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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1995)
^The Battalion Opinion 1 Thursday XT x-v-w ^ O 1 OO November 9, 1995 13 Powell knew the game wasn’t for him Fear of failure and media hype turned Colin Powell away from presidential quest Kyle Littlefield H e realized he would proba bly lose more support once he committed to run ning for office and began to spell out his platform. If he had continued to mesmerize the pub lic, he soon would have been in over his head. The American public had made the wrong connection, and maybe, just maybe, Colin Powell realized this. It is human nature to try to make sense of things, to explain things, to find related themes and connect them. It is also human nature to sometimes draw faulty conclusions. That is what the Colin Powell hype was all about. The American public rationalized that since Powell had a successful ca reer in tne military, he woyid have made a successful preside^ And why not? Andrew/^ acKtepn, Dwight D. Eisenhower i©id Geofcge Bush were all presidents who had impressive mili tary careers. Eisenhower specifically had no political experience before being car ried on the people’s shoul ders to the White House. However, the public was wrong to assume Powell could become a successful president simply because Eisen hower did. Two different people. Two different eras. Eisenhower secured the /s presidency on the wave of I nationalism that swept across America during and after World War II. Powell was embraced because many Americans are tired of partisan poli tics. Powell seemed to defy political classification and that was appealing to many Americans. Powell was also revered b; gressive white Americans. elect an African-American ii Oval Office and rid thems d a ?re 'a/ as at ast tits tgic ere npi- re- lass hly and c," aid. a of jng ires ute for ne. ave :th- d a r in We ith Ag- nto thought they could ever be ac cused as being racist. This affirmative action election is not a reason to elect a president. A vote should only be cast if the candidate is politically skilled and supports similar ide ology as the voter. Even those who weren’t too keen on the idea of a black president, weren’t fazed by Powell’s ethnicity. Visually, Powell is not the darkest-skinned person you will see. If you want to take the icono clastic method of analyzing this view, it does make sense. Remember all of those spaghetti westerns — the good guys wore white and the bad guys always wore black. Powell was somewhere in between to many Americans. A friend of mine overheard a conversation in which Powell was referred to as being “not like the rest of ‘em.” The color of one’s skin just is n’t a good judge of a person’s character, much less a judge of a president. Powell’s official reasons for not entering into the race were the privacy and safety of he and his family. This seems like a shot fired directly at the media. Ask A1 Gore’s daughter who was busted for drinking some brew, if the press interferes with the life of family members of those in office. And her dad isn’t even the president. Powell’s wife is rumored to be on medication for her depres sion. She also has said in a tele vision interview that she hoped her husband would not run. Powell might have thought that he and his family might not survive all of the publicity and mud-slinging a presidential campaign generates. The recent assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister to Israel, might have struck some fear in Powell’s heart. There are many reasons that Powell might have decided not to run. But one of the most com pelling reasons is found in the following analogy. Ask a pro baseball player of su perstar status, who has never held a golf club, to hit a tee shot more than 150 yards, and you will prob ably hear an eager, “Sure!” In reality, he will probably send a divot flying further than the ball. Powell was smart — he real ized this and didn’t want to trade in his war hero title for the title of Colin Powell, failed presi dential candidate. Whether or not it was the right choice, we may never know. Kyle Littlefield is a senior journalism major U.S. foreign policy needs direction Case-by-case approach Clinton takes confuses everyone, guides nobody W ith the 50th an niversary of the United Nations, the sovereignty vote in Quebec, the assassina tion of Yitzhak Rabin and the Bosnian peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, there’s been a heightened aware ness on U.S. foreign af fairs recently. However, anyone looking for something in common between all of these events will have to search long and hard. That’s the problem with the U.S. foreign policy; it’s fragmented, inconsistent and lacking in leadership. During the Cold War, foreign policy was easy — capitalism good, communism bad. The world was simpler, partly because the United States let the world know where it stood. Now, America has been slow to react to the changes the rest of the world is experi encing, and it has lost credibility and au thority to bring stability to tense areas of the world. In a 1993 Foreign Affairs article, Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington warns that future conflicts will not be economic or ideological, but cultural. According to Huntington, “the fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” He offers many reasons why cultural dif ferences will lead to conflict, such as increas ing economic regionalism, increasing inter actions among groups of people and increas ing civilization-consciousness. A lot of scholars have disagreed with this article, but a quick look around the globe in the two years since it was published suggests Huntington’s ideas have some credence. Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Quebec, the for mer Soviet republics and Rwanda have all experienced increased hostility be cause of cultural differences. However, President Bush nev er did, and President Clinton has yet to devise an overarching strategy to deal with the in creased cultural conflicts. Instead, both presidents have adopted case-by-case approaches. This confusing method has led to double standards, and rather than easing ten sions, it has sometimes exacerbated them be tween the United States and other countries. For example, the world, including the United States, cheered when Croatia, Slove nia Macedonia and Bosnia declared their in dependence from Yugoslavia. But when Bosnian Serbs wanted inde pendence from Bosnia, the United States frowned and discouraged any further break-up of the Balkans, although it never offered any explanation why certain groups in that area deserved independence while others did not. The same thing happened when the Sovi et Union dissolved. The United States sent a message that it was OK for Soviet republics to declare their independence from the Soviet Union. Now, smaller units are clamoring for their independence, but while Russia was bombing Chechnya, all Secretary of State Warren Christopher did was express con cern and say we “respect the territorial in tegrity of Russia.” Also, half the former Soviet republics are embroiled in civil wars, and the United States has been mysteriously silent in help ing to resolve them. Of course, Clinton has also