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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 2001)
ay, July 23, 2001 o PINION Page 5 in ad). This rates >u get an addition! duled to end too! ^TORCYCLE aki ZX-11 GPZ. ? and Hines exhai THE BATTALION PETS ppies, Kittens, Cas breeds! Occasws ts & others. Sfatct Possibly offensive, roposal to outlaw flag burning infringes not illegal on right to free expression ost Americans pity the way citizens are treated in sale Chocolate i iitries with oppressive iht. ready7/9.01 ^ jm, . | ) K i- 1 iors limit the ld ' e "“' e ) in ! s ' w its of their countrymen, 825-8610, i5-r- ®mg endlessly tor ab- AL ESTATF J,: S political order. While : nearly as harsh, or with )R HOME FOR hen check outttii w/3.34-acres, bai >304 I land Real!) r 846-5735 Robles Hme goal of absolute political order that tators might use, the U.S. House of Repre- (tatives is attempting to implement a tech- |ue that limits the political power of U.S. izens by passing the Flag Protection lemlment. OMMATES IBe amendment, which would be the 18th s needed icndment to the Constitution since the Bill >use. S250/mo. Rights, is not being pushed by its supporters at< >1 for political subversion. Instead, they needed Sbdrni. nAler the flag to he something far above the _4* Amendment’s guarantee of free speech o -tins 975" dexpression. ^occd Mr 3 no P ar ^ n & s i& n i s a misde- ■* ' , Pace :anor, but burning a flag is a hate crime, be- Cai rm burning the flag is an expression of con- npt for the moral unity of the American ople,” said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-I1L. One of the main supporters of the amend- ent is the Citizens Flag Alliance (CFA). or Timed 11 years ago to implement the new 9 e nendment, it is comprised of numerous ethic, vie and veterans associations, mvibts Q.4 President Daniel S. Wheeler recently rote on their Website, “We must restore our aglto its rightful place under the law so that E;T. ur children and our grandchildren will never acy e confused about its meaning, its value or the irice paid to preserve it.” The CFA fails to realize that by placing a Ithbol of freedom above the right of expres- STiot tub 1-1427. Hs paid. $350® 20-0570, d for fall mw I. atrium, $315w >8-3070 Tracy seded starm; >e. on George & 0/mo, +bills !: sion, they are confusing their children and grandchildren even inbr^h'^ • One of the main opponents of the Flag Pro tection Amendment is the American Civil Lib erties Union (ACLU).-—-— Gregory T. Nojeim, associate director of the ACLU’s Washington National Office said, “It is not the arcane symbol of a dead and bankrupt nation fdFoiie simple reason: The Constitution for which it flies demands that its value rest in the principals of free ex pression and tolerance for dissent rather than protection of its graphic design.” This is die view of many opponents to the amendment. It is also the reason that for over a decade, every time it was introduced into the Senate, the amendment was rejected. In a recent letter to House Republicans, Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. wrote, “It would be unfortunate if we began tampering with the important and fundamental protec tion of the First Amendment because of a handful of malcontents.” McConnell is right on the money. America was built on embracing the idea of the mass es, not limiting the ideas of the few. Colin Powell, a retired four-star general and secre tary of state said, “I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. The flag will be flying long after they have slunk away.” This nation was founded on ideals of liberty, democracy and culture, not on a flag. Old Glo ry is a symbol of these. If someone feels that his or her rights are being infringed on, there is no excuse for further infringing his or her rights by censoring his or her freedom of expression. Re/d Bader is a junior political science major. ANGELIQUE FORD/The Battalion available thruMa-l Fully fumisWf | O/mo./o.b.o. ad. M/F JM2K se, furniitte»ffiC* ,! lackyard, id. House tral air. 846-3T: early everyone ded to share3cwSB- ^ ill Amei i- 30d valley, woo ^ h as heard the bmes Chandra Levy and Gary 8 VICES Condit at least nsive Driving. i4ftce during the Ticket dismissa as t; month. It is M-T(6pm-9prr! I . i i i ri.&Sat - Fri(6pr4 ea dy everyone because those people n). Sat(8am-2:3 yho rely solely on “The CBS Lowest pr^ Evenin g News” would have no idea r„ Ste.217. 846: If the vanished intern and the sus- ariy. (CP-0017). Democratic congressman. An- test; Hope'PrSifror Dan Rather and Executive Pro- >tation 695-9193, lucer Jim Murphy have decided that ,t, °’ Pt} c news about a 24-year-old woman who mysteriously vanished while having an affair with a congressmen Can 846-0165 is not worth airtime. On the other Jiand, according to the Media Re- Kirch Council, CBS “found time for I Stories on how anthrax is killing deer I HTexas ... and even 19 seconds to re- | punt how the guy who threw a dog Wi B “tto an oncoming car received a three-year jail sentence.” ■Some people are claiming that Rather, who has a history of bias to- N ~ L TORS silence on Levy ward the Democratic Party, is ig noring the stoiy because of Condit’s political affiliation. If this is the case, Dan Rather must be replaced as the anchor of “The CBS Evening News.” He not only is besmirching the reputation the program gained dur ing the eras of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite but is doing a disservice to the American public. Al most everyone has a political leaning, but Rather is obligated to hide his for 30 minutes every night. If he cannot, he must be removed. During his daily radio commentary on Monday, Rather accused members of the press and conservatives in Congress of trying to “titillate them selves, and they hope you, with the latest rumors and speculation about what they believe is a ‘sexual scandal.’ Other members of the press are not buying Rather’s explanation. Howard Kurtz of The Washingtdii tt j t • r i Tost and the writer of the well-reroe garded “Media Notes” column, slammed Rather on Don Imus’ radio show Tuesday morning. >9m “D.C. cops searching a congf^H^- man’s apartment, a 24-year-old miss ing woman, another woman who said she had an affair with the congress man and he urged her to cover it up. I mean, that’s not worth a sentence or two from Dan Rather’s lips? It’s a head-in-the-sand approach,” Kurtz said. When Imus asked Kurtz what he would ask Rather, he replied that he “[would ask him] when he plans to get in touch with the rest of the world.” That evening, Rather finally spoke of Levy, “calling her one of 200,000 missing people” while stressing “there is no crime here, so far.” On Friday morning, Rather told Imus he had been forced to report on the story: “They didn’t want Imus to eat me alive ... but I still don’t think there’s a story drere.” If Condit had been a Republican, Rather’s past actions seem to sug gest that he would have taken a dif ferent approach to the story. In re cent months, Rather has referred to President George Bush’s win in Florida as “so-called” or “what Katherine Harris (Florida’s Secre tary of State) thinks is a victory,” re- case shows bias ferred to Senator Bob Toricelli’s (D~ NJ) violation of tax laws and his in vestigation by a Jimmy Carter ap pointed district attorney as “a Republican-motivated attack.” In 1992, “The CBS Evening News” ran several lead stories on Senator Robert Packwood (R-OR) and the sexual harassment allegations — later proven to be true — against him. This, to use Rather’s words, was “a sexual scandal.” Rather has also referred to former President Clinton as “an honest per son,” something many Clinton sup porters cannot agree with. “I think you can be an honest per son and lie about any number of things,” this comment, made on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor,” infuri ated host Bill O’Reilly to the point that he cut to a commercial and had Rather removed from the set. On the other hand, Rather refused to allow CBS to run a story about the rape allegations made by Juanita Broadderick against Clinton and had to be forced to report on the Monica Lewinsky episode, claiming it was a “so-called scandal.” Bernard Goldberg, a former CBS reporter who worked with Rather for more than two decades, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “Dan can’t help it. He doesn’t know he’s biased.” Whether Rather knows it, his re fusal to report on a story which be comes more newsworthy by the day is an embarrassment to his profes sion. CBS, which has reported on the story for its other news programs, should force Rather to see the dam age he is causing to his and their rep utation. If Rather continues to veto such stories on partisan grounds, he should become CBS’ prime candidate for early retirement. Everyone in the media has some bias. Some people hide it better than others. There are times that Dan Rather sounds like he is a robot paid for by the Democratic Party. This is not good for his network, nor is it good for the people who rely on CBS for their news. Perhaps the time has come for Dan Rather to do his re porting elsewhere. Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major. Mail Call Homosexual marriage is contrary to religions In response to Stuart Hudson's July 7 6 column. Contrary to Stuart Hutson's claims, mar riage is a fundamentally religious institu tion and cannot be stripped of its religious foundation. The State's recognition of and respect for marriage is based upon the First Amendment protections of religion from State interference. In other words, the State cannot define marriag^and it certainly cannot redefine it. Nor should it want to encourage the ho mosexual lifestyle, which is an extremely dangerous one. CDC statistics and crime reports bear witness to this fact. The risk of AIDS and other STDs is astronomically higher, and the sexual deviancy involved encourages even more deviant activities such as bestiality and sex crimes against children. Any one involved in a homosexual lifestyle would be well advised to get out of it, for their own sake. Hutson's compari son of interracial marriage to homosexuali ty is ridiculous. From a scriptural stand point, the arguments against homosexuali ty are abundantly clear and direct, whereas interracial issues are not even addressed. Finally, from a purely logical and scientific standpoint, "same-sex marriage" is an oxymoron. It makes no sense whatsoever. In the name of being "open-minded," Hutson believes that the State should vio late the First Amendment by forcing reli gions to accept — and even promote — a lifestyle that, in addition to being inherent ly dangerous, is as abhorrent to them as are adultery, incest, and murder. Jon L. Gardner Class of'89 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 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Let ters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 014 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (979) 845-2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com