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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1999)
Battalion o PINION Page 11 • Tuesday, February 16, 1999 esident Quayle? val Office aspirations of former vice president's »r may spell ( Presidon y f for Republican Party George W. going ) run ’ How Douj Liddy Dole? both run on the e ticket? rheipe are the ;tions that giddy Means every- p|yv pondering. :esh ' iff of Presi- ^Riton’s Houdi- David LEE te escape from the clutches of re- 1 from office last week, bitter blicans on Capitol Hill are preparing merciless onslaught on the Democ- mikefuexte {. n the 2000 presidential campaign. Jo Evans talks s the saying goes, payback is a pain, an at-bat. tith the always charismatic Al Gore as early lead hei kial lock for the Democratic Party’s other team set dential nomination, the GOP is the favorite among many political pun- he one? who? ‘egai lless of which candidate they ed ' it.' inate. ed three errors owever, neither Dole nor Bush have ered her firste; i a dy declared their intent to run for of hittittg eontri Republican nomination. What if nei- the hot batsca decide to run? Who will the Republi- be left with? re hits to ICU. fith Gore providing the only opposi- any candidate the Republicans n up is going to have an advantage. , )f course, to everything there is al- J C Rkp ; anfexception. In this case, the ex- a Ulvli on is Dan Quayle. smember Dan? Of course, who could forget the vice president who managed to alienate the entire single-parent popula tion of America? Who could forget the man who was out-spelled at an elemen tary school spelling bee? As reported by CNN earlier this month, Quayle an nounced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee in order to ana lyze his chances for success in the up coming election. If the public’s initial re action to his candidacy is any indication, the committee is sure to find Quayle is seriously lacking in the area of public support. Unlike Vice President Gore and his tree-like persona, Quayle proved to be a source of comic relief during his term in office, accurately portrayed by the media as a dimwit. Notorious for making fun of his own intellect (or lack thereof), Quayle has inadvertently admitted his ignorance on many occasions. Esquire Magazine has been particularly fond of Quayle’s ex ploits, often publishing many of his idiot ic statements to the press. For example: The Holocaust: “The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history. I mean in this century’s history. But we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century. ” Midwestern Floods of 1992: “They need help, and we have helped, and we are here to help. And we are helping, and we’re going to continue to help.” Hawaii’s role in the Union: “Hawaii oksatC has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pa cific. It is part of the United States that is an island that is right here. ” Quayle’s agenda as a senator: “I know one committee I don’t want: Judiciary. They are going to be dealing with those issues like abortion, bussing, voting rights, prayers. I’m not interested in those issues and I want to stay as far away from them as I can. ” Reelection in 1992: “If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure. ” America in space: “For NASA, space is still a high prior ity.” It is a relief to know the vice presidency is truly a dead-end job in light of these comments. One wonders what Quayle would have accomplished if he had any real power during his term. This is probably why the Re publican party refrained from jumping up and down with glee when Quayle expressed his inter est in running for the nomination. However, in the unlikely chance that neither Dole nor Bush decide to run, Quayle quickly becomes the front run ner as no other noteworthy Republicans have expressed an interest. Hopefully, the Republican party will have the wherewithal to nominate a no-name candidate rather than nominate Quayle. If he is somehow nominated, it would ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion be the equivalent of the GOP shooting itself in the foot. David Lee is a sophomore general studies major. epublican circus finally over, erican audience already gone r ell, the circus m 9 to an The big las been i dc wn. Manisha PAREKH RT WORTH, If is State lel Bish- nnner of Davey ?n Na- Quarter- Award, Monday mid con- j' playing sionally aada if it I continuing his osen position. ne NFL scouts Tain ed an xl reservations 3 have iishop is too shr packed ve passer in thef-the circus train and the per- hop said hemigCersjare discussing past glories detour throughb future stunts. Hball League te nd the audience? The audi- ysayers. ' was so insulted by the whole anada could tut: ade — the unoriginal parlor 1 But I’m goingks, the easily seen through L first,” Bishopric tricks — they packed