Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 104, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 25, 1983 Page: 4 of 28
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PAGE 4A-THE POLE COUNTY ENTERPRISE, SUNDAY DECEMBER 25, 1983
Editorial
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Same stuff?
;! ; • ' ' . ’
Tennessee Democrat Estes Kefauver won na-
tional recognition in 1950 as head of the U.S.
Senate committee for investigating organized
crime.
Since then there have been numerous such com-
mittees dedicated to halting crime. They seem to
have accomplished little else than creating
favorable publicity for politicians and bad publici-
ty for a few mobsters.
Now we have the President’s Commission on
Organized Crime meeting for the first time in
Washington, D.C. What does it hope to accomplish
and by what methods?
President Reagan expects the commission to
analyze and expose crime region by region,
measure its impact on American society and
make recommendations for its destruction.
“The rime has come,” the president said, “For
all of us4to assist in the fight to break the power of
the mob in America....We have the capacity to
break apart and ultimately destroy the tightly
knit regional and national networks of career
criminals.”
The presidential commission, under the leader-
ship of Federal Judge Irving Kaufman, will have
three years to conduct public hearings. Its
membership includes members of Congress, the
judiciary, law enforcement, the academic com-
munity and the private sector. There are 19
members in all.
In conducting the public hearings across the na-
tion, Judge Kaufman says the committee “shall
not witch-hunt neither shall we whitewash...We
shall leave no avenue unexplored in our quest.”
We hope the crime commission accomplishes
much, but experience teaches us to be prepared
ohly for more publicity. A presidential commis-
sion can do little to restore among all decent
citizens that moral courage and respect for law
which alone can make it impossible for the mob to
prosper and achieve power and respectability in
America.
Good move
There’s no denying that Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir got the red carpet treatment - at
U.S. taxpayers’ expense - during his visit with
President Reagan. Israel was offered $2.1 billion
in assistance, the bulk of it military, as well as a
historic military partnership with the United
States.
Arab leaders and some Democrats, understan-
dably, are grumbling that the president was out-
maneuvered by Shamir. And it’s true that the
Israeli leader did not respond to American
generosity with any quid pro quo agreements con-
cerning troop pullbacks in Lebanon or a freeze on
Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
However, the get-acquainted session was not
without distinct advantages for the president.
Domestically, President Reagan may have
eliminated Israeli assistance as a presidential
campaign issue. Any Democrat grumbling is due
to their being outflanked, not the president.
; More important, the military assistance and
closer ties are a necessary price for a joint Israeli-
Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon, which
would enable U.S. and other peacekeeping forces
to be honorably brought home from Beirut.
In retrospect, a militarily and politically
weaker Israel this past year has worsened, rather
than enhanced, the prospects for peace. The void
left by Israel in central Lebanon was quickly filled
by Soviet-backed Syrian troops.
Bolstered by the latest Soviet missiles and 7,000
Soviet troops, Syria has shown little desire to
negotiate for a troop pullout with the United
States, the Lebanese government of Amin
Gemayel (who also was in Washington, D.C.
recently) or even Saudi intermediaries. Syrian
President Hafez al-Assad has heightened the
chances of war by encouraging fighting among
Lebanese factions as well as remnant Palestinian
forces.
A joint U.S. - Israeli military relationship
bolsters U.S. bargaining leverage with Syria and
should give Syria second thoughts about any
military encounters with Israel.
As any new Mideast policy, this one is not
without risk. It gives Arab leaders reason to
believe the United States has abandoned an even-
handed approach to the Mideast. In addition, the
military aid is offered with the knowledge that
Israel has ignored past restrictions on use of U.S.
military equipment.
Yet the assistance is significantly less than the
Israelis had hoped for and is hardly a blank check.
: With the world’s highest per-capita debt load and
a 100 percent inflation rate, the amount of
assistance won’t cure Israel’s myriad economic
problems. In all probability, Israel will need to
come back for more later, which will be a better
time for the president to seek concessions.
To do so now would have undermined Shamir’s
shaky political position in Tel Aviv, worsening
rather than improving U.S. Israeli relations. In-
stead of inviting war by weakening and isolating
Israel, President Reagan is right to gamble on
peace through an alliance with an old friend.
(Reprinted by Permission of The Sacramento
Union)
State Capital Highlights
Holiday mood no help
By Lyndell Williams
AUSTIN—‘Tis the season to be jolly,
but Attorney General Jim Mattox must
find it difficult to get into the spirit of
things, what with his problems continu-
ing to mount each week.
