European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday april 6,1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 Ellen Goodman sex education now even More complicated commentary when magic Johnson first started talking about aids condoms and abstinence he got his words a bit muddled. A the Best sex a he said at one Point a is no that Wasny to exactly what he meant. Somebody out there May be getting ready to publish the Joy of no sex. But Johnson was talking about the risks of sexually transmitted diseases and the one sure Way to avoid them. A a still in the months that have followed months full of a sober and necessary discussion about sexual risks and sexual values his original bungled phrase has stayed in my mind. There is something missing from the Public discussion about sex. The current no no the one forbidden word is not the anatomically Correct name of a body part it is the word pleasure. The debate among those who teach the Young and single is deeply divided Between two Camps. Those who want to teach a Safe sex and those who teach a saved the Community is Replete with intense arguments Over what to say to Young people. On any Given morning one school in the country May be giving away condoms and describing birth control while another school May be leading their students in a chastity pledge a do the right thing wait for the religious leaders on one front May be preaching abstinence at sunday morning services while on the Otner front the Harvard divinity school celebrates aids awareness week with an Art exhibit entitled a sacred these arguments rage in communities from Shreveport la., to Greenwich Conn. The consensus that we have to give our Young some sex education splits right Down the Middle. Should the education be from the chastity curriculum like sex respect or the caution and condom curriculum. Which Breaks More easily condoms or vows of celibacy but for All the juror both sides share the same subtext danger. And Only occasionally do we notice a problem with this shared anxiety. Perhaps for example when a 9-year-old boy tells a reporter a when i grow up in a not going to Nave sex because i done to want to die.�?�. Sex a that word that we too often limit to mean Intercourse a has both dangers and pleasures. In the �?T60s and �?T70s, we talked about pleasures and forgot about dangers. Many of our children our daughters in particular were not liberated by the sexual revolution it made More vulnerable a to pregnancy to disease to exploitation. But in the 1990s, we talk about danger and forget about pleasure. A we use aids to clobber our Young people a says Debra Hoffher of the Piecus the sex information and education Council of the United states a we Are trying to say to them you will die therefore done to do it rather than to talk about values relationships decision making. Pleasure we done to talk about it at none of this is surprising. When aids infected a Uncle Eddie makes front Page news for sexually exploiting Young men in Philadelphia pleasure is not the first thought on a parents mind. When 13-year-Olds Are having sex and 15-year-Olds Are having babies the most popular a a pm word is Protection. And when the sexual messages of movies and television and mtg Are locked in a Media time Warp where sex is rarely Safe and never saved we see our own role As one of rebuttal. They talk about sexual License we talk about sexual danger. Sol Gordon one sex educator who Speaks the language of Young people even says a a in a at a stage where i can to even talk about pleasure As a sex educator i have to talk about health issues life and death but to talk Only of danger is to limit All of human sexuality to the sex act. To remain silent about sexual pleasure leaves the Field to the exploitive distortions of the mass culture. This May be a hard time for any sexual ethic More complicated than a bumper sticker. That May be especially True for those of us who believe in both postponement and Protection and pleasure according to its time and place and person. Those who believe in caring and carefulness. Yet there is nothing contradictory in teaching children about both the risks and delights of sex. If we done to we May leave them Safe but crippled. Along with All the other anxieties of the age add this to the list we need to also fear the fear of sex. C the Boston Globe James j. Kilpatric year of rude surprises is bad time for old pols a a in a a whore a said Joe Kolter. The gentleman was talking to his Campaign aides giving them guidance for his re election Campaign. A i have to be Quot he said. A you heard of a whore in a a whore. I am a political whore. And in a going to play it to the Hilt. That a what in a Gonna be doing. Shaking hands and kissing everybody. I mean in a Here to get elected.�?�. Joe Kolter for the record represents the 4th District of Pennsylvania. He was talking to Sam Siple and Chris Sainato. He made a tape recording to Send privately to other Campaign workers but someone leaked the tape to Dennis Roddy of the Pittsburgh press. The tape is enchanting. It is refreshing. Kolter a Candor blows like a clean Spring Breeze through the Halls of hypocrisy. I never met the Guy but i love him. A a in la be going to a lot of funeral Homes. Just walk in if i faintly remember who these people Are just walk in and shed a Little tear and sign my name and in his piece for the Pittsburgh press Roddy described the congressman As a a Beefy rough edged Man for whom politics is not a matter of degrees. He is an old fashioned democratic pol. He began As a new Brighton City councilman in 1962, went to the Pennsylvania House in 1968, and moved to Congress in the elections of 1982. In 1990, he beat Republican Gordon Johnston with 56 percent of the vote. Kolter was in trouble before the tape became Public. He faces Strong opposition in the april 28 primary from two challengers Frank Lagrotta and Ron Klink. The former is an energetic state legislator the latter a Well known television newsman. If he gets by them he will run against Johnston again in november. In this heavily democratic District Johnston is not Given much of a Chance. Exposure in the Pittsburgh press wont help Kolter a bid. He is heard on the tape denouncing a political enemy in Beaver county a i think he a mafioso. Quite frankly i think he a mafioso. He a during the taped conversation a question arose of Kolter a record on missing Roll Call votes. A i done to care How Many votes i miss in a Gonna be Here meeting in this year of rude surprises the Road to reelection already is littered with the Bones of incumbents. It is a bad time for old pols. Speaker Tom Foley a abysmal handling of the rub berate Check kiting scandal has made bad matters worse. Foley first tried his damnedest to cover up the whole affair. Then he let the ethics committee dribble out the names of the offenders piecemeal. Instead of a one Day or two Day Story the House now faces a three week Story that May drag on for months. One ought never to overestimate the attention Span of the american people. Eugene Mccarthy the philosopher poet once fixed the Span at one minute 14 seconds. By november the whole affair of the House Bank will be old news. For All its sense of institutional outrage the voting Public tends to stand by a Home town member of Congress. My guess is that the carnage will not be As severe As it now appears. But i Dunno. The establishment however it May be defined still does no to comprehend Why people Are so wrought up about rubber Gate. James k. Glassman publisher of Roll Call writing in the Wall Street journal characterizes the Story As a a Fly he thinks the real scandal is that we reporters Are writing about it. The new York times for its part sees the bounced checks As mostly minor transgressions. Various defensive voices Are crying that no Laws were broken no tax funds were abused. It was All the Bank a fault for keeping Sloppy records. Slosh slosh slosh. Here comes the Whitewash Crew. Those who would minimize the affair Are missing the Point. The greeks had a word for it hubris defined As a excessive Pride or self Confidence arrogance Joe Kolter will go around to the funeral parlor and shed a tear for the dear departed whatever his name was. Members of the House will bluster through the storm. One Small overdraft or two or maybe three May be forgiven. Here we see a pattern of regal condescension. It is the attitude of politicians who have come to think that Ordinary rules done to apply to them. They May have another think coming when the snows of november fall. C Universal press Syndicate
