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olutiaa -‘ 410’ 1 awl 1, –._._ —r THE TEXAS 111111 server . A JOURNAL OF We will serve no group or party the truth as we find it and the are dedicated to the whole above all interests, to the rights foundation of democracy; none but our own conscience, look or misrepresent the truth the power* or cater to the ignoble Writers are responsible for for anything they have not themselves publishing them we do not necessarily agree with them because this SINCE fi T 4 11″111 v../L ,,4_ kaii. I. _ , FREE VOICES but will hew hard to right as we see it. We truth, to human values of humankind as the we will take orders from and never will we over to serve the interests of in the human spirit. their own work, but not written, and in imply that we is a journal offree voices, 1954 . Publisher: Ronnie Dugger Editor: Dave Denison Associate Editor: Louis Dubose Editorial Interns: Pauline Cashion, Jim Lacy, Brian Maffly Calendar: Elisa Lyles Washington Correspondents: Mary Anne Reilly, Richard Ryan Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, Warren Burnett, Jo Clifton, John Henry Faulk, Terry FitzPatrick; Gregg Franzwa, Bill Helmer, James Harrington, Amy Johnson, Michael King, Mary Lenz, Dana Loy, Tom McClellan, Greg Moses, Debbie Nathan, Gary Pomerantz, John Schwartz, Michael Ventura, Lawrence Walsh Editorial Advisory Board: Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, Kerrville; Chandler Davidson, Houston; Bob Eckhardt, Washington, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, Cambridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Ivins, 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: Bill Albrecht, Vic Hinterlang, Alan Pogue. Contributing Artists: Eric Avery, Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, Beth Epstein, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin Kreneck, Michael Krone, Carlos Lowry, Ben Sargent, Dan Thibodeau, Gail Woods. Managing Publisher: Cliff Olofson Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom Special Projects Director: Bill Simmons Development Consultant: Frances Barton SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year 527, two years 548, three years 569. Fulltime students 515 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 Arbor, 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. 1989, is published biweekly except for a three-week interval Texas Observer Publishing Co., 307 West 7th Street, Austin, paid at Austin, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE TEXAS OBSERVER. P.O. Box 49019, Austin, Texas 78765 Mysterious Vote Totals I found Ronnie Dugger’s article, “Ballot Security,” amusing \(TO, Everyone seems to be so worried about the accuracy of computerized voting in Texas when there’s no guarantee that the Secretary of State’s official election returns will accurately give the correct county returns. According to Ballot Access News \(3201 newsletter of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections, the county clerk of Wood County, Texas, says no votes were cast for Lenora Fulani for President. But the Texas official election returns show her as having received 564 votes there. The Secretary of State has acknowledged that the county clerk is correct, but has no plans to reissue the official state returns to show the correct, Wood Co. uses paper ballots. What’s disturbing about this is that without the conscientious investigation by BAN’s editor, Richard Winger, this screwup wouldn’t have become known. Mr. Winger wondered why Fulani would get five percent of the vote in Wood County when her vote elsewhere in the state was negligible. Someone should tell Tom Harrison that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Honesty is not enough. Earl Divoky Fresno “Common Sense” on Jackson In answer to the flood of pro-Jackson letters in the June 16th issue I would like to state that I am a liberal Democrat but I have enough common sense to know that so long as the Democrats embrace Jackson along with his liberal views it is destined to elect Republican administrations. The only hope for the liberals is to “fight fire with fire.” That is, to be just as evasive as the Republicans. They must nominate a “centrist” running with a platform that will appeal to the majority of the voters. This means it must be aimed at the center majority but will be fair to both the rich and the poor. After a Democratic administration is in power it will be time to pass laws that will undo the damage done during the Reagan years. The first goal is to outlaw PACs. Corporation political gifts should be abolished and a very strict limit should apply to individual gifts, counting both direct and indirect gifts. It will be an uphill battle to remove the current “bought and paid for” Congress but when things get bad enough I think the voters will see that the only hope for the future of the country is to have a Congress that will work for the interest of all of its citizens instead of mainly for the wealthy who keep electing politicans through the power of expensive advertisements. My fervent hope is that Rev. Jackson will pursue his religious calling or, if he wants to be a politician, he will run for an office that he has a chance to win. W. C. Welz Baytown The RichardsMattox Race We want to know how Ann and Jim differ on the issues not about their personal finances. P. Wilson Austin Cannibalistic Tendencies Your front page editorial endorsing Ann Richards was highly entertaining. Once again, you have shown impressive evidence that the cannibalistic tendencies of the Texas left are a major factor in its inability to win elections. Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez documented cash transfers and Nixon’s federal patronage to the late and unlamented La Raza Unida Party in Crystal City in the early 1970s. One wonders, were the sage . of King’s Highway to dig into T.O.’s finances, would he find a check from Lee Atwater among your income? Nick Shuler, Jr. Alvin \(Editor’s note: In case the reader does not detect Mr. Shuler’s sarcasm, we would like to point out that we have not run any frontpage editorials endorsing Ann Richards. In the June 16 edition of the Observer we published a front-page report on financial questions having to do with Attorney A NOTE TO OUR READERS We are taking our annual summer break. Our next edition will be dated August 4. Watch for our Special Report: “Flag DesecrationA Burning Issue.” DIALOGUE 2 JULY 14, 1989