Opinion
The Battalion Wednesday, Nov. 16, 1988 Page
Chinks were evident in the ‘Camelot’ armoi S
On Tuesday a nation will gloriously
remember a president whose most
memorable moment was a dark Novem
ber day in Dallas, 25 years ago. There
will be news reports, biographies and
television specials lauding the triumphs
of the only Catholic president and the
youngest ever elected to the position.
Yet I intend to make the case that we
over-glorify Kennedy’s years as presi
dent.
When I think of the accomplishments
of the presidents of this half-century, I
think of Lyndon Johnson with his civil
rights reforms and struggle for a Great
Society, Nixon with his opening of
China and the national cancer program,
Carter with his negotiating the peace
treaty between Israel and Egypt and
Ronald Reagan with the INF treaty and
making America militarily and econom
ically strong again.
These are great accomplishments
that in restrospect we praise, but as a na
tion we tend to forget that his plans for
federal aid to education, urban renewal,
a higher minimum wage and medical
care for the aged were halted in Con
gress. His economic plan to lower taxes
and thus increase individual earnings
went nowhere as well. In other words,
he wasn’t a dramatic leader of Congress,
and few of his ideological ideas turned
into legislation.
Timm
Doolen
(later replaced by stone after American
passiveness), the Soviets might have
conceded Berlin to the West. But Ken
nedy backed down from his lofty words,
and a million people were annexed into
the Soviet regime.
Columnist
Ironically, the man who wanted to
spread America’s influence all over the
world, claimed solely domestic tri
umphs. During his nearly three years as
president, Kennedy worked, the United
States into a compromised position with
relationship to the world.
Soon after landing at the Bay of Pigs,
the exiles were crushed by Castro and
the world knew that America was be
hind the invasion. Kennedy himself ad
mitted he had made an terrible mistake.
It is speculated that had Kennedy not
let the Soviets get away with Berlin, they
would not have tried to export missiles
to Cuba a year later. The Cuban Missile
Crisis, which brought the world close to
nuclear war, is perceived by many as an
American victory. But the Cuban Mis
sile Crisis effectively established Cuba as
an outpost of the Soviet Union.
When I think of Kennedy, I think of
his positive expansion of the space pro
gram — a significant achievement for
any president. He also established the
Agency for International Development,
which delivered economic aid to the
world, and the Peac!e Corps, an organi
zation that gives worldwide humanita
rian aid.
One of the Kennedy’s campaign is
sues was American intervention in
Cuba. At the end of his administration,
Eisenhower began training Cuban exiles
for a Cuban invasion. Kennedy autho
rized the mission and gave the several
thousand revolutionaries equipment,
transportation and limited air cover.
JFK played a delicate game of trying to
have the troops win, but not show overt
American support in the process. He
failed miserably on both counts.
Kennedy had the vision that America
should get tough with the Soviet Union,
so we started building more nuclear
missiles. Before 1961, there was little ev
idence that the U.S.S.R. wanted to esca
late the arms race. But after Kennedy
began building many more weapons,
the Soviet Union had no choice but to
respond, which started the ongoing
arms race.
On August 13, 1961, as a by-product
of the U.S.’s tensions with the Soviet
Union, Kruschev walled in East Berlin.
Some historians theorize that if Ameri
cans had torn down the barbed wire
In August of 1962, the Soviet Union
began building medium-range ballistic
missile sites in Cuba. The Joint Chiefs of
Staff wanted a full military strike on
Cuba, but on the advice of his brother,
Robert Kennedy, JFK ordered only a
naval blockade. The President de
manded that Kruschev remove all of
fensive weapons from Cuba. A deal was
struck that kept Soviet missiles out of
Cuba (until 1978) but allowed just about
anything else in, making Cuba a Soviet
satellite and fatally wounding the Mon
roe Doctrine.
send his Green Berets and thous;
other troops to Vietnam. Undei|
Kennedy administration, the real#
Vietnam began — a war thatweti
have won, but embarassingly failtj
do. Kennedy gradually escalated)
number of troops in Vietnam, a|
that Lyndon Johnson continued,
end of the Eisenhower administr
there were a few hundred militarjl
visers in Vietnam; by John Ken
death, there were 15,000 troops]
equipment to match.