Two weeks ago, the Capitol press
learned that Mattox hired an office
worker on the state payroll to plan
Christmas parties for his employees.
The woman told reporters she also
helped plan a political fundraiser,
though not on state time, to help pay the
legal debts Mattox is incurring for his
defense against an indictment on com-
mercial bribery charges.
Then, last week in a sworn deposition,
a former employee of an artificial turf
firm, Super-Turf, Inc., testified he was
told by the firm’s owner that Mattox
was helping the company get a
lucrative contract with Texas Southern
University, even though the contract
had already been awarded to Astroturf.
Mattox came under fire last summer
for intervening in the school’s award of
the artificial turf contract, eventually
causing new bids to be sought. Super-
Turf won the new bid.
Mattox has denied any impropriety in
either matter, and the head of Super-
Turf has denied the alleged conversa-
tion ever took place.
In the deposition statement, the
employee stated that although the TSU
contract had already been awarded to
Astroturf, the contract was voided and
new bids put out because of Mattox’s in-
tervention.
Some TSU officials have stated Mat-
tox called them about taking new bids.
Before he took office, Mattox’s law
firm represented SuperTurf in a
lawsuit. Campaign records show the
owner gave $5,000 to Mattox’s 1982 cam-
paign for attorney general.
Further Probes
Speculation increased last week that
Mattox might eventually resign
because of courtroom difficulties and
the new allegations.
A summer investigation into
Mattox’s role in the TSU case and his
intervention in connection with an in-
surance fraud case was put on hold
when Mattox was indicted for commer-
cial bribery.
The prosecutor, however, promised
then that the book had not been shut on
those probes, and new allegations could
reopen them.
Mattox has consistently claimed that
he was being persecuted by “Big Oil,”
notably Mobil, which was being sued by
Mattox over questionable South Texas
oil lease.
In fact, it was an attorney of the law
firm representing Mobil who blew the
whistle on Mattox, leading to his com-
mercial bribery indictment.
Mobil Settlement
The attorney general won’t have his
day in court against Mobil Oil, if the oil
lease case is settled out of court, as is
likely.
Land Commissioner Garry Mauro
reportedly has negotiated a com-
promise settlement with top Mobil of-
ficials which will net $100 million for the
state of Texas. Sources said the agree-
ment would provide the Manges Duval
County Ranch Co. more than $400
million. Mattox said the settlement
figures are wrong and refused to supply
the actual figures.
Ann Richards
State Treasurer Ann Richards has en-
dorsed Walter Mondale for president,
and last week told a legislative commit-
tee that the state is fostering
widespread sex discrimination.
Richards said the state pays women
employees less than it does men
employees.
She warned that Texas could meet
the same fate as the State of
Washington, which recently was
ordered by a federal court to pay $838
million to 15,000 female employees
because of sex discrimination.
Glenn Visits Texas
Another presidential candidate, UJ5.
Sen. John Glenn, visited Dallas,
Houston and Austin, where a reception
for him was held at the Governor’s
Mansion.
Governor Mark White said the recep-
tion was not an endorsement of Glenn,
and that he would do the same for any
candidate, if he’s a Democrat.
White, who has been criticized for in-
eptness in dealing with the conser-
vative Texas House of Representatives,
last week made what is being touted as
one of his smartest appointments.
He convinced Austin Rep. Gerald
Hill, a respected and well-liked
lawmaker, to not seek re-election and
instead work for White’s legislative
package as his top assistant.
Education Session
Hill was a top player on Speaker Gib
Lewis’ team, and he was no doubt
sought by White for his influence with
House conservatives.
House members are probably reliev-
ed that White might learn from Hill
some of the hesitancies that legislators
have about tax increases.
Although he still harbors hope of call-
ing a special session next summer to
raise teacher salaries, probably with a
tax increase, White is preparing for the
1985 regular session which is shaping up
to be a public education session.
Can be considered propaganda'
Nuclear education dangerous
By HERBERT LONDON
PRS, 1983
Herbert London is dean of the
Gallatin Division of New York Univer-
sity. His articles on public policy have
appeared in a number of major publica-
tions, including Fortune and The Wall
Street Journal.
There is a new scourge in this land. If
it weren’t organized by seemingly ra-
tional people you would assume it was a
put-on. But it isn’t. We are now living
with something called “nuclear educa-
tion.”
Nuclear education is to education
what lachrymose teenagers are to
serious discussion. In fact this analogue
explains what this “new” discipline is
all about.
