ustxtxb_obs_1997_05_23_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

THIS ISSUE FEATURES The Apolitician by Karen Olsson Dan Morales runs his campaigns as a defender of victims. Can he run the attorney general’s office the same way? De-Commissioning Labor by Mark Murray 18 When the Texas Workforce Commission was created, Texas labor unions were dubious. Governor Bush’s “Labor”Commissioner has confirmed all their doubts. DEPARTMENTS Dialogue Editorials Cassandra in New York Tax Bill Undone by the Senate Pimps and Bloodsuckers James Galbraith The Budget Balancing Act Jim Hightower Hog Report, Shoe Shame & Pentagon Capers Molly .Ivins Faustian Democrats 2 3 4 5 15 16 17 Dateline Texas Divesting Burma by Andrew Wheat Info Shopping by Nate Blakeslee Political Intelligence BOOKS AND THE CULTURE Disillusion & Hope Poetry by Stan Sanvel Rubin A Maverick Lawyer Book Review by Bob Elder Afterword Clinton in Chilangolandia by Barbara Belejack 21 23 26 27 28 31 Cover art by Kevin Kreneck DIALOGUE VOLUME 89, NO.10 A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of human-kind as the foundation of democracy: we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them we do not necessarily imply that we agree with them, because this is a journal of free voices. SINCE 1954 Founding Editor: Ronnie Dugger Publisher: Geoff Rips Editor: Louis Dubose Associate Editor: Michael King Production: Harrison Saunders Copy Editor: Mimi Bardagjy Poetry Editor: Naomi Shihab Nye Business Manager: Amanda Toering Special Correspondent: Karen Olsson Editorial Intern: Mark Murray Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Barbara Belejack, Betty Brink, Brett Campbell, Jo Clifton, Lars Eighner, James Galbraith, Dagoberto Gilb, James Harrington, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Paul Jennings, Steven Kellman, Tom McClellan, Bryce Milligan, Debbie Nathan, Brad Tyer, James McCarty Yeager. Contributing Photographers: Vic Hinterlang, Patricia Moore, Alan Pogue. Contributing Artists: Michael Alexander, Eric Avery, Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, Beth Epstein, Valerie Fowler, Kevin Kreneck, Michael Krone, Ben Sargent, Gail Woods. Editorial Advisory Board: David Anderson, Austin; Elroy Bode, El Paso; Chandler Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Arlington, Mass.; Bob Eckhardt, Austin; Sissy Farenthold, Houston; 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, Jackson, Miss.; Kaye Northcott, Fort Worth; James Presley, Texarkana; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. Development Consultant: Frances Barton Business Manager: Cliff Olofson, 1931-1995 copyrighted, 0 1997. is published biweekly except for a three-week interval World Wide Web DownHome page: http://www.hyperweb.com/txobserver Periodicals postage paid at Austin. Texas. SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year $32, two years $59, three years $84. Full-time students $18 per year. Back issues $3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilm editions available from University Microfilms Intl., 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. INDEXES: The Texas Observer is indexed in Access: The Supplementary Index to Periodicals; Texas Index and, for the years 1954 through 1981,The Texas Observer Index. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE TEXAS OBSERVER, 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. MONEY FOR NOTHING To the Editor of Texas Monthly: Not only was I annoyed by the lack of substantive content in last month’s issue of Texas Monthly:. I was enraged by your article about the imminent demise of The Texas Observer. That there is a possibility that the Observer might cease publication while Texas Monthly survives speaks too many volumes for the mindset of Texans. The Texas Observer, despite its much more meager resources, continues to provide hard-hitting journalism while this month’s Texas Monthly provides nothing much but hundreds of advertising pages and dubious opinions about the best barbecue in Texas! This week I received renewal notices for both magazines. TM wants $76.70 for two years; the Observer wants $59.00 for two years and asks for donations \(The Texas profit organization; contributions are taxmaining on my TM subscription and only two months of the Observer. I have been a subscriber to both publications for many years. It didn’t take me long to make a decision. Since TM has consistently declined in editorial content and you did not even mention my favorite barbecue joint in this month’s edition, and since the Observer was filled with insightful articles \(including one which denied its imminent demise while acknowledging its scription to the Observer and cancel Texas Monthly. Please refund the balance of my subscription immediately. Upon receipt of the refund \(should be about a hundred tion to The Texas Observer, doing my part for responsible journalism in Texas. Dan Adcock, Attorney Lamesa CORRECTION Due to an editorial oversight, our March 28 announcement of the annual Texas PEN Award for Poetry was incorrect. The winner of the Poetry Award for 1996 was indeed Pam Lange, but her winning poems were as follows: “Tempest,” “Wilding,” “Fall in North Texas,” and “Birth Story.” 2 THE TEXAS OBSERVER MAY 23, 1997