The Paris News from Paris, Texas • Page 4

Thursday, January 1, 1998 Serving the Red River Region since 1869 Albert Nichols Guest Columnist BuiMII Mmftr Hcha Walker AtortbfcCllrfttw Brad UUkcnmrc Bill l-hnkins CirctlaHM Kci.h Spangfcr PrttUMM IbMttr Ffcd Downs Maiattr Mike Maddux CUtsHfcri Tuni Barton I'liUiihed djilj. orccpl SJiurJ.iv The Path Ncwi 5050 Loop a m.f 75460 rrJrphont: (903) 785-8744 CliwifieJ MvenainK (903)785 8744 pokugc j. PJ.U. Send form 35 79(0 HifPim NWJ. P.O.Box 1078, Puili.

75461 SUBSCRIPTIOX RATES BY CARRIER: onth: 58.75. One $105 Sunday only. S7 50 By Moil: One Monili: S1U.75, One Vcjr Si '9 Plltt 5(K 1 $1 ONDNE EDITION: www.Jiepiriinrwi.cum Reach us by mall P.O. Box 1078 Paris. TX 75461 by (903) 785-8744 (903) 785-1263 by e-mail (online edition www.theparisnews.com EDITORIAL A sad farewell to Uncle Jesse Denver Pyle set a shining example for others to follow He first grabbed the nation's attention with his acting career and especially with his character role of the sometimes gravelly voiced Uncle Jesse on the television show "The Dukes of On that show he doled out advice to two young nephews and anybody else svho would lisjeri, In his character he had a genuine softness for children and a dedication to their wellbeing.

In life, Denver Pyle held the same softness. He was a caring man, especially toward youngsters. It was in that light most of us saw Denver Pyle. He was a man who travelled the nation to promote fund-raisers and programs for children. That is how Paris became most acquainted with him, as sponsor of the Uncle Jesse's Fishing Tournament that locally raised more than $60,000 to benefit children and children's programs in Lamar County.

But Denver Pyle was more dedicated than most people know. He once said he would never be a part of a fund-raiser if even a dime of the money went to anything other than the children it was meant to help. He was often angered by organizations that raised money and took big chunks of it out as "administrative costs" before giving the remainder to those it was intended. Denver Pyle established a tradition with the Uncle Jesse Fishing Tournament in Lamar County, and we hope others will continue to lead it in the direction he established. We will miss Denver Pyle.

New Year's resolution: Help pols -9 Yes, it's time for New Year's resolutions, including some of my own. Here goes: Well, first, I should explain the basic tack I take in writing my column twice a week, which also governs resolutions. I don't treat politicians with contempt, as some of my colleagues do. Columnist Robert Novak, for one, says that "the only way for a journalist to look at a politician is down." I have a different idea. I figure that, as a breed, they wouldn't be where they are if a constituency didn't elect them, so they deserve some respect until they've shown they're hopeless hopelessly corrupt, stupid, dishonest or wrong-headed.

The only major American political figure I can remember considering hopeless is independent presidential candidate Ross Perot, largely because he's wrong-headed about free trade and claims.to be the.seryant.pf his followers when fates to them. So, my first resolution for 1998 is to continue trying to help politicians do the best job they can not simply by patting them on the back, but occasionally batting them on the side of the head. Herewith, resolutions for 1998: President Clinton ought to resolve to spend his remarkable treasure of political capital this year trying to establish a legacy. As of now, he'll go down in history as the man who balanced the federal budget. Assuming that the Asian economic crisis doesn't interrupt the Morton Kondracke Syndicated Columnist current recovery, the deficit will fall from $200 billion when Clinton became president to zero maybe as early as next month.

