ustxtxb_obs_1998_02_13_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

VOLUME 90, NO. 3 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 powedid 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 Editors: Louis Dubose, Michael King Assistant Editor: Mimi Bardagjy Associate Editor: Karen Olsson Poetry Editor: Naomi Shihab Nye Business Manager, Web Editor: Amanda Toering Development Director: Nancy Williams Production: Harrison Saunders Circulation Assistant: Jeff Mandell Technical Consultant: Brian Ferguson Editorial Intern: Juliana Barbassa Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Barbara Belejack, Betty Brink, Brett Campbell, Lars Eighner, James K. Galbraith, Dagoberto Gilb, James Harrington, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Paul Jennings, Steven G. Kellman, Bryce Milligan, Char Miller, Debbie Nathan, John Ross, Carol Stall, Brad Tyer, James McCarty Yeager. Staff Photographer: Alan Pogue Contributing Photographers: Vic Hinterlang, Patricia Moore. Contributing Artists: 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.; Molly Ivins, Austin; Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Jackson, Miss.; Kaye Northcott, Fort Worth; James Presley, Galveston; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. In Memoriam: Cliff Olofson, 1931-1995 copyrighted, 1998, is published biweekly except for a three-week interval World Wide Web DownHome page: http://texasobserver.org . Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas. SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year $32, two years $59, three years $84. Full-time students $18 per year; add $13/year for foreign subs. 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, MI 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. THIS ISSUE 1 DEPARTMENTS Dialogue 2 Editorial 4 The Humanity of Karla Faye Tucker by David R. Dow Dateline Texas 6 MAI-day for America by Michael King Las Americas 14 Death Squads in Chiapas by John Ross Political Intelligence 16 Molly Ivins On Presidents and Cows Jim Hightower Meat Irradiating, Bonus Babies & Cable Hoax DIALOGUE VIVA HOUSTON BLUES! Thanks for the article on Heather Korb’s Third Ward film \(Third Ward Blues, reviewed by Paul Jennings, in “Houston hope it makes it to the East Coast someday so I can see it. Lightnin’ Hopkins was a powerful influence on me, and I can remember driving from Oklahoma across the Red River to Wichita Falls to buy his records and those of a lot of other Texas bluesmen that I just couldn’t seem to locate in my local record store. Long live the blues in the Third Ward. Bill Mackechnie Annapolis, Maryland EVERYBODY KNOWS Please advise Mr. David Richards of Santa Fe, New Mexico \(“Yarborough Did It,” DiJohnson asked JFK to make Sarah Hughes a federal judge. JFK left it up to his brother. Robert hated Johnson so he 8 12 BOOKS AND THE CULTURE Of Boys and Gunshots 21 Poetry by Jennifer Weinblatt A Sensuously Committed Life 22 Remembering Denise Levertov by Rosemary Catacalos Bloodlines of American Music 25 Review by Mark Smith 28 30 Cover art by Harrison Saunders sed no. Johnson went to Sara Hughes’ office to tell her that he was sorry that he couldn’t swing the deal to get the federal judgeship for her. While Johnson was en route to Texas Bobby went to Mr. Sam to see about some legislation that he was interested in. Mr. Sam sed, “Boy! If you ever want this legislation to see the light of day you must make Sarah Hughes a federal judge.” Whereupon Bobby went back to his office and immediately made Sara Hughes a federal judge. While Johnson was in her office making his apology the word came in from Washington that she had just been appointed a federal judge. The embarrassment to Johnson added to his hatred of RFK. For the life of me I cannot remember where I learned this but I thought everybody knew it. Robert Parnell Waco P.S. The Nation magazine sez that so far what independent counsels have mostly FEATURES Mad Cows and Cattlemen by Karen Olsson Journalistic hearts sank in Amarillo, as reporters watched Monica Lewinsky replace Oprah Winfrey as News-of-the-Day. So where’s the real beef in the Mad Cow Trial? Nuclear Whistleblowers Lose Round One by Louis Dubose Pantex technicians who risk their lives decommissioning bombs asked a Department of Labor judge to protect them. He told them what great guys their bosses are. Coaching History Book Review by Char Miller Afterword A Journey to El Cielo 18 by John Umphress The Back Page 32 19 Pantox & IBL: Nuke the Beef’ 2 THE TEXAS OBSERVER FEBRUARY 13, 1998