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Viewpoint 2 THE GAMECOCK Friday, September 25, 1987 1 i AMY DELPO Editor in Chief | STEPHEN C.UILFOYLE Copy Desk Chief BRENDA BLYTH News Editor S HAL. MILLARD Viewpoint Editor 1 TAMARA WILLIS Features Editor VJdlllvLULK U/AVNP WA^UINr-THM KEITH JONES Photography Editor ROBB LANE Graphics Editor | | PAULA WOJTOWICZ Beat Editor Bleak Biden *s mistakes, departure bad news for presidential race Once upon a time in Claremont, N.H., former presidential candidate Joe Biden told a persistent and pesky questioner: "I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you do." After revelations that Biden is a plagiarist and teller of little white lies, his intelligence is somewhat questionable. It was this lack of intelligence and integrity that forced him to drop out of the race for the presidency Wednesday. Like Gary Hart, his suspicious past caught up to him. Also like the Hart fiasco, it raises questions about the Democrats' chances to regain control of the White House. it also raises questions about the role of the press in covering campaigns. Instead of examining issues, it is covering the seamier, more titillating side of politics. The whole episode raises many more questions. But the scariest thought is that many had seen Biden as a strong, ideological candidate who could be counted on in a pinch. Now we have learned otherwise. Now we are left with slim pickings. The Biden we see now is not the same Biden who railed and hammered members of the Reagan administration in 1986 when *1 A A A? * - ^ A ^ me ucuaic un saiicuuiis againsi aoum /\irica was neating up. The Biden we see now is a sputtering wreck seemingly unable to speak or write anything without plagiarizing. He lifted a speech verbatim from a British politician; he plagiarized a law review article in college; he exaggerated his academic achievements. The remainder of Democratic candidates with anything vital to offer is dwindling. Michael Dukakis and Paul Simon, the two most qualified Democrats running, have a poor shot at a nomination. That leaves us stuck in the mud with Richard Gephardt and Albert Gore, the two most likely to get nominated. When it comes right down to it, America has no really good prospects for 1988, and the same goes for the Republicans. Biden's departure signals a turn for the worse for the 1988 presidential race. Will we have any kind of leadership m '88? The chances are looking bleak and getting bleaker everyday. "IT IM HIS AUTOBlOfiRAPHY, BUT ITS BEE?4 CALLEP ^ 1 w &I9 i 1 The Staff Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian ! Andy Bechtel Bobby Jones Assistant News Kditors Adviser Todd Mines Bill Rogers Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media i Assistant Features Kditor Bill Clements 5 l-irdous Bamji Production Assistant Sports fcditor Chuck Norris Rac Leigh Son Ma Assistant Photography Kditor Advertising Manager ! Jonathan Williams Margaret Michcls | Datehook Editor Assistant Advertising Manager ; Tony Moreno Dawn Miller l*1lfr* Policy: TH* (t*mt<o<k nltl ir> to print letter* re<el?rd letter* thould be. mi m mulmum. 250 to MX) word* long (*e?M edltorltlt tHould not exceed MX) word* He reserve the rtjfct to edit letter* (or *??le or po??Jbt? libel Thi (,amtco<k ?W not withhold Mtmei under ?n> dream Mime War in the 1980s: that's e In the 1980s, war isn't hell. It's entertainment. r??????_ Now before all you tie-dyed, bloodshot-eyed, knee-jerk liberals get in a tizzy, listen. This is important. The idea of using war to rally people around an I ailing government is nothing new, although it j seems to be more popular than ever. Leaders have Andy always known that nationalism ? that step beyon*.. Bpj^^ patriotism ? provides a way to blur a country's Bechtel 27 s r. $ j< true problems such as inflation or trade deficits. N I [ f jj f The government replaces real difficulties with war, rjl t ' !'i U creating an enemy, which ideally should be some ? . ft, * pushover that can easily bedestroyed. r > \1_ 1 .a - ? * r - wiii uccumc* uii event, a piecc 01 enieriainmeni, ^_i^_______?