Not a bad accomplishment after 30 years of deficits, and it proves once again the "Nixon goes to China" principle: It takes a Democrat to accomplish a Republican purpose. Clinton can take pride in a balanced budget and the economic (not to mention, political) benefits it bestows, but is that really all he wants to go down in history for? What better? Well, what about steps to which his idency as the well-educated prosper but the badly educated lag. What about improving K-12 education, left behind when he pushed tax cuts for higher education last year? National education standards and testing is a worthy cause, but it will scarcely make Clinton the "education president" he might be. It'll take money to support local districts that show significant improvement in performance. Clinton also could risk his 60 percent approval rating on health reform, on reforming Social Security, on tax credits for working parents to find decent child care but with only three years left to him, he needs to spend it on something.

Meantime, Vice President Al Gore should resolve to play it straight. Clinton can get away with slickery; Gore can't. So, he should resolve to always tell the truth and the whole truth. If he doesn't, he'll get caught and embarrassed. If he does, the public just might find him irresistibly charming.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, should resolve to discipline himself, especially his mouth. He nearly lost his speakership in a House.GOP coup last year NOT because he strayed ideologically, but because he told his followers he was going to do one thing and then did another. Gingrich, for all his unpopularity, really has the country's well-being at heart. He genuinely wants Americans to be prosperous, self-reliant and culturally healthy. Jiebeliejves, as leader of a Democratic that he' has a duty to compromise and help govern.

Congressional Democrats, meantime, ought to resolve to follow Clinton toward the political center. It does them credit to care for society's left- behinds, but the way to bring them even is to equip and empower them, not try to handicap society's winners or dictate equality. Finally, everyone in power in Washington should resolve to make it the nation's purpose now that communism is defeated to defeat disease and ignorance. Clinton radio talks, 188 and counting Walter Wears AP News Analyst WASHINGTON For 188 Saturdays now, President Clinton has taken to the radio with a message of the week a clear channel to announce a program, push a proposal, lecture or lobby. It's a descendant of Franklin D.

Roosevelt's fireside chats, a latter-day format revived by Richard M. Nixon and polished by Ronald Reagan, who made a Saturday radio address a fixture of his presidency. "I usually never walk by a microphone," Reagan once said. Clinton does, but seldom on Saturdays, tape recording some of his radio talks, delivering others live. His Saturday talks often are full-scale productions, with selected, small audiences in the Oval Office while he speaks.

But no television and no reporters to press in with questions after the six-plus minute talks. No static, at least most weeks. The Republicans do get equal response time, but with differing spokesmen and seldom in direct rebuttal to Clinton. Their most telling use of the format lately was in a harsh complaint against the decision of Attorney General Janet Reno not to seek a special prosecutor in Democratic fund raising cases. In prior weeks, he has talked about combating illegal drug use among young Americans, dealing with Medicare fraud, his plan to seek extensions of national volunteer service programs, his contested proposal for national educational testing, his order to curb assault-weapon imports.

He used the Saturday radio forum for a final lobbying push to get special trade negotiating powers renewed by Congress, but couldn't get that done. Clinton made the radio talks into a political tool during his L996 campaign, prompting Republican challenger Bob Dole to complain that it was an overtime spin machine and to take on the weekly GOP radio slot for rebuttal. FDR's radio "fireside chats" were prime time; television hadn't taken over. It was Nixon who started the Saturday morning talks, first as a candidate in 1968, then as president. Reagan made them regular, beginning in 1982 with a series of 10 focused on his tax-cutting economic program, and continuing on varying topics after that, in much the style Clinton has adopted.

They kept his chosen topics on the weekend agenda, then as now, although none of Reagan's were so memorable as the joking warmup he blurted into an open microphone in 1984 he'd outlawed Russia, Reagan said, and "the bombing begins in five minutes." Clinton suffered a different kind of radio talk headache in 1985, after moneyman Johnny Chung brought $50,000 Democratic donation to the White House. Two days later, Chung and five Chinese businessmen returned to the White House as guests when Clinton taped one of his radio addresses, an episode that became an issue in the controversy over fundraising tactics. The Democratic National Committee later returned all Chung's donations. Nothing new, but a reprise of what he'd said before. That's not unusual.

