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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9 • Monday, De
Losing their civil liberties
Conservatives shouldn t join traditionally liberal ACLU for the wrong reasons
1 1 f„ 1 1, „ :»»„ .1 A A-.1 AT.
:
LEANN BICKFORD
ell folks, it’s
recruiting season
once again for
hose darn liberals. The
knee sur?enB\merican Civil Liberties
Jnion (ACLU) has long
een a thorn in the side of
Republicans, working daily in courts, legislatures
and communities to moan about “injustice this” and
not fair that.” After all, with more than 300,000
members crusading to encourage gay and lesbian
rights, the legalization of drugs and lower incarcer
ation rates, it is no wonder conservatives have tra
ditionally greeted the ACLU with hostility.
Enter Sept. 1 1 and The Homeland Security Act.
Now conservatives are asking the ACLU where
they can go to sign up. There has been debate in
Washington lately among conservatives about the
more controversial parts of the Homeland Security
Act, such as the proposed Washington D.C. “spy
ams” and the idea of national ID cards. The
ACLU has loved every minute of those debates,
drawing in several Republicans with a new slogan
hat accuses the federal government of “escalating
he war on the Bill of Rights in the name of fight-
ng terrorism.”
And the slogan has worked. The ACLU is sign-
ng on two of the most prominent Republicans in
Congress as consultants. House Majority Leader
Dick Armey and Bob Barr of Georgia, both of
whom have “skirmished with Democrats in acid
jterms,” according to USA Today. It is ironic to note
that The American Conservative Union, which
ranks members of Congress according to how they
vote on issues important to conservatives, gave Barr
a 100 percent rating and Armey a rating of 97 per
cent. We can expect other conservatives to follow
suit accordingly.
The correct response from Republicans threat
ened by the new Homeland Security Act should not
be to join the ACLU, but to form a unique organi
zation that promotes both their viewpoints on
homeland security and their traditionally conserva
tive ideology. Joining the ACLU is more of a pub
licity stunt to benefit the organization's liberal plat
forms than a statement of disapproval on behalf of
conservatives.
While it makes all the sense in the world for the
ACLU to seek out new Republican memberships, it
makes absolutely no sense for Republicans to join
the organization. In fact, Barr and Armey are
ridiculously gullible. Conservatives have every
right to join the ACLU if they feel their rights are
being infringed upon, but they are the ones in con
trol of the federal government. The proper role of
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the ACLU is to give those who really have no
access to the government a voice, not the govern
ment a voice to speak to the same govern
ment with.
Leadership by the conservative
community in the organization
considerably softens the
ACLU’s image, which helps it
out substantially, considering
Republicans control both the
White House and Congress.
Actually, it’s quite a strategic
tactic. The ACLU is being real
istic about what party is in
power, knowing that if it wants to
affect federal policy, it can only
start out with access to the gov
ernment.
The ACLU should just take
every issue dividing the current
Republican congress and make it a
platform of the organization. There’s
no need to stop at Homeland Security.
Why not make it even more obvious its
sole intention is to infiltrate the Republican
Congress wearing a mask of civil liberty
mumbo-jumbo, and then ask that
conservatives consider some of
its other ridiculously liberal
platforms?
If conservatives want to
be heard in this Homeland
Security debate, perhaps
they should try talking to
one another. It would cer
tainly help them save
face. What kind of mes
sage are they sending to
the American public if
they not only disagree
amongst themselves, but
consult what was once
labeled as the enemy? As
a consequence, the aver
age citizen will perceive
his federal government to
be disunited. Republican
conservatives have worked
too long and too hard to
let anyone, especially some
liberals, usurp their con
gressional footing.
Leann Bickford is a freshman
business administration major.
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Franchione not best
choice for Texas A&M
Wow, as if the University couldn't
rnake itself look any worse than it
did by firing R.C. Slocum, the new
president, instead of hiring the best
available head coach (Gary Kubiak -
Offensive Coordinator of the
Denver Broncos and former A&M
QB who's family lives in Houston),
Reformer C.I.A. chief hires his best
friend - Franchione.
To all the Alabama faithful, please
accept this sincere apology on
ehalf of this student for the lack of
integrity and ethics displayed on
ehalf of Texas A&M and rest
as sured if 1 could give him back, I
surety would, (although now that
We have seen Franchione's true col-
°rs, I doubt Alabama would even
Wa nt him back.)
ft used to be that a man's word
jras all you needed in a contract.
but
now society has evolved, (or
Perhaps devolved) into one where
MAIL CALL
not even a legal binding contract
means much of anything.