done little to justify other double standards. Why does he think freer trade and a more open relationship with the oppressive, total itarian government of China will push com munism out of that country, while a stiffer embargo and isolation from the oppressive, totalitarian government of Cuba will push communism out of that country? To make matters worse, the United States owes the United Nations a whopping $1.2 billion. The 50th anniversary became a bashing ceremony of the United States, as heads of state denounced America’s debt: The low point of the ceremony was when British Prime Minister John Major de clared no member state should enjoy “rep resentation without taxation” — a blatant jab at the United States. That's the problem with U.S. foreign policy; it's fragmented, inconsistent and totally lack ing in leadership. The loss of American prestige around the world parallels the loss of American control over the United Nations, which has served as the United States’ puppet since its creation in 1945. Perhaps the most obvious sign of Ameri ca’s reputation decline in the United Nations was Fidel Castro’s speech, which garnered more praise and applause than Bill Clinton’s at the anniversary ceremony. If the White House wants to regain credi bility and influence in world affairs, it must first get its own house in order. The Clinton administration should de cide what it wants to accomplish in foreign policy, let everyone know and then handle situations that arise accordingly, and most importantly do it consistently. If the United States wants to be the leader of the world, it should start acting like one. Jason Brown is a senior economics major /UA££MS rue KOXV N'avjgjzf^f Mail 12th Man quiet at recent A&M game I would like to commend the yell leaders for taking their criti cism graciously and for correcting the silence on Kyle Field. I thought the Houston game was great as far as yells go, but it was still incredibly quiet and that was disheartening. This time, it was the 12th Man’s fault. I agreed with the criticism of the yell leaders, but they handled the situation well. Now the 12th Man should straighten up its act. I hope that we can put some pride, spirit and noise back into Kyle Field. We have much to be proud of. We should remember all of the games we’ve won. We should be glad we don’t have to take the 12th Man literal ly and go on the field and do the tough job those players do. We should keep our promise of supporting the Ags — win or lose. It seems silly to give up when they have done such an incredible job in the past and when we know they will do an incredible job in the future. Let’s demonstrate that spirit and pride we all talk about. Catherine Palmore Class of’98 Finding a place to fit in hard at A&M Recently I have noticed a num ber of students wearing T-shirts bearing the message “I found my place at Texas A&M.” I wonder if this applies to everyone. Having been an Aggie for two months, I don’t consider myself an expert on this school, but I do know that I personally have yet to “find my place.” After all, it can sometimes be difficult to fit in when: • There are ridiculous argu ments dealing with a multicul- turalism requirement that would only affect six hours. This amounts to less than 5 percent of the classes students will take to get a degree. Can people be so closed-mind ed as to reject even the thought of learning about people with back grounds other than their own for two classes? • It seems impossible to be a heterosexual Ag and support peo ple of other sexual orientations instead of being disgusted and damning those who don’t agree. •People who think for them selves and keep an open mind are told that they can transfer to t.u. • The school yearbook angers students if it prints what hap pened instead of what students would like to have happened. I came to A&M from out of state because of its traditions and scholastics. I’ve been to cut, worn grodes and a pot. I make an effort to tell people “Howdy” and I proudly stand with the 12th Man. I didn’t realize that traditions included being closed-minded to anyone who doesn’t go with the flow and fit in with the majority. It’s funny how that’s never men tioned in the brochures. I do hope there is a silent mi nority out there that isn’t afraid to speak up for what is right, even if it isn’t the opinion of the majori ty. Maybe someday differences will be respected, and everyone will be able to find their place. And maybe I’ll even buy one of those shirts. Gregory C. Fahrenheit Class of’99 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space al lows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, class and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDon ald. A valid student ID is required. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Fax: Texas A&M University (409) 845-2647 College Station, TX E-mail: 77843-1111 Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu The Battalion Established in 1893 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons and letters express the opinions of the authors. Contact the opinion editor for information on submitting guest columns. Editorials Board Rob Clark Editor in Chief Sterling Hayman Managing Editor Kyle Littlefield Opinion Editor Elizabeth Preston Assistant Opinion Editor Powell Outage Colin Powell's decision not to run will make things less interesting. While pundits may argue about which presidential candidates benefit or are hurt by Colin Powell’s deci sion not to run for president, one thing is for sure — the presidential race will be less interesting. Because of Powell’s deci sion, Americans have lost a historic opportunity to wit ness and experience a viable challenge to traditional American politics. A self-proclaimed moder ate Republican, Powell had already prompted an intense debate among conservatives and minorities. Many Republicans were hoping to win back the White House at any cost. Others did not want to see a candidate openly hostile to many elements of the conser vative agenda enter the Re publican primary. Given his popularity, Pow ell’s stance on affirmative ac tion, abortion and gun con trol would have forced the Republican Party to re-evalu ate its platform. On the other hand, African- Americans, the majority of whom vote Democratic, would have had to choose between their traditional party and the chance to contribute to a sym bolic victory on the road to racial equality. Furthermore, the entire American public would have had to do some soul search ing if Powell had run. Some people believe that the United States has nearly achieved racial equality, but Powell would have put this belief to the test. His candidacy would have made this country ask if it was ready for an African- American president. Just as interesting would have been people’s reactions to the first minority presi dent, if he had been elected president in 1996. However, these questions are only hypothetical. For now, it looks like Americans will not have their beliefs challenged the way a Powell presidential candidacy would have. Instead, the choice for president will more than likely come down to a race between two white, male, professional politicians. With that in mind, Pow ell’s non-candidacy leaves many questions unanswered.