Even so, the Saturday radio talks give the president a platform when most of Washington is taking the day off and there's not much news. So his observations wind up on the evening TV news, in the Sunday morning newspaper, and play on into the next day's talk shows. Not a bad return on the Saturday morning investment. EDITOR 'S JVDIB Walter R. Mears, vice president and columnist for The Associated Press, has reported on Washington and national politics for more than 30 years.

Some insightful predictions made On the international scene Countries will continue to fight for whatever reasons. The scenes may shift, but there will con- tinue to be conflict in Bosnia, Ireland, Central America and the Middle East. Who knows, some other groups might decide to kill each other some- where. Illegal immigrants will continue to stream into the United States. So long as America is "the haves" and the other countries are the "have nots," there will 'be this problem.

Having all Americans become poor is not the right answer. El Nino will do whatever it wishes, regardless of whether our government or any other suggests it calm down. Mother Nature thumbs her nose at well meaning governments. Global warming may or may not be a reality It is hard to accept the fact that the earth can no longer adjust itself. Our vice president was all for shaking his fist at global warming but backed off when he realized how silly he would look.

There is the hope that global warming may change the temperature of my wife's feet in bed on a cold night. It may be too much to ask. International finance The major financial centers in the world will continue to teeter and shake according to the caprices of markets hither and yon. The value of the dollar will fluctuate but shall remain the benchmark against which all other cur- rencies are compared. (Isn't that a well construct- i ed sentence?) Smart investors will continue to buy low and sell high.

Investors like me tend to do it the other way around. National predictions As i far as we can tell at this time, the United will. be comprised. fifty states. cmi But in case Antarctica jo'ins the Union, your columnist has figured out how the U.

S. flag can have fifty-one stars and look okay: Here is the concept twenty-seven and twenty-four equal fifty-one. Have three rows of nine stars and three rows of eight stars. I I predict your columnist will continue to be a i better flag designer than financial investor. The world of sports Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will continue to pace the sidelines wondering why America doesn't love him and why no competent coach his right mind will take the job as his toady.

i Barry Switzer will return to Oklahoma where they name campus buildings for him. Either a National Conference team or an American Conference team will win the Super Bowl. You can take that one to the bank. In basketball, the winner of the Final Four and the national college champion will be Kansas. In golf, the winner of the Open will be someone we have never heard of.

If I haven't heard of him, how can I be expected to spell his name? Another sure-fire prediction: The World Series will be won by a team from the National or American League- Watch the team scoring more runs, for they will very likely be the champs The local scene The following groups will continue to get peo- pie ticked off regardless of what they do: the school boards, the mayor and city council, the chief of police, the Chamber of Commerce and The Paris News. The Santa Fe Depot museum project will sput- ter along and be an attraction of limited appeal, for you really need to like railroads. Paris will dis-annex the areas it has taken in and try to give them to Roxton. Roxton will think about it and suggest trying Frog Hop instead. The Main Street Project will restore the Plaza to its splendor of yesteryear.

The fake tin facades will come off, and the real brick-and-mortar build- ings will emerge. The workmanship of the old days was more interesting than aluminum siding. Predictions about stuff few think about The water supply for Paris will continue to have a "superior" rating. Everyone who likes to drink water will appreciate that. The end of the millennium will be much closer in 1998.

There will be an increase of strange dudes and weirdoes. More far-out cults will assemble on hilltops in bed sheets waiting for a passing meteor to swoosh them to that Utopia in the Sky. Or somewhere outside Lamar County. Computer wizards will almost figure out how to make computer clocks switch to all of those zeros. Right now, it's a big problem.

In a couple of years it may be a mammoth problem. Final predictions The column you are reading will win a Pulitzer Prize in 1998. This is another prediction you can take to the bank: If I don't stop soon, there will not be enough space in the paper for this insightful balderdash..