Opinion
The Battalion
Wednesday, October 19,1988
St
€> /9-9S SPEMCE
&RYAM, TPxyis
THE REPUBLICANS’ IDEAL DEBATE FORMAT '
Pretentious Batt columnist
reviews ’88’s great debates
What do 1, an average voter, think
about the presidential debates? Well, I
didn’t follow them too closely but I do
remember Peter Jennings won one of
them, but I don’t remember what ques
tions he asked. I found a few Haws with
some of the things the candidates said.
Well, not actually with what they said,
but how they said it and why.
Timm
Doolen
Columnist
F. Will, William F. Buckley and other
journalists who have attained the stature
.of having a pretentious middle initial,
would recognize them on television, un
like any of the four panelists of the last
debate. Although I did recognize Bet
nad Shaw’s name; wasn’t he a famous
writer of some kind?
They talked about issues entirely too
much. That’s where both candidates are
weakest. They need to stay away from
the issues — it bores the voters and
opens the candidates up to attack. The
moment a politician says something
publicly, he’s responsible for it — for
ever. Just ask Michael Dukakis about his
ACLU statement.
During the debates, the candidates
were getting bogged down by irrelevant
concerns, such as the issues. Trying to
teach the average uneducated (unlike
us) voter something about the issues is
like trying to teach a pig to sing. You’re
wasting your time and annoying the pig.
The Pledge of Allegiance, the National
Guard, Quayle’s qualifications and other
topics should have been talked about
more, because they’re non-issues which
the voters, and the press, just love.
bate, Bentsen reminded me a lot of my
grandfather in his younger years, and
had the wit of a grandfather clock my
dad once bought at a garage sale. Danny
Quayle looked like a cross between Pat
Sajak and Robert Redford, though not
quite as charming as either. I wondered
why Quayle kept repeating himself;
maybe because he was repeatedly asked
the same questions (“For the 11th time,
Senator, what would you do if you be
came President?” “Well, I suppose I’d
have to change my stationery . . . .”)
The sad, real truth is that almost no
body will remember the issues of any of
the debates by Nov. 8. The best result
the American people got out of the de
bates is that they got to see the candi
dates on prime time in front of millions
of viewers.
of
Soon after the V.P. debate, the press
said Bentsen won because Quayle ful
filled his expectations. They all ex
pected him to lose.
As Michael Deaver said last week
courtesy of MSC Great Issues, the cam
era doesn’t lie. A nation can see what is
on the face of a candidate and no cand
date can fool the average person
America. The debate issues will be for
gotten, but the images of Dukakis and
Bush will remain in the voter’s mind u
until the point they enter the voting
booth.
We should have seen more humanity
coming from the candidates, especially
in the form of one-on-one personal at
tacks, such as the John Kennedy slur.
The most stunning performance of the
final debate was Bush’s extremely hu
man appeal for five more seconds on his
clock after being excessively booed. I
feel it was that statement that decided
the victor in the match.
In the last presidential debate, the
press said Bush won because he didn’t
lose. If he had lost, he still might have
won, if the press thought he didn’t lose
bad enough to hurt him. I can never tell
who wins or loses a presidential debate.
But then again, they never flash the
scores.
So in the mind of many a voter, the
real decision made while he was watch
ing the debate was: which do I dislike
less, Dukakis’ eyebrows and over-sized
head, or Bush’s squinting eyes and occa
sionally flailing arms?
Bush should have kept reminding us
about the “thousand points of light” (or
is it the “thousand pints of Lite”?) thing
instead of addressing the panelist’s ques
tions. Michael Dukakis should have kept
trying to convince the voters that he was
more qualified than his opponent, Dan
Quayle. Look Governor, your foreign
experience is nothing to brag about it
self, so watch where you throw stones.
But if you want a real presidential de
bate, not the semi-controlled press con
ferences that they were, let Morton
Downey, Jr. be the moderator. He’d
slam both candidates for being too LIB
ERAL (please excuse my language.)
You also would see the real George
Bush and the real Michael Dukakis de
bate. They would be yelling at each
other to get a word in edgewise, but
would have to strain to be heard over
Mort. You might make the case that
Downey would give an unfair advantage
to Bush, but Mort’s a fair man. Right.
These are not easy decisions for us
voters to make. So many of us will vote
as we voted in the last election, or as our
parents voted. It’s easier that way, and
luckily for Bush, it’s predictable.
After the last debate, most of the
press had already conceded the election
to George Bush, because Dukakis didn
land the winning punch in the 14th
round. Our country’s press now decides
the outcome far in advance of the actual
election. We should change the Consti
tution and just let the press decide who
won on the basis of polls, saving millions
of people the actual task of voting. The
average voter knows who’s going to win
— if he watches the news.
Watching the vice presidential de-
But in all honesty, an incredible panel
would consist of people such as George
Timm Doolen is a sophomore com
puter science major and columnist for
The Battalion.