^ provided by government to amuse the people. And it almost always works . . . almost always. cher knew how to entertain her people better tl This strategy backfired on Argentina in 1982 the Argentine leaders did, and Maggie sent an when that country seized the Falkland Islands, a mada to retake the Falklands. The British peo group of sparsely populated pebbles in the chilly were amused. Sttuth Atlantic. At the time, Argentina faced severe The British easily captured the islands, althoi economic difficulties, and the government was in a they lost more than 200 men. Still, in this sht precarious position. Argentina needed a show, and such casualties are irrelevant as Maggie, who I the Falklands were convenient. been one of the most unpopular leaders in Brit The Falkland invasion temporarily eliminated history, handily won a second term. these woes, and anti-government feelings Meanwhile, in the United States, Ronald Reaj evaporated as pro-government demonstrations has given a non-stop performance in the wartook their place. entertainment genre. He did, after all, come froi Unfortunately for Argentina, the British, who show-business background. Still, he hasn't had had controlled the islands, were in the same fix: success that Thatcher has had. high unemployment, high inflation and general The Reagan road show began in the same in discontent, uritisn I'nme Minister Margaret That- tionary, desperate atmosphere that had preva< Who starts campaign-destrt Presidential campaigns are being attacked left ?? and right about some pretty trivial issues, and some, especially Democratic campaigns, are self- j ' destructing left and right. Let's start with the big guns. Gary Hart. o. i > -Rumors circulated during the 1984 campaign otcpncn that he was a womanizer, and they resurfaced dur- j Guilfoyle ing the '87 campaign. Gary Hart said "No problem, I'm a nice guy; I ; don't do such things. You can follow me if you j want to see." So he was followed and found with a lady, Donna Rice, who'd traveled from Miami to visit him in his Washington townhouse. The rest is history. Hart quit the race, mostly didates* names) has been known to womanize, because of a photograph in the National Enquirer, Rumor has it that Bob Dole and/or members Miowmg grauuaie Kice sitting on tne up ot his campaign committee have been spread the presidential candidate. rumors about the other candidates, especially t The only "confirmation" comes from a woman George Bush has been known to womanize, who sold her photos for a lot of money, and sold What the hell is going on here? "her story" for a whole lot more. It seems the candidates are either yelli And then there's Sen. Joseph Biden. People have "Mom, he made a face at me," or "I won't been questioning his unattributed use of other peo- that I did what you think I did, but if you co pie's speeches. And then they found out that he ex- have did what you think I've done with who ) aggerated his college record. And now he's drop- think I did it with, wouldn't you have done it?" ped out too. they're whimpering that "It seems I was one Let's look at what's going on here. young college student who did stupid things 1 Rumor has it that Fat Robertson's father pulled forget an attribution once and now I'm just b strings to keep the Republican minister out of the rowing things from other speeches, just I Korean War. everyone else, but I guess I'm evil and sinful 'ca Rumor has it that (fill in just about every can- I did it in college and got caught." Start heaving that laundry There's a pile growing in your closet of stinky, 1 smelly, dirty clothes. I About time to wash them, you say? Grab that box of laundry soap, a nice book to read, a soda . . . and yes, your clothes. But be sure to do them according to the unwrit- Paula ten rules of the laundry rooms. . T'? Laundry Rule No. I ? Stay with your laundry if Wojtowicz at all possible. mSSk55555552 Admittedly, laundry rooms typically are hot and f .. ,';y _\v muggy. However, laundry privileges go first to [ ^ r^ ,V:,, mose sweating it out in tne laundry room and then I to the people who wander in and out staring at the I twirling dryers. '' If you can't stay in the laundry room, be sure to been there for an hour without a washer has pri check your clothes every half hour. There have ty over the one who just come down the elcvatoi been times when clothes were stolen from the unless the one who just came down the eleva washer 01 dryer, and you don't want that to had a pile of clothes waiting for two hours, happen. Rule No. 3 ? Pay attention to "machine resi You also don't want to irritate those waiting in ed" signs. the laundry room, or they might pour bleach in the Obvious signs of a reserve^! washer