ustxtxb_obs_1988_01_15_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

A -”S FOE ifiA ALA Au 1..L!. :…4–. –\\ \\ 1 Agia -%. giVIt it, ‘… r3 A rill —.. OF or and whole the the to not not this server it -1 TEXAS FREE VOICES party.but will hew hard to the right as we see it. We truth, to human values rights of humankind as the we will take orders from and never will we truth to serve the interests the ignoble in the human for their own work, but not themselves written, and in necessarily imply that we is a journal of free voices. F.., TH.E 1101P A JOURNAL We will serve no group the truth as we find it are dedicated to the above all interests, to foundation of democracy; none but our own conscience, overlook or misrepresent of the powerful or cater spirit. Writers are responsible for anything they have publishing them we do agree with them because Publisher: Ronnie Dugger Editor: Dave Denison Associate Editor: Louis Dubose Editorial Assistant: Kathleen Fitzgerald Calendar: Kathleen Fitzgerald Washington Correspondent: Richard Ryan Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, Warren Burnett, Jo Clifton, Craig Clifford, John Henry Faulk, Terry FitzPatrick, Greg Franzwa, Bill Helmer, James Harrington, Amy Johnson, Michael King, Dana Loy, Rick Piltz, Gary Pomerantz, Susan Raleigh, John Schwartz, Michael Ventura, Lawrence Walsh Editorial Advisory Board: Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, Kerrville; Chandler Davidson, Houston; Bob Eckhardt, Washington, D.C.; Sissy Farenthold, Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, Cambridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly lvins, Austin; Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Oxford, Miss.; Kaye Northcott, Austin; James Presley, Texarkana; Susan Reid, Austin; Geoffrey Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg; Robert Sherrill, Tallahassee, Fla. Layout and Design: Layne Jackson Typesetter: Becky Willard Contributing Photographers: Vic Hinterlang, Bill Leissner, Alan Pogue. . Contributing Artists: Eric Avery, Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, Beth Epstein, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin Kreneck, Carlos Lowry, Ben Sargent, Dan Thibodeau. Gail Woods. Managing Publisher: Cliff Olofson Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom Publishing Consultant: Frances Barton Development Consultant: Hanno T. Beck for a three-week interval between issues in January and July \(25 issues per D by the Texas Observer Publishing Co. 600 West class postage paid at Austin. Texas. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to 600 West 28th Street, #105, Austin. Texas 78705. SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year $27, two years $48, three years $69. Fulltime students $15 per year. Back issues S3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilm editions available from University Microfilms Intl., 300 N. Zceb Road, Ann Atbor, MI 48106. Any current subscriber who finds the price a burden should say so at renewal time. no one need forgo reading the Observer simply because of the cost. Address all correspondence to: The Texas Observer, 600 West 28th Street, #105, Austin. Texas 78705. Spurred On By Wright Article Please find enclosed my renewal. Mr. Adler’s article on Dixon and Wright \(TO, spurred me on. Robert Lebow Houston Upset By Wright Article Your article on Jim Wright upset me a lot. He has done so much good for our area and our country and the hemisphere that picking one small area of his actions and putting these in the most unfavorable light possible is a great disservice to him and our country. Please try to get, some sort of balance to this denigrating story by telling how much he has helped our country as well as his constituents. Your half truths have been a great comfort to Newt Gingrich or was he your consultant for the article? Beth Clardy Fort Worth Bottom of The Barrel Bill Adler reached into the manure barrel on this one. His stinger was out for Jim Wright, the only leader in Congress who is serious enough for peace in Central America to go the long mile. Don Dixon may be headed for the Big House and may deserve it, but your frontpage spread fails to connect the House Speaker. Your insinuations, innuendos, and deliberate smear campaign is protected by the public figure rule. It is an unfair and unjustified way to harm a public servant. The Observer has better trails to follow. You owe an apology to Jim Wright. Vince Taylor Dripping Springs The View Of Wright Your recent article on Jim Wright causes me much consternation. If your publication is one of these sanctimonious publications and has an assumption of having a direct line to-God and is the overseer of what is good and bad and always hews to a totally objective expression, then it seems to me that there are so many of these kinds of publications that there is no reason for the existence of The Texas Observer. I read it and I support it because I perceive that its purpose is to be the expression of the liberal point of view. For me, what I perceive to be the liberal point of view is best expressed in Walter Lippmann’s famous quotation. “The lesson of the tremendous days through which we are passing is that men cannot live upon the achievements of their forefathers, but must themselves renew them . . . We can not escape . .. the elementary facts of life that for a people there is nothing for nothing, that what they have they must themselves make, that what they cherish they must themselves achieve, what they wish to keep they must defend.” I have known Jim Wright for over 50 years. Now I’m not talking about a perfunctory relationship. Ours is a ‘relationship that anteceded even his first election as a member of the House of Representatives. In all of those years we have had many, many private conversations. I use the word “private” advisedly. It was in these talkings that he and I exchanged in an intimate way the kind of world that we really wanted. I don’t think that I’ve ever known any politician, and I’ve known hundreds and hundreds of them, that ever had more dedication to serving the interest of every single citizen, not only in the United States but in the world, than Jim Wright. Here you have Jim just newly elected as speaker of the House, reputedly to be the third most powerful position in these United States, and because of his commitment to the kind of world to which I just alluded, he says, “Those of you who are rich shouldn’t get a reduction in your income tax when it’s supposed to go into effect in 1988.” It wasn’t a very popular thing to do, but ol’ Jim Wright, this individual that you cast in such a villainous role, took the heat; but here was an issue that for him was one which could not be compromised. The rich could afford, and by golly, the poor need help. He didn’t get much support. Did the Observer run his picture on the front page of the ensuing issue after Jim’s expression on taxes? Well, they found some article by someone I’ve never heard of, and truthfully positively wouldn’t care to meet, who acts like he has discovered eternal verities about this man called Jim Wright. I wonder if this writer has ever asked Jim the question, “Did you know this man Dixon?” Well, the truth is, my dear Texas Observer editor, Jim Wright never met the man and wouldn’t know him if he walked into his office. Of course Jim is concerned about the savings and loan industry. It needed concern then, and it needs it even more today. Texas is having a very, very serious economic depression. The savings and loans are having serious difficulty achieving a stable situation because of.the economic situation in our state. Jim’s efforts are what my concerned elected official’s position should have been. And given the fact that the collapse of the savings and loan industry would affect millions of Texans, he ought to be commended for the fact’ that he was willing to stick his neck out. He wasn’t concerned about any specific savings and loan; he was concerned about an industry. Continued on Page 27 DIALOGUE 2 JANUARY 15, 1988