In a media world made conscious of
weapons there is the perfectly rational
adolescent proposition that we must
eliminate these tools of destruction.
Any other response would be surpris-
ing. Educators, however, have a
responsibility to provide perspective.
A classroom is not a place for emo-
tional catharsis; it is presumed to be a
place for learning.
Therefore, if nuclear weapons are
discussed they should be part of a
lesson in history.
The dropping of atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not an ac-
cident. President Truman could
sacrifice one million American soldiers
in an assault on the Japanese islands or
he could drop the bomb and kill
thousands of Japanese. But he had to
act. Both decisions were unpleasant.
If nuclear weapons are the focus of a
class discussion only this kind of
realism will do.
Instead we find nuclear education to
be an exercise in anti-nuclear pro-
paganda. Educators for Social Respon-
sibility and International Psychiatrists
to Prevent Nuclear War have organized
school programs to save us from
nuclear weapons.
They show films on the devastation at
Hiroshima, they elicit tears from
students, they have teenagers, “talk
their hearts out."
One 17-year-old recruit who recently
appeared on Ted Koppel’s “Nlghtline"
said, “I teach this subject to little kids
in the schools and all you have to do is
ask them a question and you’ll get a lot
of responses. They know a lot about this
stuff." They do?
It is interesting that 10-year-olds
understand the difference between in-
termediate and strategic weapons, that
they are sensitive to the meaning of
credible deterrence.
One of the gurus in this movement
said - after having interviewed some
Soviet children - “I find they have the
same fear of war as our children do. In
fact they believe you can’t survive a
nuclear war. All the civil defense won’t
save you from nuclear death.”
Of course he neglected to ask these
children if they made Soviet military
policy. He seemingly forgot to note that
whether the children believe they can
survive a war or not, their leaders
believe that civil defense can make a
difference. He also didn’t point out that
these sensitive boys and girls who share
the attitude of our boys and girls, do not
live in a system that shares the same
view of the world.
Nuclear education is routinely an ex-
ercise in unilateral disarmament. For
whatever Well meaning ideas are ex-
pressed for “balance,” unless one
understands the difference between the
Soviet system and ours all the handwr-
inging can accomplish is to weaken our
national resolve.
If one believes that the Soviet leader-
ship is like ours - people who merely
wish to protect national interests - why
should we fear them? If Soviet leaders
are as reasonable as we are, why don’t
we demonstrate our good will with
unilateral gestures to which they will
Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise en-
courages readers to submit let-
ters voicing their views or opi-
The letters will be published in
the Enterprise’s Letter to the
Editor column in Thursday’s or
Sunday’s paper.
The letter may be written on
any subject or isne of interest
Letters which are submited
must be accompanied by a name
and address and will be subject to
normal editing such as grammar,
punctuation and spelling. The let-
ters must be written within the
confines of good taste.
The letters will also be subject
to editing for libelous or
slanderous statements and com-
mercialism.
To submit letters, mail them to
“Utters to the Editor,’’Polk
County Enterprise, P.O. Box
1271, Livingston, Texas 77351.
reciprocate?
Negotiation on nuclear weapons is
taking the form of a “B” Hollywood
film with Archie and friends finding
solutions with Our Miss Brooks at
Hollywood High School.
Why don’t they teach about the
dangers of appeasement or the danger
of nuclear blackmail or the danger of a
world dominated by the Red Bear? Why
isn’t historical perspective on the mat-
ter of weaponry mandated by school
authorities?
This latest fad is not like its
predecessors. Moral naivete now mas-
querades as easily discovered truth.
Presumably if one goes through this an-
tinomian experience you come out sing-
ing the sweet hymns of peace and
brotherhood without nuclear weapons.
But where is the rigor? What happen-
ed to the virtue of dispassionate discus-
sion? And when will we tell our children
what the real consequence of unilateral
disarmament is?
I’m not particularly hopeful that good
sense will prevail on this matter. But as
an educator I am appalled by what is
now called nuclear education. At the
very least why don’t these survivors
call this exercise what it really is:
nuclear handwringing. With the proper
labeling we have some chance of know-
ing what’s being bought.
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston,
Texas 77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1897.
, ^
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
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out of comity. $15.50 per year, oat of state. Published semi-weekly,
Sunday and Thursday at 5M Tyler St. in Livingston, Texas by the Polk
County Publishing Co.
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Postmaster: Please send form 3579 to P.O. Box 1275, Livingston,
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 104, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 25, 1983, newspaper, December 25, 1983; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789639/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.