Abbeville Meridional from Abbeville, Louisiana • 4

Page 4, Abbeville Meridional, Wednesday, May 3, 2000 In Clinton and Castro's best interests Why was the government in such a rush to send a SWAT team to drag a 6-year-old Cuban boy out of the house of his relatives? Miami lawyer Aaron Podhurst, a 30-year friend of Janet Reno, was mediating between her and Elian's lawyers moments before INS agents, with their submachine guns, broke in the door. "I'm gravely disappointed," he told the Wall Street Journal, "that the government had to use force when I think we could have worked things Problem with abortion pills I WASHINGTON People will quickly tell poll-! sters what they think about abortion rights. The problem is that many don't like to admit, perhaps most of all to themselves, what they really think. According to a Gallup Poll out last week, a nar-Irow majority of us (51 percent) believe that should be legal "only under certain circum- stances." A smaller number (28 percent) want it legal under "any" circumstance, with an even smaller number (19 percent) believing it should be "illegal" all the time. Of that robust crowd of 51 percent who believe abortion should be 'legal only under certain cir-rcumstances," 38 percent say they mean only in "a circumstances.

Just 11 percent say they frSM REMOVED TrIE JfmK CHILDREN WIDE WITCH'S CLUTCHES fl Hi 1 KMNED THEM WBWlMiltlifcni WWIIIMIIIIIMiMilalllMlaalaal Nat Hentoff la rz'JS Chris I Matthews I'm lim aJ Your point of view out." In the Miami Herald, Podhurst described himself as having been "devastated" at this breach of trust. The first reason for Janet Reno's brutal appli cation of her version of the rule of law was Dear Editor Hello, Mr. Creswell, I'm back again! You missed the boat; in fact, you did not even get to the docks. You have chosen to make my response a public debate. along with the many people who have called me supporting my response, only asked for a few simple answers.

No one is expecting confidential information! Besides being an ambulance driver, no one gives a hoot what category you fit in. Shucks, you might be director of the FBI. However, since you are self-appointed spokesman for the Sheriffs Office, you should have seen to it that the media received the right story. Since you are campaigning for a feather in your cap, be sure the cap fits. Even as a retiree, Mr, Creswell, I am far too busy to quibble with you on this matter any longer.

It has been refreshing, Lloyd Abshire. Dear Editor: Representative Dan Flavin's vote against the Louisiana Wildlife fee increases has turned into a fiasco. It is a severe blow to wildlife management in Southwest Louisiana and the state of Louisiana at large. His nay vote doesn't make sense to me or to other Conservationists who realize that the only thing standing between ourselves and the game thieves are the enforcement agents. If the closure of the local Wildlife office occurs it will be a direct result of Mr.

Flavin's personal vendetta against Jimmy Jenkins. Since Mr. Flavin is presumed to represent the views and wishes of his constituents in southwest Louisiana, it can only be assumed that the closing of the local headquarters conforms to those wishes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Southwest Louisiana's Lakes and marshes are the crown jewels of Louisiana's hunting and fishing industry.

The certainty of a massive layoff is inevitable and the blow to game enforcement will be felt by hunters and fishermen statewide. Wildlife management areas statewide will be closed to the public. The game thieves will once again have free reign and the illegal hunting and illegal gill nets will be the rule and not the exception. Jimmy Jenkins' appointment as head of Wildlife and Fisheries was a stroke of genius. Enforcement of the game regulations was immediate and has been ongoing with no letup for the past five years.

No one denies that Mr. Jenkins is an independent and dictatorial figure. He came into the Department with few friends and will probably exit with less. In industry he is known as a bean counter. There is always dismay among the employees upon his arrival, but upon departure, the Industry is generally in a more competitive position than before.

So will be the case after his tenure expires. Jimmy's removal of the department from politics, after many years of political favoritism, has boosted his stature in the eyes of the Louisiana sportsmen and brought dismay to politicians such as Flavin. Dan's negative vote, along with other area representatives, is not in the best interest of the Wildlife and Fisheries or the Louisiana sportsmen. Flavin's vote was personal and directed at Jimmy riimself. Mr.

Flavin attempted to inject politics into the LDWF appointment process when he recommended the advancement of his close friend, James Manning to a higher position. Civil service tests are given to each applicant and he is then interviewed by a LDWF panel. The combination of Civil Service scores and interviews are the criteria by which the panel makes their recommendation. Jenkins followed the recommendation of the panel as he has always done, even though he has the authority to pick anyone on the list This affront to Mr. Flavin's ego was more than he could take.

