ustxtxb_obs_1976_06_04_50_00016-00000_000.pdf

I said and what Coe said, for she said Coe said about the same thing I said when she interviewed him. In the Observer she never did pinpoint why Thompson and Lack wanted Coe defeated, though it was easy to see: so they could control the district attorney. They and they alone elected Kirkpatrick. All those cases in county court that Thompson and Lack disposed of and for which they have been indicted each on three counts, were the county attorney’s cases. Why didn’t she inquire why the county attorney, George Kirkpatrick, Jr., did not dispose of his own cases instead of allowing Lack and Thompson to do it? Now that Thompson and Lack have been indicted in the attorney general’s investigation with Coe never present in the grand jury room, I hope that Kaye will call up the A.G. in Austin and publish the statement I heard last night over Channel 6, Beaumont, that the indictments were not political as Lack and Thompson claimed. In my books Kaye Northcott is a pisspoor reporter and has disgraced the Observer and Ronnie Dugger ought to fire her forthwith. Archer Fullingim, Route 1, Box 316, Kountze, Tex. 77625. Fullingim made it perfectly clear to the Observer that his sympathies were with Stanley Coe. He and Coe both had similar views on the “blackmail” matter, and I chose to quote Coe \(Obs., greater length than Fullingim because Coe was a principal in the story and Fullingim was not. I was told off the record that Lack confirmed in a meeting that the photos were of him. Fullingim was not bound by such a stricture. I did not say that Emmett Lack was the subject in the pictures because I don’t have personal knowledge that he is and I chose not to take the responsibility for making such a direct accusation. But his statement to the press all but confirms that he is, and I quoted that statement at length. A number of people read the article before publication, and they unanimously con cluded that Lack was the man in the pictures. That, I believe, was the thrust of the story. As for the quotations that Fullingim is renouncing, I quoted him as using the term “Boys Town,” not “Boyville.” I stand by every quote. Writing a political story about Hardin County is like walking through a minefield. Funny thing is, Fullingim was one of the few people I thought I’d avoided stepping on. K.N. For privacy act The narrow scope of perception of our state politicians is once again apparent…. The old issues of governmental spending, taxation, education, and the protection of local or regional interests, important as these may be, have once again dominated the debates of the various candidates for public office. Unfortunately, Texans are once again deprived of candidates who are willing and able to address themselves to broader social issues, apparently preferring to defer the resolution of such issues to the federal government. One area, appropriate to consideration and resolution at the state level, is that of defining and protecting the right of Texas citizens to privacy. What Texas needs is a comprehensive privacy act to lay down and enforce guidelines and provisions safeguarding the rights of Texans to be free of unwarranted and unnecessary invasions of their privacy by agencies of the state government and by those persons and businesses whose activities significantly affect the public interest. The 65th Texas Legislature should address itself to the problem of the intrusion of the state government upon the private lives of Texans. It should consider, and pass, a broad-ranging privacy act setting limits on the collection, storage, and dissemination of information about individual Texans and the surveillance and maintenance of dossiers on collective groups of our citizens. Bob Atwood, Rockport, Tex. 78382. THE TEXAS OBSERVER “The always impious Texas Observer . . . We recommend it” I. F. Stone’s Bi-Weekly, May 31, 1971 II. . . the Progressive and the Texas Observer, both of them knowledgeable, superbly written, and leavened by a wit of which conservatives seem incapable.” George Frazier, The Boston Globe, Dec. 15, 1973 “Oddly, the impact of some of its biggest stories comes on the rebound: They are picked up and commented on nationally before the state’s daily press recognizes them.” Lew Powell, Chicago Journalism Review, April, 1974 “One of the best publications in the country remains the Texas Observer.” Pete Hamill, The New York Post, Dec. 18, 1969 “The Observer is the conscience of the political community in Texas.” Andrew Kopkind, The New Republic, Nov. 20, 1965 “I think the Observer ranks with The Progressive as one of the two most useful papers in the United States.” John Kenneth Galbraith, Sept. 16, 1970 “The Observer keeps coming out with serious and thorough news of this critically important state which people inside and out can’t get elsewhere.” Nicholas von Hoffman, The Washington Post, Sept. 10, 1971 [ ] One Year $10.00 [ Two Years $18.00. [ ] Three Years $25.00 \(Non-Texas addresses exempt from 5% sales tax included in rates listed Name Street City & State Zip [ ] Check encl. [ Bill me 600 WEST 7 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701 Postmaster: If undeliverable, send Form 3579 to The Texas Observer, 600 West 7, Austin, TX 78701. Job opening Molly Ivins is decamping to the Big Apple to work for The New York Times. The valedictories will appear in a later issue. Meantime, the Observer’is soliciting applications for a new editorial employee. We are primarily interested in persons with writing and editing talent who have some grasp of the Texas power structure and political situation. Persons wishing to apply should submit resumes, samples of their work, and suggestions concerning the direction of the Observer.