their Iren up and went home be- the main act even began. evnmm i m hmm i»*fter sitting through the circus esident Clinton’s impeach- I 4-^ JJ) t and removal, it is hard to I U UUi i e the audience for not hang- I Mind to watch the blustery icians take their final bows, it group of citizenry really ts to see their “leaders” pull a ppearing act with governmen- me end money? Not the lean people. I 7 18th 6T 1 President you Can be htl like a pack of poor per- ion. ters, the Republican clowns pj to take their audience into iunt; and no one, except for mk ikik downs, was surprised when down-filled krazy kar did not -1515 toinfomi«4 enOU§h fuel t0 continue run ' hree (3) working^;. Hardly a soul applauded ithe best ofourahf futile, infantile efforts. — iiMiM^utff'’^? 7 did the circus fail? trained monkeys — the nl anagers — had certainly ,9 their homework. Ringmaster 1 y /tieth St arr was clearly in con- trol of all their antics and did a good job of helping them jump through their hoops. Surely that should have kept the audience’s attention. Simply stated, the circus failed because it tried to hard to be something it was not — believ able. For every trick the magicians threw at the audience, some sharp-eyed observer realized what the catch was; the Americans knew every accusation was mere ly an empty illusion. The clowns tried so hard to captivate the audience, trying to outdo each other, the audience got fed up and looked the other way; the GOP grandstanded so much — during hearings, on talk shows and for the papers — the American people got sick of the show before it even got started. It was the same with the trained monkeys. They did the same routine over and over again, until the audience could predict the next move. But what about the grand ring master? Why was he such a flop? Starr was ready for the perfor mance, he seemed to know what the people wanted and he seemed ready to give it them. But he failed. All of his flowery and magnifi cent announcements could not make up for the mediocrity of the circus; worse, the circus did not even come close to Starr pro nouncements or predictions. The epic-length Referral to Congress — which can be likened to a cir cus program — provided no struc ture to the poorly framed circus. But in the end, the circus failed for one reason — it had no point. A real circus is meant to hold the interest of the audience; the impeachment and removal trial was meant to provide some solid facts or verdicts to the American people. Instead, the trial was a mockery that insulted the intelli gence of a nation. Even now, the sore losers continue to pin the tri al’s failure of the public because they did not care enough. Never mind the fact there may have been a good reason the pub lic did not care. Never mind the fact Congress is elected to repre sent the will of the people. Never mind the fact impeachment and removal of the President is carried out by politicians because it is precisely that — a political process, not a judicial one. Spoiled performers with little to no talent will generally blame their audience for their own fail ure. Of course performers — cir cus or otherwise — who have egos the size of some the senators generally find themselves out of a job when the director has had enough; the nation will wait until the next election to make that call. So, the show is over. Hopeful ly, the audience will not have to suffer through another one like it for a very long time. And perhaps, in retrospect, it is wrong to compare the im peachment and removal trial to a circus. After all, the circus is usually worth the price of admission. Manisha Parekh is a junior psychology and journalism major. IF ELECTED PROPMSE NOT to HAVE TH S WITH MY INTERN.. 99<t Maiff ree) n $3.99 Crawfish Eliot wfish Quesadll 'Nvfish Trial failed because of American apathy, political ignorance of duty Zach HALL I t was busi ness as usu al on Capi tol Hill, however, this time the dou ble talk, spin control and in ability to take a stand on an issue did not deal with policy making. Instead, Congress was being asked to deal with a much more important issue: the impeachment and conviction of the President of the United States. However, Congress did every thing in its power to subvert that duty, and, in the end, succumbed to political and public pressure. Clinton, through his actions, spit on the Constitution, but Congress not only let him get away with this it walked all over the Consti tution as well. However, politicians were not the only ones who turned their backs on the Constitution. The American people have shown they have no clue about the ideals and values this country was founded on. It was no secret President Clin ton had been involved in scandal after scandal since even before his first days in office or that he had admitted to lying to the American people. Yet hundreds of politi