European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 4, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary prison not hero s Corner Mike Litt input Tyson in they have come to save Mike Tyson. Alan Dershowitz the Man who got aus von Bulow off the lawyer Best Selling author and Harvard professor who supposedly takes Only eases that Are socially significant is now heading Tyson a Appeal Effort of. Everyone deserves a lawyer. That Samerica. But if Dershowitz in Rushing to Spring Tyson tries to claim any socially redeeming value he will be extending the chutzpah envelope into uncharted territory. Still if it were Dershowitz alone or even Dershowitz and All the High priced lawyers Money can buy combined that would of one thing. Here Are 19,000 other things ten thousand is the number of people who have reportedly signed a petition being circulated by a group calling itself the a National committee for mercy for Mike  honest to god. It gets worse. The people behind the petition Are a Bkwo of Black clergymen belonging to the missionary Baptist ministers Alliance. The ministers Are gathering signatures a their goal is 100,000 a to be dropped on the desk of fudge Patricia j. Gifford who is to sentence Tyson on March 26. The petition asks for a suspended sentence. You want to know Why allow me to quote from the petition a we ask the court to consider Fiat or. Tyson s one of a very few in number of modern Day african american heroes. It is very difficult no matter what the reason to see a fallen hero and not be  surprisingly i had a slightly different reaction to the Tyson Case. I find it hard not to be affected when a Rich and powerful Man a or for that matter any Man a rapes an 18-year-old woman a or for that matter any woman. I think Many of us were affected deeply. Tyson took advantage of his position and Fame to not even seduce but to Force himself on someone Little More than a girl who would testify he laughed at her pain. Yes we were affected. And we were offended. We were offended by the defense which painted Tyson so monstrously in order to suggest that anyone who went off with him should expect to raped or worse. We were offended by the reliably offensive Donald Trump who has floated a plan whereby Tyson would serve no time but would hand Over his future earnings to Benefit rape victims. Of and maybe his earnings would also Benefit Trump and his overextended Casino Empire. Can someone shut this Man up we were offended by the african american ministers who prayed for a your brother but not for a your  in a Case that some would suggest unfairly targets a Black Man it must be pointed out that his victim was a Black woman competing in the miss Black America contest. How can this be a racial Issue it has been reported that Tyson contributed to the building of churches for this ministry and that the ministers actions Are no More than a quid pro quo. That would be cynical and corrupt. But it would actually be preferable to the idea that the ministers motives Are pure meaning these men of god would actually judge a rapist to be a hero. Imagine Tyson As a hero if you can. He was a hero Only in the ring and even there he betrayed his gift. How else can you explain that he would lose his title to a Clown like Buster Douglas whose reign ended with his next fight Tyson gave his title away because he did no to understand he had to work to keep it. And Tyson threw his life away outside the ring because he did no to believe the rules applied to him. Of he grew up in mean streets but so have Many others. The thing is Tyson stayed mean. The thing is Tyson never Learned to value what he had gained. It is yes a modern Day american tragedy. It is yes a Success Story gone sour. But it is not the Story of a hero. And Tyson Scase is not one that Calls for ministers to Rush to his Side. Let them Rush to the Side of Desiree Washington. There Are so Many causes More worthy than Mike Tyson a. There Are youngsters shooting youngsters in our schools. These Are tragedies that suggest prayer vigils and petitions and protest marches. These Are the youngsters for whom Tyson probably already serves As a role Model. We need different role models. One can properly Pray for Tyson a redemption not for a suspended sentence. C the Baltimore Sun Harry g. Summers  Issue shows Clinton in t fit to Lead Bill Clinton was right about one thing. He had no business in the Roth program at the University of Arkansas for be obviously lacked the Basic qualifications for a military commission. A there is a one word key. Among the four lofty qualifications cited on every military officers commission a wrote the distinguished military historian . Marshall More than 40 years ago. A that word is Fidelity. Because it comes of personal decision Fidelity is the jewel within reach of every officer who has the will to possess it. It is the epitome of character and fortunately no other Quality in the individual is More readily recognized and honoured by ones military  whatever his other Virtues Fidelity is not Bill a intone a Strong suit either in his solemn pledges to the military or in his sacred vows to his wife. On National television his wife stood pathetically by his Side. But those he had riddled at the Arkansas Roth were not so forgiving. They chose to release his december 1969 apologia for dodging the draft. But draft dodging was not the worst of it. More damning was his condescending Fatu Ity that he was writing a in the Hope that it will help you to understand More clearly How so Many Fine people have come to find themselves. Loathing the military to which you and other Good men have devoted years lifetimes of the Best service you could  a Clinton a abysmal ignorance of the role of the military in american society reflected in those words has so far gone unremarked. But much More than his marital infidelity or his feckless efforts to evade military service and protect himself from physical harm Clinton a Blind ant military prejudice represents a fundamental impediment to his exercise of office As the nations commander in chief. Why did he loathe the military was it because he did no to want to be drafted but surely this a a brilliants Rhodes scholar must have known that in its entire history the military had never drafted a single soul. And the reason As he must have ascertained during the research on the selective service system at Georgetown University that he brags about in his letter is that article i Section 8, of the Constitution of the United states specifically reserves the Power to raise armies to Congress and Congress alone. Clinton should have known that the focus for his a a loathing should not have been the military but politicians such As his Mentor sen. J. William Fulbright who voted for passage of the selective service act the enabling legislation for the Vietnam War draft. But then again after years of a work ing to prepare himself for a political life characterized by. Practical political ability Quot Clinton knew that directing his Wrath at Fulbright would hardly have maintained his a political viability. A adding to Clinton a rage was evidently the fact that it was the military that was fighting the War in Vietnam that he held in such contempt. Like Many of his contemporaries he perhaps Felt that the military should have refused to go there. But blaming the military for following the orders of its civilian leaders is a Slippery slope indeed for it jeopardizes one of the Basic tenets of american democracy a civilian control of the military. It was the politicians not the military that involved the United states in the Vietnam War. Beginning with president Truman who sent a military advisory team there in 1950, four successive . Commanders in chief a Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson and Nixon a ordered military personnel into Vietnam. And from the 82nd Congress in 1950 through the 93rd Congress in 1973, the National legislature by overwhelming margins provided the authorization and the Money for the conduct of military operations there. At a time when civics was still taught in the classrooms anti War protesters were astute enough to separate War from the warriors. For example in 1899 the anti imperialist league condemned the Spanish american War while at the same time acknowledging a the sacrifices of our soldiers and sailors whose bravery deserves admiration even in an unjust  but Clinton was so clearly unaware of the Basic Workings of the american governmental system that he was unable to make the distinction. His loathing was not directed at the succession of presidents who ordered the military into combat in Vietnam or at the succession of congresses that provided the wherewithal for the War. Instead adding insult to injury Clinton directed his Wrath at those who were serving in his Stead the uniformed men and women whom those politicians had ordered into Battle. If he still harbours these views a and so far at least he has not repudiated them a not Only his moral fitness for High office but also his intellectual fitness is open to serious question. Retired army col. Harry q. Summer or is a distinguished fellow of the army War College end author of the recently published on strategy ii a critical analysis of the persian Gulf War c los Angeles times Syndicate