Mr. Jenkin's subsequent firing of Mr. Manning for changing a commission rule, which incidentally was a felony, further added fuel to the fire. His running feud with Jenkins has put Dan at odds with his constituents. Instead of voting for the best interests of the people he is supposed to represent, Dan has taken the low road and his vote has become a personal vendetta.

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is one the few departments which uses no public funds and has to survive on the license fees it collects from sportsmen and severance taxes collected from LDWF owned lands. There has been no increase in license fees in 12 years and severance taxes have been in a free fall for several years. I have talked to many hunters and fishermen and they are unanimous in their support of a fee increase in order to maintain the same level of enforcement that we enjoy today. Let us hope that not only Dan but other area representatives, who followed Dan's lead, will wake up and smell the roses. The egg was laid by Mr.

Flavin and now the Chickens are coming home to roost. Jep E. Turner mean under "most" circumstances. Playing with such numbers can be dangerously misleading. Add that 38 percent who told the poll- sters they only want abortion rights in "a few" cases to the 19 percent who want to outlaw abor- tion altogether, and you get more than half the country (57 percent) saying they want to keep abortion legal in "a few" cases or not at all.

I don't believe that number. I believe it's a case I where people are telling pollsters (and perhaps themselves) what they think they want to hear, Consider that tricky word: You have to wonder how people openly answering questions about abortion rights apply that term ever so quietly to themselves. Are those who they back abortion rights only in "a few" cases I thinking, perhaps incorrectly, that they can't I imagine any "circumstances" where they'd desire rto have an abortion? Are those who say they back abortion rights in "most" circumstances simply more ready to imagine or recall themselves being in precisely such "circumstances" as any other woman wanting an abortion? People seem to have very clear positions, as you might expect, on how late a woman should be permitted to have an abortion. Again, don't be fooled by the numbers. Sixty-five percent say abortion rights are gen-- erally OK for the first three months of pregnancy.

Just 24 percent generally approve the choice of an abortion in the fourth, fifth or sixth month. Only 8 percent generally support abortion rights in the last three months of pregnancy. But when people are asked what health rea-f sons should legally justify getting an abortion, the i numbers shoot to the sky: Eighty-four percent say when the woman's life is endangered; 81 percent when a woman's physical health is 64 percent when a woman's mental health J-is endangered; 53 percent when the baby may be vlborn with a physical impairment; 53 percent the baby may be born with a mental impairment. But the cold, tragic fact is that most such health information is not available to the preg-lnant woman in the first three months. It is later Cwhen she gets the test results, later when she must answer those brutal questions of life and morality.

It is then that she must speak not to a pollster or politician but to her own conscience. (Chris Matthews, chief of the San Francisco Examiner's Washington Bureau, is host of l-'Wai-dball" on CNBC and MSNBC cable channels. I The 1999 edition of "Hardball" has been recently I published by Touchstone Books.) 2000 NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN. explained by Richard Nuccio on the Fox television network the day of the raid. A former point man on Cuban affairs at the State Department, he was Clinton's adviser on dealing with Castro.

Nuccio pointed out, as have others, that at first the INS decided that Elian's case should go to a state family court in Florida. But the State Department summarily reversed that ruling, ordering the INS to hold the boy. The Clinton administration, as Nuccio notes, was reacting to a threatening speech in Havana by Ricardo Alarcon, head of the Cuban National Assembly. Alarcon, who is close to Castro, said that if the boy were not returned to Cuba, there would again be massive boatlifts from Cuba to America. Clinton well remembers the 1980 Mariel boatlift, which brought 125,266 Cubans to the United States.

Some of them were among the most remorseless criminals our law-enforcement officers have ever had to deal with. Among them were Cubans held in an Arkansas detention cen-: ter who rioted, thereby helping to give Clinton his only defeat in a gubernatorial election. The president has not forgotten that rare rejection by the electorate. More to the immediate point, he fears that more waves of Cuban immigrants this summer might affect the November elections, thereby reducing his chances of bolster-: ing his legacy by transferring the presidency to Al Gore, and perhaps having the Democratic Party take Congress. Another reason for the SWAT team to terrorize Elian and the family, kick an NBC cameraman in the stomach, and snatch the boy from the fisherman who rescued him from the sea has to do with the 1 1th U.S.

Circuit Court of Appeals. That court had announced a hearing on the boy's claim of asylum filed by his great-uncle and also signed by him to be held May 11, only 19 days after the April 22 raid. What was the administration afraid of? On April 19, when setting the date for the hearing, the court said that the application for asylum "presented a substantial case on the merits." The day after the boy was snatched on April 22, the Justice Department rushed custody papers to Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, which he signed. It is the desire and hope of the Clinton adniiiiistration that the Appeals Court moot the asylum case, dismissing it. Then Elian can be whisked back to Cuba so that his "re-edu- cation" can begin.