Texas A&M violated their word
(showing their true colors) when
they fired Slocum with time left on
his contract. Then, continuing the
trend, they hired a coach who dis
played the same lack of integrity by
telling his school of just two years
that he was "quitting" on them.
When I was in the Marines, if I
would have tried to void my
employment contract, I would have
been put in the brig and stripped of
my rank and pay.
So what are the students and
Alumni supposed to get out of this?
Is Texas A&M a University where
integrity and honesty must be
shown to everyone on campus
except for the head football coach?
If I were a potential high school
recruit, why would I want to partic
ipate in this uncertainty?
All the recruits for Alabama that
Franchione committed to also get
lost in the mix. Do they now go to
Texas A&M? Or can they even still
go to Alabama if they wanted to?
It's readily apparent to this stu
dent that college football has
evolved into a business far greater
than that of the higher education
system. If you don't believe me,
take a look outside your window
and ask yourself "What is the largest
building in College Station?"
Answer: Kyle Field.
The sad thing in the end is that
we now have to pay for a coach
who isn't coaching and probably
still should be. We've opened a can
of worms with the University of
Alabama, and we still did not even
get the best head coach out there -
Gary Kubiak.
Imagine if A&M just would have
let Slocum fulfill the contract he
and the school agreed to, opting
not to resign him, and then really
went after Coach Franchione, who
likely would have been done with
his contract.
Ryan Rebers
Class of 2004
Law should resign
as Boston Cardinal
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A bout 400 protesters
met Sunday to march
outside of the
Cathedral of the Holy Cross
church in Boston, where
Cardinal Bernard Law was
expected to celebrate Mass. According to
The Dallas Morning News, the protesters
were calling for Law’s resignation based
on new revelations of priest misconduct in
the Boston area. The new
allegations, which far
exceed the tales of sexual
abuse the media has
recently been flooded with,
are enough to sicken any
one and illustrate the grav
ity of the problem
American Catholicism
must now deal with. Faced
with the evidence of these
horrific actions in the
church. Law has no choice
but to resign and make
way for new leadership.
The internal church
documents, released last
week, are drawing criti
cism not only because of
the illegal behavior they describe, but also
because Cardinal Law apparently tolerated
the priests who were responsible.
According to The Dallas Morning News,
only after the lawyers of alleged victims
fought to have these documents taken from
the archdiocese was the severity of the
problem revealed, and the Catholic
church’s willingness to cover up what
went on illustrates the depth of the corrup
tion, at least in the Boston area.
The documents describe priests beating
domestic workers, threatening previously
abused children, willfully failing to get
medical help for the sick in their care and
trading cocaine for sex. There was even
one priest who supposedly told children he
was the embodiment of the second coming
of Christ and that they should have sex
with him. As disturbing as all this is, evi-
GEORGE DEUTSCH
u
The new
allegations have left
churchgoers
wondering why the
Catholic church
would willfully
recognize these
problems, even
document them, but
do nothing to remedy
them.
dence of this behavior was in
Law’s possession and he still
failed to act on it, as most of
the accused priests were still
active. The new allegations
have left churchgoers won
dering why the Catholic
church would willfully recognize these
problems, even document them, but do
nothing to remedy them.
Unfortunately, there are
no easy answers, but all fin
gers point to Cardinal Law.
Law’s continued pres
ence as the Boston
Cardinal means that many
who were sexually abused
may still fear coming out
and telling their story. For
the healing process to
begin for children and oth
ers hurt by the men they
trusted, the man who
allowed their misery must
be removed from power.
A man of God cannot
rightly allow priests to
molest children, beat work-
ers or take part in a drugs-
for-sex trade all within the
confines of the church. Not only is this
illegal and the opposite of the Catholic
church’s purpose, but it also turns victims
away from a religion they might otherwise
believe and take comfort in. This is hardly
adequate spiritual leadership.
The Boston Priests Forum and the
group Voice of the Faithful are working to
draft a document calling for Law’s retire
ment, according to The Dallas Morning
News. Such a document should not be nec
essary. Law should stop compromising the
Catholic church and take it upon himself
to resign, thereby healing the wounds he
has indirectly inflicted on the people of
Boston for too many years.
George Deutsch is a senior
journalism major.