The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 18

WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1991 ri BUM fll 11 1 1 i .1 (The dimes 1 i W. Howard Bronson Jr. Found weekly President and publisher newspapers published Terry Eberle since 1839; published as PHitnr The Shreveport Times lu andThe Times, daily and Jim Montgomery Frank May Sunday, since 1871. Managing editor Editorial page editor 222 LAKE STREET EDITORIAL WRITERS SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA Wiley Hilburn Judy Johnson, Frank May I pi( iT wr ifi i if ri it irr ir iiii lif -jl fcrAAr1 n.wirJ I i 4r Ml, EDITORIALS ag nap fans protests STEVE BENSONTrlbune Media Services COLUMNS Commissioner Instead of snuffing a fiery protest through cool-headed objections and compassion, Caddo Parish Commissioner Lloyd Lenard has fanned the flames of racism through insults and arrogance. His response to a citizen group's plans to burn a Confederate flag in front of the Caddo Parish Courthouse today is just as offensive as the protest itself.

Yes, burning the Confederate flag constitutes an ugly, repugnant, extremist and most importantly, illegal response to a symbol that continues to divide our community. To some, it represents a proud Southern heritage and courageous fight for states' rights. To others, it signifies a horrible era of bondage and obstruction of personal freedom. But to most, setting fire to a flag signifies destructive power, and that's not what this protest is meant to convey. Demonstrating against that symbol with words and petitions before the Caddo Parish Commission would prove more effective.

That body is responsible for the Confederate flag hanging over the; Civil War memorial at the Playing poker for a shrinking state pie A the Senate floor to direct the committee to hear the bill this week. Committee Chairman Dennis Bagneris said that is just what he was planning to do all along. So there. Witten and Bankston are confident that once the bill hits the floor, few senators seeking re-election will vote against the good-government measure that 46 other states have on the books. U.S.

of E. Don't count on united Europe ust when it looked like we wouldn't have, convicted Doug Green to kick around in the insurance commissioner's race, Sherman Bernard has obliged reform forces by an- nouncing a comeback for the office bankrolled by Champion Insurance, kicked Sherman out of in 1987. The presence of Bernard, whose oper ation of the office was only slightly less woeful than Green's, should keep alive the1 '-campaip issue of making the post appointive. Long-time deputy commissioner John Browne says he also plans to seek the top job. Major candidates include Green's' handpicked replacement Hunter former Secretary of State Jim Brown and New Orleans City Councilwoman Peggy Wilson.

John Maginnis is syndicated columnist who reports on Louisiana politics and is based in Baton Rouge. courthouse still todav. Nevertheless, the fact that protesters chose to Dlead their case in the strpprs is no cause for Commissioner Lenard to spout admonishment and arrogance. He oranaea tnem insane idiots and warned that "they never will destroy the Con federate flags or the Confederate ideas." Such inflammatory statements from a veteran politician are inexcusable ana, quite irankly, scary. Lenard knows that thousands of Caddo Parish citizens deeply regret that their local fortress of freedom the courthouse flies a flag that, in their minds, stands for slavery and oppression.

He also knows that citizens who choose to protest publicly are exercising tneir freedom of speech and expression. Yet Commissioner Lenard attempted to brush the matter aside by scolding and scorning his fellow parish citizens who happen to disagree with him. He now owes them an apology. Leadership? We see none in this affair only retreat to the days of divisive demagoguery that delay unity of purpose and of honor in this community. to NATO.

Britain wants to remain Britain. France wants to remain France. Yes, Europe has been united, but only by force and with often tragic results. Charlemagne was emperor of Western Europe from 800 to 814. Napoleon, in modern history, took Europe by storm but his unification dream ended at Waterloo.

Hitler imposed his "New Order" on that continent. It took World War II to topple that repugnant retch. Yes, communism is defeated, Eastern Europe is turning democratic and Western Europe seems safer than ever for democracy perhaps even for a united continental democracy. But where would the capital, the center of control, for such a confederation be located? What about locating a European capital in neutral Brussels, where so many of these unification talks are held the Belgium headquarters for many a summit meeting of economic, military or political importance? That sounds fine in principle, but in practice we imagine Britain, France, Germany and even Italy would demand that the seat of power be located somewhere nearer its real source. But where? A United States of Europe? It sounds good.