cians and millions of Americans seemed to think none of this mat tered. Congress was protecting its own political future, and the pub lic could not seem to understand that it is “not the economy, stu pid.” For the Democrats, it was a game of “take the side that was not losing.” They did not take a firm position on any issue relating to the President since day one. When the scandals first broke they took their more traditional “stick by the party at all costs” approach. Even when the Lewin sky scandal broke, they were try ing hard to believe the President and “stand by their man.” How ever, soon after the President ad- Aggie student thanks Aggie thief On the afternoon of Feb. 11,1 became the victim of a true Aggie robbery. 1 would like to thank the con siderate Aggie who, after a failed attempt at relocating my bike from the bike rack on my car, was kind enough to gently lean my bike up against my car instead of throwing miffed he lied to the country and his own colleagues, many Democ rats were ready to jump from the President’s slowly sinking ship and head for safer waters on their own. But, along came the American people and the November elec tions. The poor results, and lost seats for the Republican majority seemed a “mandate by the Ameri can people in support of Clinton.” Now many of those same Democ rats were back on the President’s boat helping him bail water. It seemed obvious many Democrats, who had conceded the President was immoral and did lie, were struggling between protecting a member of their own party and do ing what they knew was the right thing to do: mutiny the captain. However, the Republicans were not without fault in this bungled impeachment process. Unlike the Democrats, they had taken a fairly consistent attitude toward this president since the ‘92 primaries: he is a worthless liar and a ruth less political conniver. But, after finally catching the President in an act of wrongdoing, many Re publicans lost their stomachs for a confrontation. Many conceded defeat on a conviction in the Sen ate. Instead of fighting for the constitutional ideals, they became more content with appeasing their constituents for the next election. Here lies possibly a deeper in justice than the acts of the Presi dent. Republicans such as Sens. Trent Lott, Miss., Fred Thompson, Tenn. and Arlen Specter, Penn., usually staunch critics of the Pres ident, lied down in the final days of the trial, conceding defeat. Lott and his like need to leave Wash ington with their tails between their legs. The Constitution and America have no place for such gutless wonders. What remained were the American citizens. Contrary to their popular opinion, they should have had no influence or decision making abilities in this impeachment process. The Con- MAIL CALL it on the ground in frustration. I re ally appreciate the thoughtfulness of that action. I also relish having a new Aggie joke to tell: How many Aggies does it take to steal a bike? Some advice for the next time you try to relocate someone’s bike: make sure it is not attached to the car! Casey Wiefels Class of ’98 a* The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu stitution is not interpreted through public opinion, nor is jus tice determined through Gallup polls. Public reaction to the series of Clinton scandals and the im peachment process shows how much society’s views of honor, in tegrity and the constitutional ideal have decayed since the days when the country was founded. More importantly, though, public response showed how self-inter ested American society has be come. While the politician’s only con cern was his political future, the American people had become blinded by their own economic security. Many claimed Clinton had done so much good for America, yet could not name two or three good things. Others said we should let Clinton get back to “doing the job of running the country;” yet he was getting a “job” while he should have been doing his job. There was little doubt the Pres ident would be acquitted of per jury charges. The Democrats made it seem as if they were pub licly reprimanding Clinton in or der to keep from further damag ing the party while not offending the public; hopefully they can still look themselves in the mirror. The Republicans, some at least, fought to the bitter end; oth ers, however, publicly reprimand the President, hoping not to of fend the American people. Their cowardly actions are plainly obvi- ous. Finally, the American people, comforted by low interest rates, two cars in the driveway and a growing apathy toward politics and the constitutional ideal, have continued to support Clinton and will likely reelect most of the same politicians who did not step up to the challenge facing this country. Business is as usual, in Wash ington and the rest of America. Zach Hall is a senior philosophy major.