Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410180017
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
First, Oliver North's illegal activities were all the result of his position in the National Security Council, where he was ordered to follow a policy set by his superiors. Even then, he never lied under oath.
Second, if the circumstances don't pardon his actions, North would still be far from the first politician to tell a lie.
On the other hand, Robb's activities, for which there can be no possible excuse, are unbecoming to any respectable citizen - even a politician.
GEORGE B. ARTHUR ROANOKE
Three in a cell no great hardship
HAVING lived through World Wars I and II and watched man abandon the discipline of those days, I wonder about today's pampered prisoners.
In World War II, three Navy sailors, not criminals or prisoners, shared one bed in eight-hour shifts. I don't see why today's hard criminals should be paroled to avoid building more prisons. They can use their own clean linen and share the same cell without getting in each other's way.
Three-hour shifts a day could be scheduled - one of sleeping, one for hard work, and one for organized recreation, study and appropriate training. Such programming could greatly reduce the need for building more prisons, and would deter criminal behavior.
This country needs more old-fashioned self-discipline and a revival of the morals of the Ten Commandments.
GERTRUDE H. SIGMON FERRUM
Americans should want Robb ousted
YOUR newspaper has recently carried news articles relative to the tremendous amount of money being donated to Sen. Charles Robb's re-election campaign from Texas and donated to Oliver North from California.
I'm not surprised at the out-of-state money being contributed to the North campaign to assist in the defeat of Robb. After all, Robb's vote for a tax increase adversely affects residents in every state of the union. I would think that Americans everywhere are interested in ousting him from the U.S. Senate.
JEFFREY T. HALL ROCKY MOUNT
State shows its backward ways
THE PULLOUT of Disney from the Northern Virginia area (Sept. 29 Associated Press article, ``Disney quits fight'') is just another example of the stodginess, old-fashionedness and refusal of Virginia to move into the 21st century. Not being a Virginian, it may be easier to see the backwardness and cowardness of some of the decisions that are made in the name of preservation.
Virginia is like a grumpy old man who wants everything to stay the same as it was when he was born and growing up, and will some day open his eyes to find a world around him that has grown, progressed and improved.
SUSAN SMALL ROANOKE
No divine right to pollute
IT'S A shame to see that the anti-environmental movement is having some success in our country and local region. Mining, timber, chemical companies and road-builders use their money and clout to perpetrate myths regarding environmental health and safety.
Even a small rural county like Floyd is calling its garbage-disposal fee an ``environmental fee.'' This connects the word ``environment'' with cost, thus creating a negative image. Everywhere you turn these days, the cry of ``costly environmental regulation'' is heard and blamed for most economic and social ills.
Rarely do we see a comparison of the costs to the public of pollution and no environmental regulation, increased health costs for citizens exposed to toxic chemicals in their air and water, and the economic cost to companies and taxpayers when workers are sick and injured from toxic exposure in the work place.
Many environmental myths are created by front groups that parade as local grass-roots citizens' organizations, but are usually financed and supported by corporations with an agenda. Many use catch phrases such as ``property rights'' or ``takings.'' The guiding principle is that if by preserving a sensitive area an individual species or community neighborhood threatens corporate development, taxpayers should pay companies not to pollute - a sort of divine right of developers and polluters, if you will.
Most agree that cost is a factor in any legislative-regulatory decision. But it's scary that now corporations want to put a price tag on our health and very lives. Is it really reasonable to say that a little human suffering, sickness or even death is OK if regulation or pollution-control devices are too ``costly''? I think not.
PETE D. CASTELLI III RINER
Aristide is no better than Cedras
USING AMERICAN troops and money to restore a rascal such as Aristide is a prime example of the stupidity and ineptness of the Clinton administration, and the willingness of Congress to go along, provided it's politically expedient.
Aristide's record in human rights' violations is no better than Cedras. His Marxist beliefs are documented. Given all this, what possible justification is there for our involvement in Haiti? Why should anyone believe that our time, money, and perhaps even American lives will be expended with any greater success than with the disasters of Somalia and Bosnia?
I believe Americans are fed up with Congress, and with administrations, present and past, throwing money at worldwide problems and achieving nothing except to plunge us deeper into debt.
BUD SANTORO ROANOKE
A Fast turn in the Fighting 9th?
THERE IS a stirring of uneasiness in political circles. Incumbents are running for cover, trying to avoid the predicted fallout of an unpopular president and the discontent of angry constituents.
Nowhere is it better illustrated than in the ``Fighting 9th'' congressional district. Democratic incumbent Rick Boucher, with heavy financial backing from political-action committees, is in the toughest re-election contest of his political career. Recent polls show him virtually tied with challenger Steve Fast.
Fast has something far better than Boucher's fiscal resources: a grass-roots organization that's out weekly promoting his election bid. Supporters are at local fairs, football games, and are hosting fund-raising events. These same folks were behind last year's Republican election upsets.
Hampered by connections with an unpopular president, recent legislative failures in health care, welfare, campaign-finance reforms, and unpopular international military involvements, Boucher has an uphill battle to persuade constituents to return him to Washington. In trying to stem the tide of popular unrest, he has alienated liberal Democrats because of his stances opposing taxes on tobacco, gun control and the crime bill.
The future looks right for the Republicans' Steve Fast.
BOBBIE STEELE NARROWS
Respect teens' sexual choices
PEOPLE HAVE sex, and not just married couples. Teen-agers started having sex many years ago, and I'd say their numbers have grown. Premarital sex has been labeled by many as a sin. Others say that it's your choice when you do it, and with whom. People should have the right to choose without being ridiculed, labeled or given a bad reputation, as long as they know what the choice may bring.
Protection isn't hard to come by today. A couple of quarters and a gas-station bathroom is all you need, but people still have unprotected sex. A recent report said that more than half of the girls who dropped out of high school last year were pregnant. Many say abstinence is the best protection, and maybe it is, but we know teens are ready to be adults before they can see adulthood.
What do you do? Do you put a restriction on sex like cigarettes and beer? Where has that gotten us? I'm a cashier, and see teens buy cartons of cigarettes, and all they need for beer is a fake identification and $5.
Teens are in the minority today if they're still virgins. Many say that kids' morals aren't as good as their parents, but who gave us our morals? If someone wants to lose his or her virginity, or if he or she wants to wait until marriage, that should be respected because he/she has a choice, and so do you.
GLENN HAMBRICK SALEM
by CNB