European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Anti irony a int Inry s>3, 1093 commentary 1 the stars and stripes b Pogo 15baird had lot going for her but not the Law so Zoe Mhd Inis gone Down the forces pushing her around were various she Hill working for her her sex some of he Senate judiciary committee members were scared to death of any re in act mint of the Anita Hill hearings which were the Battle cry of Many feminists during the inst Campaign she had working for her the patronage of the new president whose designations for High office arc not lightly received. Jimmy Carter freshly installed tried to ret Theodore Sorensen in As head of the via and finally gave up As congressional sentiment consolidated around the Foint of his temperamental unsuitability or that office. John Tower s sponsor George hush would not give up on Tower and lost an especially bitter blow liven that Only two years earlier Tower lad sat in the very body of the institution that refused now to endorse him for Secretary of Baird had working against her that she admittedly broke the Law and that the excuses she gave for doing so arc not very convincing neither to the professional nor to the non professional i Community. Clinton docs not relish losing his very first legislative Battle. Baird s primary Legal excuse was that she was counselled by a lawyer that if she sponsored her baby Sitter and the baby Sitter s husband that sponsorship immunized lick As the employer of an illegal alien pending the arrival of the Green card legalizing the peruvians Eros Cnoc in the Ini cd states. This excuse did not strike a chord of sympathy. Inasmuch As common sense informs us that if it were that easy there would to no problem in anybody s hiring any illegal alien simply act As a sponsor and wait years if necessary. But some thought should be Given to the built in paradoxes of the situation. There Are somewhere Between 8 William f. Buckley million and it million illegal aliens in the United states. It is obvious to anyone whose brain in t dead that these men and women arc working. In fact the supreme court has even ruled that communities that provide education must provide it not Only for citizens but also for aliens Legal or illegal. So that to the extent one is pressing a moral Point a that the future attorney general ought not to have broken a Law a one asks really whether that Law has been reduced to a Mere formalism. The Washington Post n couple of years ago ran a feature on Young unemployed mates in the City aged 18 to 22, t hey would be hired by gasoline stations to Man the pumps and Wash the cars and after a a Civ or in Days they would not show up for work. Such work bored them. Illegals show up with a different attitude toward work. They do not have available to them the welfare alternative that is Why White the National rate of unemployed is 7 percent among illegals it is probably nearer Zero percent. On the Point that an attorney general should never Breitk the Law one wonders whether Between 1919 and 1933, a. Mitchell Palmer Harry m. Daugherty Harlan of Stone John o. Sargent Ami William d. Mitchell Ever had an alcoholic drink they served As attorneys general of the United states it a time when the consumption of liquor was illegal but the attitude toward drinking was that if you could get away with it which was t hard it was of to have a snort every now and then. Were the standards meted out to Baird unique one might put it to Congress How Many of you have illegal help in your own households probably As Many As Praise the Public schools while sending their children to private schools. Zoiti Baird would have had an easier time of it if in private life she had served not a Large insurance company but a con Sumer rights group. This May prove to have been her final vulnerability. Com Verial pm a a syndic inaugural address Short with familiar Points president Clinton a inaugural address was lie easy part. His next step is to deliver on his declaration that to renew America we must be Clinton will find As other presidents have that being bold takes a lot of work a no matter How Noble the oratory but he starts with a clean slate and Hus an advantage accorded no other incoming president for 16 years both houses of Congress cont rolled by Bis own parly. In a a mimic address that Drew from Thomas jct Tom Raum Farson John 1. Kennedy Marlin Luther King or. And Ross Perot the new democratic chief executive reprised the major themes of the Campaign that propelled him to the White House. Quot raised in unrivalled Prosperity we inherit an Economy still the worlds strongest hut weakened by business failures stagnant wages increasing inequality Ami deep divisions among our people Quot Clinton said. True to mile word or a candidate who called fixing the Economy his no i priority Clinton Dweller mostly on Domestic challenges cutting the deficit Quot investing Quot in the nation s infrastructure and Job skills Universal health insurance a National youth service program. But in a nod to the foreign policy crises that clamor for attention Clinton said Quot when our vital interests Are challenged or the will and conscience of the International Community is defied we will act a with peaceful diplomacy when possible with Force when that was primarily a message to iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein from the first president to take office while . Forces Are in harms Way since Richard Nixon in 1%9. Quot i he Brave americans serving our nation in the persian Gulf in Somalia and wherever else they stand Are testament to our resolve Quot Clinton added. Will the exception of marry tinman who assumed office in 1945 while world War ii was still raging Quot Bill Minton is inheriting the biggest Batch of foreign policy con fusion in my memory Quot former president Aiter said in a pos inaugural interview with can. And the candidate who criticized former president Bush during the Campaign for focusing on foreign policy at the expense of Domestic concerns told americans As president Quot there is no Clear division today Between what is foreign and what is Domestic the would Economy the Wui id environment the world aids crisis the world Aims race they affect us Fields a professor at Washington University in is. Louis specializes in presidential rhetoric. He gave Clinton generally High Marks for the speech. Quot its relatively consistent with the. Larger themes til the Campaign renewal j a Lily reconciliation tire whole business of inclusion Quot be a mime of inclusion could also have described the speech itself drawing from Many american voices. Loii owing Irum Jef Leison Clinton told americans a to preserve the very foundations of our nation we. Need dramatic change Horn Lime to time. Weil my Fel Low americans this is our time. Let us embrace Kennedy s Quot now the trumpet summons us again Quot echoed in Clinton s Quot we have heard the trumpets we have changed the guard. Ami now each in our own Way and with god s help a we must answer the the president s Quot from this Joyful Mouneu Insop of Celebration we hear a Call to service in the Valley Quot recalled passages by slain civil rights Leader King. And Quot let us give this capital Back to tire people to whom it belongs Quot was Clinton s variation on a message bounded by Independent challenger Perot. Like Manv presidents before him Clinton a inaugural address presented a Broad Brush vision for America a no real specifics. They will come later Quot lie has eased off very specific promises. It was very very general Quot said James m Huiber a political scientist at american University. But Seldom have presidents made major legislative proposals in inaugural addresses. Quot unless the nation is in some kind or crisis and the oratory is eloquent inaugural addresses Are Best forgotten Quot said Erwin Hargrove a political scientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville i can. Quot we won t be Able to really assess Clinton a inaugural until we Sec him in retrospect Quot Hargrove added. Quot inaugurals Are a portent for the future but Are they also a portent for future speeches Clinton broke at least some new ground with the address it was the shortest major speech of his career -14 minutes just one fourth the length of his acceptance speech last july at the democratic National convention. It 711<� As of u a