Mail Call
South Africa has right to choose
EDITOR:
It’s easy for David Luckenbach and his unarmed legion of intellectualsoldiji
to criticize aparheid. It doesn’t take an intellectual to support a popular opinion
If Luckenbach and Students Against Apartheid want to get intellectuahlitn-
would like to suggest they ponder the sovereignty of South Africa. With the
purpose of changing South African domestic policy, SAA supports U.S.
government sanctions against South Africa. If South Africa doesn’t have then;
to determine its own domestic policy, then what nation has the right of self-
determination? A nation’s domestic policy, whether right or wrong, is the sole
responsibility of that nation.
ames Burns ’89
Mike Trabue ’92
re
Sueltenfuss’ solutions ‘naive’
EDITOR:
Voman and
Montgom
hatcher an
nent, gave
Dean Sueltenfuss’ column on the crime pro!>lem \\ .i> very misinformed,veteeturci
researched and a little naive. I le does not provide any support for his many
assertions and if he' would hav e tried, he would h.u r found that neither tune
research nor history will back him up.
rime minis
Getting “tough’’ on ( rime is not a neu idea. Suclunt uss ma\ think that tit: hill." Mom
discovered the perfect solution to the crime problem by suggesting harsher
punishments, longer sentences and more executions, but he is only redtinglt
same old list of methods that have been practiced since the beginning of time
Throughout our history, accused criminals have been banished, beaten
tortured, starved in dungeons and executed in the most horrible ways that
mankind could dream up. Executions were carried out in public becauseius
thought to serve as a greater deterrence. Instead, executions became a sourai
entertainment for the masses and people became numb to the act of
was all a matter of providing a harsh punishment to serve as a deterrent,!
crime would have been eliminated hundreds of years ago, but the crimes
continued and in many cases they increased.
Sueltenfuss suggests that we can solve our crime problem by building
prisons. That is like trying to fix a leak in your roof by buying more budetsti
At
pr
By]
“Margaret
ling since i
dontgomen
resentation
to a gr
eople in Ru
“Margaret
history ;
link when
e in much
ten she ii
lid.
Although
rime minis
;en active
nee 1959 v
lember of F
In 1970 1
ale in the c
Montgom
entary par
1970, r
hatcher n
hen she an
collet t the dripping w atei 1 <>da\ we have more people m pi isnn thanmr: | inv ^
and the crime rate is still going up. The problem is that we continue to conca
all our effortrs on cleaning up the crime that already exists while we ignoretlJ
root of cause of crime.
iey thou;
Soman had
uld lead tl
Thatcher
In 550 A.D. Magnus Cassidorus, a Roman him >i tan. u mu- th.it “povems®the vote-
mother of crime.” Many great thinkers have echoed his observation and loohf lion leadei
around today it is not hard to verify. The highest percentage of crime is fottn: any memt
the most poverty stricken areas.
Over 90 percent of the people in prison today are too poor toaffordan
attorney. I believe that we can decrease crime significantly if we work harden
eliminate poverty.
Sueltenfuss wants to put prisoners into huge concentration camps and tlx
march them into gas chambers for extermination. Does that remind youof
anything?
Grime is an old problem. To deal with it effectively, we need some fresh
ideas — not the same old rubbish.
Mike Thomas’87
Old Ag critiques yell leaders
EDITORS:
With six football games still to come this season, 1 hope that this letterisii
time. I am writing to express my disapproval and disgust at the way the veil
have performed so far this year.
imery said
“Personal
iffy consi
e first to e
he said.
In May l c
ime minis
at stressed
if inflation
rcent in th
“For the f
3
First, I must ask where you were for midnight yell practice Friday
the LSU game. I understand that you chose to remain in Baton Rougerattiei!
come to New Orleans for the traditional midnight yell practice on Bourboirt
A large crowd of students and former students gathered in the street atthe
traditional spot, only to be led by a former yell leader who, unlike his
replacements, remembered the tradition.
M
SC
politicc
Forum
Second, I must ask where you were f or midnight yell Friday night befotj
Cougar High game in Houston. In this case, I heard that you decided to hanj
practice at some night club in far north Houston instead of the traditional!^
of Miller Outdoor Theater near downtown where! he newspapers published^
yell practice would be (as usual). Once again, a disappointed crowd ofstuderi
former students gathered for another yell practice that wasn’t.
Third, is it too much for the fans to ask that you arrive atthe football gas]
time? Missing the national anthem and the “Spirit of Aggieland”attheCouj
High game is inexcusable.
Fourth, 1 was disturbed at the presence of one of you at the Cougar
out of uniform with a broken arm. 1 understand you were injured. Howevet,®
seems to me that you could just have easily dressed in the yell leaderunifonB
instead of what you were wearing. If not, why not sit out the game insteadol■
serving as a distraction out of uniform?
Finally, I can only gather by your continued practice of attemptingtofcB
crowd in an improper manner t hat you have not yet learned a basic rule: ICP
Ags have the ball on offense, the crowd should remain quiet until theballis t
snapped so that the players can hear the quarterback call the plays. When lb H
Aggies are on defense, the crowd should roar with thunder. As 1 watchedv I
at the Cougar High game, you were each doing different things, one calling:®
noise and the other calling for quiet. Come on guys, let’s get it together.
I hope that you can correct these violations of basic yell leader traditionB
and just another friendly reminder: Yell Practice should be held at midnigl ffi;
before the t.u. game in Austin on the steps of the state capitol. Hopetosee'm
there!
Gary A. Finkelman ’83
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 zuords in length. The editorial staff reserves the hi
and length, hut will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must be si)
classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Lydia Berzsenyi, Editor
Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor
Anthony Wilson, Opinion Page Editor
Richard Williams, City Editor
D A Jensen,
Denise Thompson, News Editors
Hal Hammons, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa
per operated as a community, service to Texas A&M and
Bryan-College Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily rep
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or die Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper
for students in reporting, editing and photography
classes within the Department of Journalism.
77ie Battalion is published Monday through Friday
during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday
and examination periods.
Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62
per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising
rates furnished on request.
Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111.
Second class postage paid at College Station, TX
77843.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station TX 77843-4 111.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke B
"M „
1
This T>
r
and dc>