But don't bet on it, because the British will be British, France will be France and Germany, well, Germany has only recently reunified itself. We talk about the "global village," but the world in general and Europe in particular remain for good and evil a territory of tribes. 71130 0222 having instant background checks done at a time of purchase as opposed to the Brady Bill that hassles law-abiding citizens and does nothing to check on a person's background. The NRA stresses safety in the use of firearms. I have seen safety-related articles by the NRA in magazines, in pamphlets at public gatherings, and once or twice on television.

But generally, the television stations and newspapers do not help the NRA with firearms safety and instead help the gun control people bash the NRA. Back to the editorial cartoon. Why was it printed? Because it is a fact that some Little Johnnys blow their brains out playing with guns. Why the caption? The NRA is the strongest organization that is protecting our Constitutional right to keep firearms and the gun control people will do anything to make the NRA look bad. What should the caption read' "This message brought to you by irresponsible parents." The Legislature may not believe this gov ernor often, but it knows what to expect when it dares him.

Coming into the final fitful hours of the last regular session of this term, the Senate and the governor are on their usual collision course over which programs should be cut or funded. The pie will not get any bigeer: the Ques tion now is how will it be sliced. The Senate Finance Committee cut deeply into the gov ernor's environmental and economic development initiatives (and eliminated the staff of the inspector general) to make room for pay raises for workers left out of the state employee pay raise package. This again sets up the rancorous conference committee showdown on the final night of the session, and, possibly a gubernatorial veto of the entire budget. Many conservative legislators are caught in the middle.

They may oppose extra spending on their colleagues' vo-tech schools or other programs, but neither do they want to be left out of the pork barrel. Roemer is counting on that attitude of if-I can't-have-it-you-can't-either to divide legislative ranks and preserve his threatened vetoes. This week the state Senate will likelv have a chance to vote on the Bill That Wouldn't Die lobbyist disclosure. If it passes, next year voters will have a chance to see how much money is spent entertain- At long last, a A Quarter of a centurv of strnpclp to re capture the U.S. Supreme Court for constitutionalism, beeun in earnest with the Nixon-Agnew campaign of 1968, appears, at long lasi, inumpnant.

With his choice of Federal Appellate Judge Clarence Thomas to surrppd rptirino Justice Thurgood Marshall, President Bush A. 1. I 3 nui uniy Kepi nis wora io me American peoDle. he exhibited a Dolitical rouraee bordering on audacity, and showed a fine i i i ii political nana as well. The creat struggle to canture the rnnrt.

has seen many battles. There was the awful senate Drutaiizauon oi tne senior judge of the Fourth Circuit, Clement Haynesworth; the rejection of Judge Harrold Carswell; the ABA threat that tilted Richard Nixon against a woman jurist he had had in mind, to choose instead Lewis PowpII and thpn William Rehnquist, current Chief i nere was ueraia ord's decision in 1975 to duck a fisht and name a romnromis candidate, John Paul Stevens, whose selec tion convinced many conservatives to abandon Mr. Ford for Ronald Reagan. Ana mere was tne Bloodbath over Robert We must learn to revere each others' heritages DR. VINCENT MARSALA Caddo Parish Commissioner, District 9 Shreveport I am appalled by the article in the July 2 Times reporting the intention of some black citizens to burn Confederate flags to protest the Civil War Monument.

While I defend the right of all groups to protest, I feel it necessary to personally object to this misguided act. The Caddo Parish Courthouse monument is a symbol erected to honor and remember historical events which are precious to many citizens in the area. Symbols are extremely important to all of us though they may have different meanings. To some blacks the Confederate Battle Flag symbol-izes slavery. However, to white Southerners it symbolizes a brief period of courage, love of land, and independence.

Both blacks and whites must understand, as Paul Greenburg has stated, that "instead of assuming the worst about each others' emblems, why not the best?" Instead of de JOHN MAGINNIS ing which legislators by which lobbyists. For the past three sessions the bill has been snuffed out at some point in the legislative process, usually in the seemingly bullet-proof Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee. This year's version, HB 1012 by Jimmy Martin, passed the House but lay neglected on the committee calendar for five weeks. The governor, who promised his all-out support, remained silent. Some senators and concerned lobbyists breathed another sigh of relief.

