that an assistant dis
trict attorney was a member of the rape
gang, while offering no evidence.
So it was fairly obvious several
months ago that (1) Tawana Brawley’s
story was phony, and (2) her lawyers
were a couple of irresponsible, public
ity-seeking, rabble-rousing liars, and (3)
New York’s public officials should tell
them to put up some evidence or shut
up.
Instead, the officials sort of wrung
their hands while Tawana’s lawyers and
a New York preacher had a fine time on
TV and in the press, making their out
rageous charges and ranting about rac-
1 le says it was all a fake and the Ian jjamond >
and the preacher knew it wasaf
'They were out to generate I
and build themselves a power I
tmonds v
bout $ 1
5147,500
the preacher’s former aid put it: H ^' er
And many black people believed the
was no case, only a media show."
Then, by all means, let thesho*
on.
There is a matter of the lawyers
lecting all that money for Tawana
was for Tawana. If there was no
lion and rape, the fund drivemi|
considered a fraud. And it isagaii
federal law to use the mails to coi
fraud.
The lawyers did a lot of yelling
a conspiracy.
Maybe now a grand jury can
asking them about other conspii
such as conspiring to lie to authoi
about a non-existant crime, withhol
evidence and other fun activities.
T hen there is the assistantprosi
who they said was one of the rap
would think that he might slap
with a multmillion-dollar lawsuit
slander.
And if the New York Bar Assort
doesn’t give some thought to yai
their law licenses, it ought to dost
shop.
As the preacher’s former aides;
was a “media circus.”
But at a real circus, theclownspl
for laughs. There wasn’t anyil
f unny about the act of these Newlj
clowns.
Incidentally, we called Bill 0
publicist to see if he was still offei
$25,000 reward for the arrest c
meanies who grabbed Tawana.
One of Cosby’s publicists said:" 1
not heard otherwise.”
But she didn’t sound very enth
tic
Copyright 1988, Tribune Media ServicesM
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Audrey Cardenas, a May graduate of Texas A&M was recent ly murdered in 111
nois. She had just begun a promising career in journalism, and her editor said he wi|
pleased with the excellent performance of her duties at the Belleville News-Democraf
Well liked by peers and faculty, Audrey was a serious student with a keen sensed
humor. Her memory will live on at A&M with establishment of a memorialjournalisi
scholarship in her name.
-30-
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fl/VP TELL m. HMKINO
mr OLIVER W. JONES
SAYS ViAT IF HE (NAS
ANY PUMBER, HEV BE
OOlYIER PYLF.
by Berke Breath
mi—
WE SCIENTISTS
ALWAYS LOVE
a Lime
COMPETITIVE
one n'me.
41