ustxtxb_obs_1991_11_15_50_00017-00000_000.pdf

4 : ::J 😮 n . =v , , 4 lommt *mom .44 4 fj 14.1 if. r”” 4,. \(“I r. themselves as outsiders. When Hunter S. Thompson remarked that the Democratic party’s reaction to McCarthy’s 1972 campaign was “something like hearing the Hound of the Baskervilles sniffing and pissing around on your porch every night,” he might as well have been describing media horror at the return of the October Surprise Surprise would be to find good reporting of the alleged 1980 election scandal in the Texas press. Since virtually every media outlet in the country has wilfully ignored the October Surprise story for 10 years, it’s embarrassing having to deal with it now. But with Esquire magazine in the chase, it’s getting too big to ignore. In October’s Esquire, Craig Unger concludes that “a compelling case can be made that in 19.80, this country experienced its first and only coup d’etat and never knew a.thing.” Others would say it was the second coup d’etat, but it’s still heady stuff from a mag that in June devoted a cover story to “How Bush Made It.” \(Perhaps Unger’s story should have One reporter interested in the October Surprise story, Danny Casolaro, ended up dead has a chilling piece about this subject. In an op-ed piece in the New York Times \(10/21/ Richardson says he believes Casolaro was murdered and calls for a special prosecuter to be appointed to investigate the Inslaw case, one of several bizarre threads in the October Surprise/ BCCl/ Iran-contra etc. story. The New York Times has grabbed Sy Hersh to investigate the story for them at the moment, Hersh says, “The New York Times basically has a bunch of reporters watching TV and writing about what they see.” That doesn’t augur well for how the Texas press is going to chase this one down, but we’ll be watching with curiosity. Huge chunks of this story have yet to be told.At the time the Observer went to press, a Congressional panel was scheduled to begin closed -door hearings on the subject. Now that the public has had its say on the lottery, here’s how the newspapers were lining up. Most statewide newspapers endorsed the lottery, for a series of dodgy-sounding reasons; many of the endorsements were “reluctant.” Responding to charges that the lottery is an economic band-aid, the Dallas Times-Herald produced this argumentative masterpiece: “We say this is just the sort of moment for which Band-Aids were invented.” With that level of economic wisdom, they should be in government, not journalism. The Houston Post opposed the lottery, and added: “A lottery would not be successful without intense advertising to convince people they’re going to get rich for practically nothing.” Intense advertising means buckets of money for newspapers \(though the Comptroller’s office refuses to say where adwhy so many papers endorsed the lottery. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times also dissented, saying that “the state run lottery is a con, nothing more, nothing less.” Can’t let this one go. Sen .. Alan “Spiro” Simpson, R-Wyo., was sicked on the press just before vote to confirm Thomas. \(He also attacked NPR reporter Nina Totenberg during in the Senate, Simpson brandished the journalistic ethics code and lamented the sorry state of journalism. On CNN, studio anchor Frank Cesno asked congressional correspondent Bob Franken about the outburst. Franken replied that despite the assault, Simpson was actually “good humored and very accessible,” and that despite the appearance of conflict, they “get along very well.” Viewers were doubtless relieved to hear that an adversarial relationship between the media and politicians was merely illusory. Later, Simpson publicly apologized for some of his more outrageous behavior during the hearings. ASSASSIN SYMPO ON JOHN F. Thursday Saturday November 14 16, 1991 The Hyatt Regency at Reunion Square Dallas, Texas On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as his limousine and motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Twenty-eight years later, a symposium dedicated to discussing this event will convene at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Reunion Square, blocks away from the assassination site. ASK will feature seven panel discussions concerning various aspects of the Kennedy shooting. Some of the authors, experts and eyewitnesses who will serve as panelists include Dr. Charles Crenshaw, John Davis, Bob Dorff, George Michael Evica, Mary Ferrell, Robert Groden, Larry Harris, Ed Hoffman, Mark Lane, David Lifton, Jim Marrs, Jim Moore, Paul O’Connor, Beverly Oliver, Jim Olivier, Aubrey Rike, Dr. Jerry Rose, J. Gary Shaw, Malcolm Summers, Dave Tucker, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, and Jack White. Registration cost for ASK is $100 before November 1 and $125 walkup. To register, send name and address Express accepted. To receive more information and a registration brochure, call 512/445-8390. ASK is co-sponsored by the JFK Assassination Information Center, a 3,000 square foot museum and research facility located in Dallas’ West End Market District, and The Texas Observer, a thirty-six-year-old biweekly journal of Texas politics and culture. A TION S IUM K ENNEDY THE TEXAS OBSERVER 17