But they didn't count on the persistence of Common Cause's new field director Morris Witten and of the bill's Senate sponsor Larry Bankston. Witten started lobbying the press and sending out legislators' voting records on the issue to editorial writers. Bankston turned up the heat by pushing a motion on conservative PATRICK BUCHANAN Bork, lost because of the most sustained hate campaign of the post-war, and because Reaganites had grown cocky after confirmation of Antonin Scalia. Yet review, if you will, a fraction of the damage 30 years of judicial activism has done to this wonderful country. By breaking down all local barriers to filthy speech and dirty books, the Supreme Court permitted America's popular culture to be converted into a public sewer, in which some of the world's worst porno-graphers now contentedly swim.

With its busing decisions, the Court tore facing the beautiful Civil War Monument why not erect a statue to the brave black soldiers who died in the Civil War in Louisiana or to an outstanding black leader of that period? Our history is common to us all, and we lose humanity when we attempt to rewrite history to fit our own selfish viewpoints. As Andrew Young pointed out in a 1988 speech celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday, the argument to remove the Stars and Bars is not worth the fight. It will only intensify racial discord. More importantly, to remove the Confederate flag would in essence hand over that symbol to the Ku Kluxers as their symbol of white supremacy. This I refuse to do.

If we follow the logic to remove the Confederate flag solely as a symbol of racism and slavery then we must also remove the United States flag. After all, the United States abandoned blacks with the end of Reconstruction and allowed the Southern states to institute Jim Crow laws that institutionalized racism in America and disenfranchised blacks. Surely this would be unthinkable and ridiculous. Instead of fighting over symbols we must A A A true United States of Europe would rival America, dwarf Japan and dominate a shaky Soviet Union. A real United States of Western Europe would return to that historic region the heady power once enjoyed, individually, by the British Empire, Germany, France and even Italy.

Already there are manifestations of such unity. The Common Market, or European Community is an economic superpower. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization represents military unity, but is confined to Europe. The European Parliament, the all-important political component to such a confederation, actually exists in name only. But there are meetings under way this very hour in European capitals that aim at nothing less than a United States of Europe, a confederation that would produce a common foreign and security policy and, ultimately, a kind of political unity.

Again, such a confederation would confer on Western Europe the status of a superpower political, military and economic. But will it happen? Don't bet on it. A primal force called nationalism, most simply defined as love of country, won't allow the creation of a West European confederation however much power and influence such a union would bring to nations that once called themselves, with justification, "great powers." History, culture, heritage and race all argue, powerfully and often destructively, against such a union. Britain, for all its history, has been suspicious of continental Western Europe. France hasn't even been willing to submit itself SHREVEPORT, LA.

Parents, not NRA, should take responsibility, blame MICHAEL LASKOWSKI Bossier City I am not a member of the National Rifle Association, nor do I plan on ever joining. However, I do keep up with current events. One of the current events that I keep up with is the assault on the Second Amendment and the NRA bashing that goes along with it. In the June 25 issue of The Times is an editorial cartoon in which the caption is a blatant lie. The Times staff knows it, Don Wright (the author) knows it, pro-gun people know it and anti-gun people know it.

So why was the lying caption printed? The NRA took a lot of flak for its fight against the Brady Bill. The press did a good job of letting us know about it. What the press did not do was tell the whole truth by telling us that the NRA supported the Staggers bill. The Staggers bill would have hindered feloris from legally purchasing firearms by court again apart scores of local communities, hastening white flight from America's cities and the ruin of her public schools. By expelling prayer, Bible reading and the Ten Commandments, the Court diminished the moral character of the entire country.

With -Roe vs. Wade, the Court stripped of the right to life every single unborn child in the United States. Not one is today safe the abortionist's knife. And they called this a "milestone for human rights." As for Earl Warren, William Douglas, William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, we are well rid of them. The last rampages of a renegade court are over; the clean-up of the wreckage begins.

And, as the dictatorship of the judges comes to an end, we enter the time of Antonin Scalia and Tony Kennedy, of Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter, of William Rehnquist and, yes, Clarence Thomas. In the words of the old Negro spiritual "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty we are free at last!" Patrick Buchanan is a syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C. Gannett Newspaper World of Different Nbices Where Freedom Speaks, revere each others' precious heritage. The, South will not rise again as a separate, inde-' pendent government. The South will rise again only when white and black citizens join with one another and work together to solve the problems of racial distrust, jobs, education and restoration of family values.

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