On April 18, The New York Times reported that Elian's father's family has been moved to a state-owned house that will also function as a school for Elian and "12 classmates, relatives, doctors and psychologists." The boy, said a Cuban psychologist, needs time to "readjust." One book that Elian will certainly not be permitted to read, as he grows up a child of the state, is George Orwell's "1984." Meanwhile, after being returned to his father I by Janet Reno, Bill Clinton and the INS a I move described by Fidel Castro on Cuban televi-; sion as "doing the right thine" he will have Guest editorial Terrell budget saves money been given preliminary re-education by his father 'We have full-time employees 365 days a year for what amounts to seasonal work," Terrell told the Legislature. The machines don't need to be watered. Nothing is grown in those warehouses." She's right. Jurors will determine Fowler's guilt or but clearly Terrell's findings suggest poor management at the very least. She's found $4 million and is looking for more.

In a recent essay that appeared in The Times, Terrell asked for public support to "help us fight against the politics of the past to assure that in the future we will not be questioned about the integrity of our elections but will be applauded for the strength and honesty of our system." The public should support further reform efforts. They are a welcome breath of fresh air. (The Times) abbetrille Jileribumal (USPS 003-040) Mike Hebert. Ma General Manager Suzanne Managing Editor Theresa Manager Mary Ford a Composition Supervisor Ben Manager Gwen Editor Lynette Editor Chris Editor Charlene Editor SUBSCRIPTION RATES Single copy Daily 76 Sunday Carrier Delivery, Monthly month Carrier or Mull 8 mot. 6 mot.

yr. Within Parish 18.54 $37.08 t74.16 Within Louisiana $21.63 $43.26 Outside Louisiana $24.00 $48.00 $96.00 Include 3 State Sales Tax Foreign rates by request Call (318) 803-4223 Official journal for the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, Vermilion Parish School Board, Abbeville Council, Delcambre Council, Erath Council, Maurice Council, Abbeville General Hospital, Abbeville Harbor Terminal. Telephone 1-337-893-4223 Circulation 1-337-893-4225 FAX: 337-898-9022 E-Mail: dltor.abbevlllelanweb.com Website: www.themerldlonal.com Published everyday except Saturday and Monday by Louisiana State Newspapers POSTMASTER: Send form 3570 to the ABBEVILLE MERIDIONAL P.O. BOX 400 318 N. Main St.

Abbeville, LA 70510 Abbeville, LA Second Class postage paid and attendant Uuban oihaals. Clinton also said that Reno had done "the right thing." By the time the 1 1th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals holds the hearing, his father can tell the court that Elian has renounced his personally signed application for asylum. A footnote to the Clinton-Reno interpretation of the rule of law was the attempt by Elian's father's attorney, Gregory Craig formerly on Clinton's impeachment team to cet the heads The people of Louisiana should thank Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell for being a good steward of their money. Since taking office in January, Terrell has been literally and figuratively cleaning house.

On Monday, she gave the Legislature and taxpayers a gift. She submitted a budget that is $4 million less than the budget submitted by former commissioner Jerry Fowler. With the state facing a budget shortfall of more than $300 million, Terrell's tight budget is welcome. Other state department heads, which have been charged by Gov. Mike Foster to pare down their budgets, can follow her excellent example.

That Terrell has found a way to work with $4 million less ought to anger voters. More than half the amount $2.5 million came from her cancellation of contracts that had been initiated by her predecessor, Fowler, who is awaiting charges that he received kickbacks from some of his contracts. By some estimates Fowler made as much as $900,000 off one contract company that serviced voting machines. Next, Terrell said she will ask the civil service commission to let her kill useless civil service jobs. In a kind of welfare, people are being paid with taxpayer dollars for essentially doing nothing, Terrell said.

In a number of surprise visits to warehouses where voting machines are stored, Terrell found no one.Yet workers had signed timesheets indicating they were on the job. of all the news networks to censor photographs of the raid. He sent that letter two days before the taking of the boy. Craig said that releasing the 1 pictures would be "exploitative" of the child. Craig" scorning of the First Amendment was intended to make a cover-up of the raid easier.

Like Clinton, Reno and Castro, Craig, of course, had the best interests of the child at heart. Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the rest of the Bill of Rights. 2000 NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN. Numbers To Know Chamber of Commerce 893-2491 City Hall 893-8550 Hospital 893-5466 Clerk of Court 898-1992 Cong. Chris John 337-235-6322 Office of Family Security 893-5930 Police Jury 898-4300 Registrar of Voters 898-4324 I.