Kennedy may have been a victitl
circumstances or bad timing. Eves I
he did have many undeniable fail]
during his presidency, despite ounl
to hold him as an idol in our mindl
was an eloquent speaker, and somei]
of an ideologue. But when thet
came to get things done on the intec
tional scene, he fell somewhat short, |
The last significant foreign affairs de
cision made by John Kennedy was to
This week and next, as we remeit;
the death of John F. Kennedy onal
emn day 25 years ago, let us keel
mind his triumphs and his failures]
us not over-glorify his presidency,!
keep in good respect his significanctl
history.
Timm Doolen is a sophomore c
puter science major and columnkl
The Battalion.
Confessions of a former fanatic
I never thought it would happen to
me. I always thought my faith was
strong enough to prevent anything like
this. Every Sunday, like clockwork, I
participated in the ceremonies — that is,
until one day last winter when I began
to question myself. It was frightening,
because it had become so important in
my life. How would I survive?
Noon — Get up. Take shower and let
hair dry however it wants. (I figure it
will anyway, just like in the picture.)
Steve
Masters
Columnist
Last winter as I sat there watching
and listening, I said to myself, “What’s
the point?”
score in every college football game the
day before, including Division II games.
12:30 p.m. — Go downstairs and
don’t read paper we can’t afford to sub
scribe to. Glance at TV screen and see
how bad the Cowboys are losing. Mum
ble hello to my glazed-eyed, violence-
crazed roommate who can’t hear any
body but John Madden.
Mail Call
Protect yourselves, Aggies
EDITOR:
Last week, one of my dearest friends was sexually molested at night on
campus. It appears that she was simply studying in a building when a manentere
the room she was in and proceeded to partake in certain sexual acts with hirasel!|
well as forcing himself upon her. Had it not been for some people coming, ano
rape might have occurred.
I sat up and slapped myself (then
added a couple because it felt so good).
What was I saying?!!!
I had questioned the validity of
sports.
10:30 a.m. — Before I could finish
the funnies, it was time for NFL Mag
azine on the local CBS affiliate (no influ
ence from that communist organization
known as Cable TV). Not to be missed.
That Steve Sabol really cracks me up.
For years I had been nothing short of
obsessed with sports viewing. Football,
basketball, baseball, hockey, then the
television news sports and CNN’s
Sportsnight at 2 a.m. When Sunday
rolled around I had about 50 pages of
sports sections from the two Dallas pa
pers to envelope myself in.
11 a.m. — The Week in Football, also
on CBS and a definite must-see to recall
the previous week’s bone-crushing ac
tion. I held a wake when the voice of
NFL Films, John Facinda, passed away a
few years back.
12:45 p.m. — Go to work. You’d
probably think the problem would end
there, but since we have two TVs with
cable hooked up here at the Batt, they
are in constant use for at least six hours
so the staff (usually not sports desk peo
ple) won’t be disconnected from their
favorite teams for even a moment.
After I knocked my Armchair Quar
terback Kit off the couch, I realized that
all this time I had been making fun of
people, mostly females, for ignoring
sports. What I hadn’t realized was that I
didn’t understand their point of view.
Suddenly, all the arguments I used to
laugh at hysterically became only
slightly amusing.
11:30 a.m. — Brent, Irv, Phyllis (or
Jayne) and Jimmy on that old standby,
the NFL Today. How much would you
pay for this cast? But wait! If you act
now with a VCR, you can tape NFL
Live! with Bob Costas. Now how much
would you pay? Don’t answer yet be
cause at noon it’s. . . .
I should have learned my lesson my
freshman year when I tried to take part
in scalping tickets to the Cowboys’ home
opener against the Washington
Redskins. I took a bath on that one, los
ing about $50 on 10 tickets. But did I
learn? Noooooo.
Arguments like, “Why would any
body want to waste their time trying to
put a ball through a circle? If they have
such a hard time, why don’t they use a
smaller ball or a bigger circle?”
GAME TIME! I’m planted in front of
TV with enough junk food so I’ll never
have to get up, even during the com
mercials. I might miss one of those IBM
“You Make The Call” commercials.
