European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes wednesday August 8,1990 it t a a it Leon Daniel a j. ,. To defense of Roseanne a rendition of Anthem defenders of Roseanne Barr whose controversial rendition of the National Anthem at a baseball game outraged the United states include those of us who can t carry a Tunc in a rain barrel. The san Diego padres management should have known that just because the to Star is built like a diva does t mean a that she can warble like Helen Traubel. Roseanne May very Well be one of us unfortunates handicapped from birth with tone deafness so severe we Arentt trusted to carry a note to the Post office much less sing publicly. We Are the singing impaired. When my class match Sang in grammar school teachers cruelly insisted that i lip sync. In sing along at summer Camp Counselor ordered me to shut up. Even As a toddler i was summarily dismissed from the cast of Christmas pageants. It is bitterly ironic that we who arc tone deaf believe our singing sounds just Fine. It is others who claim to suffer most from our affliction and discriminate against us. As a youngster i admired the Talent of Frank Sinatra a crooner who still has terrific tonsils. In the Shower it seemed to me then i sounded just like Frank. My siblings took cruel Delight in Dis abusing me of that grandiose notion. I rarely sing now even in private. I have Long since forgotten All song lyrics except a couple of verses to a the marines hymn a a which 1 have been ordered by family members never to sing again within their hearing. So i know just How Roseanne Felt when padres fans booed her singing of the Quot Star spangled incidentally i thought she sounded Fine. The singing impaired were not amused when Robert Merrill who has Sung the Anthem at nine world series openings compared Roseanne s Effort to Quot burning the hag Quot and whined that he a almost up chucked my some padres fans also were grievous James j. Kilpatrick by offended when Roseanne parodied baseball players by spitting on the ground and grabbing herself Between the legs. Those same of amp is have always permitted jocks to get away with such Gross shenanigans in Public but they claim to be offended when they Are committed by someone who is singing impaired. The problem was As Roseanne , a i May have done it a Little too close to the a Star spangled a she would do it All again Roseanne said but next time before a a shipper those of us who arc handicapped by tone deafness got All choked up when Roseanne said a there s a lot of people that sing like me in this country and they sing the a Star spangled banners too Quot we were deeply moved when she a to vowed to sing the Anthem a whenever i want to wherever i want to and however i feel like singing it because pm an american and that is my National Anthem by publicly belting out the Anthem which is difficult even for professionals to sing Well Roseanne has Given courage to All of us tone deaf would by warblers. Editor s note Leon Daniel is the chief correspondent Lor upi9 Primo Donnas hit Low notes on High court with a i1nae sputter of dissenting and concurring opinions the . Supreme court wound up its 1989 term on june 27. With the greatest defer enee to the court and with expressions of affection for certain of its members let me observe that taken All in All and objectively appraised the term was a Stinker. The court handed Down Only 129 signed opinions his was the smallest number m recent years but considering the Overall Quality of the opinions this was surely a Good thing. Of the 129, Only 15 opinions were of general interest. Of the 15, eight were wrongly decided. Members of the court object to being categorized As Liberal or Quot conservative a but tie labels serve a rough purpose. As a general proposition the four most consistent relinquish o Connor Scalia and Kennedy tend to support die Power of the state. By the same Token the four most consistent liberals Brennan Marshall Blackmun and Stevens lend to support the rights of the individual. The court s swing Man. Justice 11 run White is alternately hither thither and in the matter of racial preference m granting to licenses altogether von. Some analysis have said that Rehnquist s conservative bloc had the better of the term. Statistically speaking maybe so. The four conservatives dissented 75 times the four liberals 168 limes. On 41 eases decided by 5-4 votes conservatives prevailed 26 times liberals 14 times. In one ease the Minnesota abortion Case its hard to say. The court was As scrambled As sunday morning eggs. It May be this observer s imagination but the High court seems to get More fractionated All the Lime. The term saw 26 unanimous opinions a a about Par for the course a and 15 other decisions in which justices concurred but did not actively dissent. In 88 cases the justices split and often they split on hairs too Fine to be Sec by the naked Eye. The Minnesota abortion Case involved pregnant teen agers. Must they notify parents before getting an abortion or May they bypass parental notification by getting a judges permission Scalia made an Effort to straighten things out As 1 understand the various opinions today a he said Quot one Justice holds that two Parent notification is unconstitutional at least in the present circumstances without judicial bypass but constitutional with bypass four justices would hold that two Parent not dictation is constitutional with or without bypass. Four justices would hold that two Parent notification is unconstitutional w ill or without bypass though the four apply two different standards. Six justices hold that one Parent notification with bypass is constitutional though for two different sets of reasons and three justices would hold that one Parent notification with bypass is Scalia went on to criticize a the random and unpredictable results of our in Chan cled individual he continues to dissent a from the Enterprise of devising an abortion code and from the illusion that we have authority to do three cases competed for the title of worst decision of the term. They ended in a dead heat. In Missouri v. Jenkins the court upheld the Power of a life tenured in elected non responsible Federal judge arbitrarily to increase local property taxes. In. Rutan v. Republican party of Illinois the court struck a devastating blow at the two party system. By forbidding patronage except at the highest Levels of government Brennan amp co. Dissolved much of the glue that holds a party together. In metro broadcasting v. Acc Brennan again spoke for a court divided 5-t 1 he majority approved racial preference Laws enacted by Congress so Long As they serve an a important Quot Federal purpose. This observer expressing a conservative View found Little to cheer about. The court wisely refused to let Congress nibble away at the first amendment with an act to punish Flag burning. In the Omaha Bible club Case the court properly ruled with Only Stevens dissenting that High schools May not be hostile to religious interests. In the tragic Case of Nancy Cruzan the court had some sensible things to say about a Quot right to that was about the size of it. The trouble with the court under Rehnquist is that it rarely Speaks with the solemn Bell like ring of perfect authority. Time after time we hear nine Prima Donnas singing Solo. Maybe next term with a replacement for the retiring Brennan we will see More coherence a but probably not. Univie Fedl press Syndicate i he opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government