or dryer washer that holds your favorite hot pink jersey. elude a pile or basket of clothcs in front o Rule No. 2 ? First come, first served. machine, quarters placed in machine slots or la Nobody likes to wait, but the person who has dry soap sitting on top of a machine. r BffiE'.!lDW'BOUr LENDING! i ... mow FSRJY ANIMALS ltCTTmtftERSHAVE? J ntertainment ,, over Britain and Argentina. Is Kcagans nrst snow was his worst: Lebanon. Simply put, it was a bomb. After this gaffe, he had | to find somewhere to vindicate his foreign policy. The answer was Grenada, a small Caribbean nation that no one had ever heard of until October I 1982, when U.S. Marines armed with machine guns took on Cuban workers weilding shovels. The result was a massive U.S. victory and the exultation Ij of Reagan. Grenada was pure entertainment for those disillusioned with America's real problems. It was a smash hit. The bombing of Libya served a similar function. _J Here was Moammar Gadhafi, an overgrown brat simply crying for attention. Reagan gave him all lan the attention he wanted, and more. Once again, ai- rvcuguu s popularity soared. I nc Libya perforple mance was a hit. Now the show has moved on to Iran, pcrhapjfc^ I igh Reagan's biggest gig yet and potentially his >w messiest. Iran isn't as feeble as Grenada, and it lad isn't as simplistic as Libya. If anything, it's like ish Lebanon. Perhaps it's time for Reagan to end this world ?an tour before it gets out of control, or maybe he as- should look for somewhere else to entertain us. ti a Over in the South Pacific, Fiji was having some the trouble earlier this year, and for a while no one knew who was in power. Fiji is small, isolated and fla unimportant ? just like Grenada, just like*Jed Libya .... : wina mrrmrs? - J ?? j And all these things arc starting with rumors. And these rumors turn out to be carefully^|i a researched. Wi " Back in the '72, Nixon had the Committee to Reelect the President; they called it CREEP. The name fit. They were known for dirty tricks against the | campaign, just nickel-and-dime stuff most of the : time, like changing meeting rooms for the opposi- : I I tion. But then one of them wrote what wa:. called ; j the Canuck letter. Edmund Muskie was the candidate most likely to j beat the Republican incumbent. The Canuck letter ; ?J was written on his stationery, and it slurred the ' Canadians. It wac a fnro*?rv* u/r;tt?n rncrn -- ? . v 0vi j ttiiiivii %jy vi\L?Lir , and it destroyed Muskie's campaign. of Then, with the help of some dirty tricks, George ; ing McGovern was the candidate the Republicans : hat could run against without any fear. But CREEP | went too far, even while knowing there was no way J McGovern could win his campaign, and tried to : ng, bug him. They got caught, and, although it took^^ say almost a year, the story came out. Sm uld And maybe it's just a case of me following the^P 'ou campaign more closely than I've done in the past, or but it seems that there's more and more time spent : e a on name calling and trivial bits of badness out of : ike some long years of public service. or- : . ike But everybody's been attacked, it seems. So j use who's the CREEP this time? And why isn't anyone else asking these questions? out of closet "I Laundry room users are honor-bound to leave a reserved machine alone for about five minutes ? enough time to determine if it will be used or not. ? Rule No. 4 ? Don't abuse the machines. jj?^ If a washer or dryer is broken, tape a note to thcfl^ machine so nobody else will make the same error. Rule No. 5 ? Use the machines efficiently. Bright-colored laundry goes in cold water, sheets and socks go in hot. Jeans and sweatshirts need an | extra quarter in the dryer to dry them completely. But please do only full loads of laundry except in ^ j i extreme emergency. iNointng is more annoying I than seeing just one towel in a dryer when five peo -4 pic with full loads are waiting to use it. ori- Rule No. 6 ? If you abandon your laundry, ac ? cept the consequences. itor If the laundry room is busy, the others in line r have every right to move your clothes out of the : L ?/-v- washer or dryer when they are done. It would be^ttt 5 wise to provide a basket or hamper for the clothes^^ ? in- to be placed in should you not appear on time. 1 fa un- Rule No. 7 ? // above rules fail, take your laun- 1 dry home on the weekends and have Mom do it. '