ustxtxb_obs_1992_10_16_50_00007-00000_000.pdf

ing member of the administration’s Justice Department to justify government license to determine which books could be shelved in a federally supported library.” “Religious zealots did write this platform zealots who have forgotten that the Kingdom of God on Earth is spiritual, not political. The party sets out a choice for those of us who are moderate Republicans: Support the party or support the Constitution. It’s not a hard choice. I will vote for Bill Clinton,” concluded Frohnmayer. V WAITING TO PLEAS. Former state parole board chairman James Granberry pleaded the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as.he refused to answer questions from a Texas Senate committee about his parole consulting business and actions that may have helped gain the release of Kenneth McDuff, the convicted killer who is charged with killing two Central Texas women after his December 1990 parole. Granberry, Republican nominee for Governor in 1974, was appointed to the Board of Pardons and Paroles by then-Gov. Bill Clements in 1989. He voted to release McDuff in 1990 and stepped down as chairman of the parole board in May 1991 to become a consultant, representing prisoners seeking parole. Sen. Ted Lyon, D-Rockwall, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, has proposed reforms in the state’s parole process, including provision for life without parole for capital offenders and a prohibition against parole board members and staff from representing clients before the board for at least 10 years r after leaving the agency. Continued from pg. 24 V RICH MEN’S ETHICS. “Ethically they’re fine people, they’re good people … They just had some down periods,” said Bobby Holt, the national fundraising chair of Bush-Quayle ’92, in defense of GOP donors with connections to the S&L scandal, as quoted in Common Cause Magazine. Holt, a Midland oilman, is the fatherin-law of Barry Williamson, the Republican candidate for Railroad Commissioner who has expressed indignation at the rsum lapses of Democratic incumbent Commissioner Lena Guerrero. V FAMILY VALUES is one thing, but paying for it is quite another, as the vote on the Family Leave Bill showed. The U.S. House voted 241-161 to require employers to grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for personal and medical emergencies, including pregnancy. With the exception of Rep. Lamar Smith of San Antonio, Texas Republicans voted against the bill, which the President had promised to veto, as he vetoed a similar bill in 1990. Bill Clinton supported the bill, and the House again failed to override Bush’s veto. Six of 18 Texas Democrats voted against the bill: Chet Edwards of Waco, Pete Geren of Fort Worth, Greg Laughlin of West Columbia, Bill Sarpalius of Amarillo and Charles Stenholm of Avoca broke with the party to vote “no,” while Charles Wilson of Lufkin, a co-sponsor, missed the vote but later voted to .override the veto. The Senate had passed the bill on a voice vote. V SARAH WEDDINGTON, whose recently released A Question of Choice tells the story of Weddington’s 1970 Supreme Court victory as an attorney in Roe vs. Wade, will debate conservative spokesperson Phyllis Schlafly at the University of Texas in Austin on Oct. 20. Weddington’s book promotional tour has been something of a one-woman campaign for the election of Bill Clinton. In Houston, she cited the Clarence Thomas appointment to the Supreme Court and warned that the Court could move to even further to the right if Bush is re-elected. This election, Weddington told a Democratic Forum gathering in Austin, is crucial to those who support a woman’s right to choose. V DEFECTIONS from the GOP are not limited to those living with in driving distance of the Astrodome, either, In an op-piece published in the Houston Chronicle, John Frohnmayer, the former chair for the National Endowment for the Arts who was fired on the eve of the , Republican convention, described the GOP platform as incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. Frohnmayer cited that the platform’s calls for control of blasphemy, which he noted first requires a definition of the religious dogma the law would protect. He also noted the platform’s “assault on divergent lifestyles \(read: guerilla war against American values’.” “What ever happened to free speech?” Frohnmayer asks. “Rust vs. Sullivan, the abortion counseling case, was used by a high-rank Subscriptions to and back issues of The Texas Observer are available. that leg Fill in the gaps in your collection or even out short on for $3 for back issue your table only each you need. We still have plenty of copies of the following issues: To inquire, call 512/477-0746 or write: Texas Observer Back Issues, 307 W. 7th St., Austin, Texas 78701 TO SUBSCRIBE: Name Address City State Zip $32 enclosed for a one-year subscription. Bill me for $32. $3 for each back issue. Please indicate dates: THE TEXAS OBSERVER 7