I should have learned when I asked
women out to attend sporting events. I
know this doesn’t hold true for every
one, but it’s my experience that women
rank sporting events just above being
stranded in the Alaskan wilderness
without any toilet paper. Shocking, but
true.
“Why do they keep score? Why don’t
they just play for fun? And who decides
how much everything is worth?”
Since my revelation though, Sundays
have been a lot less hectic, and the brain
cells I once used for Division II football
scores I now use to store the intellec
tually stimulating lyrics of Metallica, DJ
Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and
The Smiths.
I still watch or listen to Aggie football
every Saturday, even when Jackie leaves
Bucky in too long. I have been known to
take in a basketball game or two, but
anything else— no way. Now and then I
even (attempt to) play once in a while,
but don’t tell anybody on our now-de
funct 16-inch softball team.
To the women of Texas A&M, I beg of you, please do whatever you must to I
protect yourself. Realize that A&M is not all ‘howdys’ and good bull, but thatitisil
place where you must watch your step at all times. I pray that tins type of violenal
happens no more. But being realistic, I know it will. Please do not allow it to be
you.
To the committers of such crimes, you have only so long to continue. Know
that when threatened, people will respond with whatever is necessary to stay all
and protect those whom they love. In the end, if you are not caught, you are
caught because Cod is and shall be the creator of your fate.
And to you, the white male approximately 5-foot-10, slim build, withashort
moustache and slightly wavy hair parted on the side, you may or may not have
been reported, but in reality I have just reported you. So now everyday, men a
women alike will look at you with curiosity, wondering if you are the sick
individual who wrecks the lives of females. Don’t forget, one day someone willbt
sure that it is you. And you might choose to start praying then, but it will beashoi
prayer as you just might meet God sooner than you thought. Not a threat,justa
reminder.
J. Frank Hernandez ’91
One person can make difference
EDITOR:
I rarely pick up a copy of The Battalion and after reading Timm Doolen’sNff
9 column, I’m sorry I did. Mr. Doolen doesn’t think it’s necessary to vote because
we are so insignificant, relative to the size of the machine.
Curiously, Mr. Doolen thinks his opinion matters enough that we havetoreat
it. He also thinks enough of himself to avoid jury duty or to ignore local politics
because he isn’t affected directly. Mr. Doolen also thinks he should be free to
criticize the government and take care of more important issues on election day
such as birthdays and fishing trips.
Mr. Doolen — the world, this country, this community and this campus
consists of more than just you. There are issues greater than you that can be
influenced by your action or your vote. Sit back now and let everyone know that
life for you couldn’t be better, but what about tomorrow. Our nuclear arsenal
builds exponentially, our environment can no longer keep pace with our waste,
but you sit back and smile and say that not casting a ballot is a sign everything is
OK.
Now don’t get me wrong. I still watch
sports occasionally. But nowhere near
what I used to. Here was a typical Sun
day before my revelation.
Here’s my usual Sunday schedule
now:
9:30 a.m. — Roll out of bed. Collect
the sports pages and funnies (you mean
they print other parts?) from the two
Dallas papers. Read and memorize ev
ery article in each sports section and the
9:30 a.m. — Wake up with alcohol-in
duced flashback. Roll over and go back
to sleep.
So the next time you take your date to
the game and she (or he — males are
guilty of sports ignorance too) asks,
“Now how many points is it for a home
run?” just grit your teeth and think
about being stuck in Alaska with no toi
let paper — you’ll be able to relate.
10:30 a.m. — Hear roommate and
neighbors getting up to watch NFL
Magazine. Go back to sleep.
Steve Masters is a senior journalism
major, senior staff writer and a colum
nist for The Battalion.
Maybe one vote won’t dramatically influence the polls relative to 80 million
people, but one voice can make a difference. Our history is filled with great peopi
who have made a difference —Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Martin
Luther King, for example. Your apparent idol, Dr. Portis, convinced you not to
vote, but he could have easily convinced people that their vote did count, and
could make a difference. Perhaps Mr. Doolen, you would do well to think morefc
yourself and be less glib about the gleam in Dr. Portis’ eye as he makes “fools" of
your classmates.
Russell Davies
Graduate student
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