European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday february 8, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Wiley a. Hall ii democrats living up to image of party Symbol Oliver stones compelling movie Juk. Has set off a fresh frenzy of Quot conspiracy fever across the country. Who killed Juk maybe everybody joined in like in an Agatha Christie Story. Maybe nobody killed him and he a still alive somewhere. We re gripped by an epidemic of paranoia. Well since we re in the mood id like to propose a new conspiracy the National democratic party has become the party of stooges Nincompoop and clowns and in a beginning to suspect it May be on purpose. For years now they have played the patsies the fall Guys who provide voters with comic Relief every four years. Nobody can be that dumb and that incompetent by Accident. Look at gov. Bill Clinton a unconvincing performance on 60 minutes. The Arkansas governor had emerged As the Early democratic front runner in the new Hampshire primary when the Star a supermarket tabloid alleged that the 45-year-old family Man has been a notorious Womanizer for the better part of a decade. The Star a investigation Quot disclosed that Clinton has had extramarital affairs with five women including two former Beauty Queens a television news reporter a nightclub Singer and a member of his staff. The Star offered Little proof but plenty of titillation one of the Beauty Queens. Miss Arkansas 1981. Allegedly dated Stevie wonder while she dallied with the other Beauty Queen. Miss America 1982. Was described As a a statuesque Quot born again Christian fond of hog calling Wood chopping and Auto mechanics. Another alleged Clinton mistress a nightclub Singer was described by her booking agent As t he Jan. 28 edition of the Star did come with pictures although alas the editors apparently were unable to find action shots of the statuesque Beauty Queen calling her hogs. In fact Overall this was a fairly tame edition for a supermarket tabloid. There was some Juicy gossip about a marital spat Between basketball great magic Johnson and his wife she allegedly slapped him and fled from the room in tears whet magic who has contracted his. Confessed that he had had sex with one of her closest friends. There was a close up of an alleged Bald spot on Michael Jackson a head and a picture of a dog dressed up As a ski instructor but that s about it. No two headed space aliens no pictures of lost boys raised by wolves. Above All no proof allegations of Clinton s infidelities have been raised Beford of course and the Arkansas governor seemingly had the appropriate response. A the details of my married life Quot he has asserted time and again a Are a private matter Between me and my wife. It is none of the american Public a besides the mainstream Media had investigated Clinton a alleged adulteries but could prove nothing. Cd so own opinion poll found that Only 14 percent of the electorate cared one Way or the other. So Why in the world did Clinton feel compelled to refute the Star on 60 minutes ? what did he Hope to accomplish what could he add beyond his previous firm a a it a none of your business Quot indeed Clinton looked evasive like a guilty Man trying to wiggle out from under. Even the sight of Clinton s wife sitting steadfastly at his Side brought unpleasant associations. After All the former mrs. Ted Kennedy held his hand during Chappaquiddick. The former mrs. John Clorean sat Brave a by his Side during his drug conspiracy trial. Mrs. Marion Barry now estranged from her husband sat stoically in court knitting during graphic testimony about her husband s philandering ways. Overnight polls indicate that Clinton s performance generally had no effect on the Public s opinion of him. But i suspect he actually lost a few Points on television a trying to appear to answer without answering questions that he already had asserted were none of our business. The american Public is getting hip to staged events. Just because we re bored Bym hem does no to mean we re fooled. Look for another Low turnout on election Day this fall. Could anyone really be As dumb As Clinton without careful planning could the democrats whose party Symbol is a Donkey really be such asses in election after election a except by Craft inquiring minds want to know. C the balt Moro evening Sun Bill Cuxton a George f. Will Thomas proved his courage to be judicial Here Are words that some political extremists tried desperately to prevent from Ever being published in a supreme court ruling a Kennedy j., delivered the opinion of the court in which Rehnquist c.j., and of Connor Scalia Souter and Thomas ., Luiree months after the failure of the smearing of Clarence Thomas or. Justice gliomas has participated in a Case that perfectly demonstrates Why he deserved to be confirmed. The Case involved an apparent injustice a an act of racial discrimination. But the court had the courage to let the injustice stand rather than resort to judicial overreaching. This is a Story of the courage to be judicial and self denying rather than political and self indulgent. Live years ago for the first time in Modem times some Black men were elected to the county commissions of Etowah and Russell counties in Alabama. In one county the White majority on the commission promptly stripped individual commissioners of control Over Road repair budgets in their respective districts and put All repair Money in a common fund controlled by the six person commission. In the other county the commission majority abolished the members individual Road districts and transferred repair authority to an Engineer selected by majority vote of the commissioners. The Black officials brought suit charging that the reallocation of authority violated Section 5 of the 1965 voting rights act. That Section says that jurisdictions covered by the act must seek Federal permission a pre clearance before implementing any new a voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or Standard practice or procedure with respect to the court with Justice Kennedy writing for the majority did not express an opinion about what the two counties have done although it did note that a nothing we say implies that the conduct at Issue in these cases is not actionable under a different remedial however the court said Section 5 could not be a remedy because it addresses explicitly and Only changes a with respect to voting rather than say with respect to governance. The court noted that it has hitherto construed Section 5 expansively. It has held that pre clearance is required for changes in manners of voting in requirements and qualifications for candidates in the composition of the electorate for an office or involving the creation or abolition of an elective office. But the plaintiffs backed by president Bush a Justice department Here urged the court to leap into a vast and thorny Thicket. They wanted the court to Rule in effect that it is impermissible for any covered jurisdiction state or local to adopt without Federal permission any change that in any Way dilutes the value of the votes of minorities. The court rightly noted that innumerable state and local enactments a enactments that have nothing to do with voting a affect the Power of elected officials. Every budget does so does any modification of committee systems. Imagine every jurisdiction having to seek pre clearance for every such action. A Congress a the court said a did not mean to subject such routine matters of governance to Federal Justice Stevens joined in dissent by justices White and Blackmun chafed under the idea that the court could not by Fiat rectify what seems to have been Nasty acts whereby newly elected Black commissioners were unable to exercise decision making authority traditionally associated with their offices. Stevens noted that lower Federal courts and the Justice department have previously used Section 5 to cover transfers of decision making Power that have a a potentially discriminatory Impact on Black to strike Down All stratagems and subterfuges by which minorities can be burdened in civic life Stevens would give even broader sweep to Section so a definition of voting As encompassing a fall actions necessary to make a vote but there Are two reasons not to make courts into monitors of voting one reason is that courts would drown in litigation. The litigation could Challenge minute acts of governance and require courts to weigh and adjust the a a effectiveness of the votes of minorities and non minorities. The second and most important reason not to accept Stevens invitation into the Thicket is that the voting rights act is simply not germane. It concerns voting not governance. It protects participating in elections not the relative rank of elected officials. In this Case the six members of the majority foreshore the catharsis of righting a wrong. They had the courage required by the courts institutional ethic they knew it was right not to rectify a wrong that was beyond the reach of the Law at Issue. That one of the six is Black was irrelevant a magnificently so. That is the importance of the phrase a. .Thomas,.,joined.�?� c the Washington Post writers group
