ustxtxb_obs_2000_07_07_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

GET THE WORD ON THE POLITICS OF AMERICA. Buy A Subscription Get a Free Hardcover Book Molly Ivins calls Texas the National Laboratory for Bad Government. Read about your future in The Texas Observer. Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, James K. Galbraith, a biweekly Bush Beat, and a critical, irreverent look at the Great State that George W. and Poppy call home. Subscribe now for one year at Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates Development as Freedom IF THE GODS 11A0 MEANT VS TO VOTE .1611E1 WOULD ‘:::.:NAVE GIVEN US CANT, OATES /0,111011IONEXT vrLormr. AS FE DO MAJ SE YES! Please send me 0 Shrub or U If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote or 0 Development as Freedom. Mail book and subscription to: Name Street City/State/Zip Send a check or credit card information to: The Texas Observer/Books, 307 W. 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 Credit Card: 0 Master Card 0 Visa 0 American Express Name Number Expiration Date For more information, call or visit us online: www.texasobserver.org “Dialogue,” from page 2 Harvard Law School Graduate, Moreno is qualified, but Moreno was poli-zapped. This news went under-reported throughout the country, Texas and even in El Paso where the editor of the local fishwrap is a closet Bush supporter who wants to be elsewhere. Like maybe Washington, huh? Lou wrote the article about Moreno, so right to the end of his T.O. stewardship he’s writing about border issues. Indeed, The Texas Observer, thanks to Lou, is the only journal in Texas and the nation that thoughtfully covers the issues that affect us here on the U.S./Mexico Border. We’ll miss you, Lou. Good luck. Bobby Byrd, Publisher Cinco Puntos Press El Paso After facing down political scoundrels, corpo rate bullies, and literary prima donnas for thir teen years, Lou Dubose deserves to have his face up on Mount Rushmore. Editing The Texas Ob server demands honesty, assiduity, lucidity, and poverty, and anyone who does it for more than a month is a saint. May the state’s best indepen dent publication and its gentle but tenacious leader thrive as well apart as they did together. Steven G. Kellman San Antonio Cheers and Farewell to Louis Dubose. He’s my kind of maverick. Maury Maverick, Jr. San Antonio SEDUCED BY NADER As progressives are seduced by the siren song of Ralph Nader and the Green Party, we risk falling again into the well-known trap of our two-party political system: if the Democrats aren’t united, the Republicans get elected, and vice versa. The United States doesn’t have a parliamentary system, so if Nader gets 5 percent of the vote, the Greens don’t get 5 percent of the seats in George W. Bush for at least four long years. The presidency of Bush II will include the appointment of up to three more right-of-center Supreme Court Justices to weaken the Bill of Rights and to strengthen corporate dominance for decades. Bush, who remains in denial on global warming, can also be counted on to make environmental protection “voluntary” like he has in Texas. The federal agencies will be led by people whose compassion comes well after their profit-oriented conservatism. Social Security will be partly privatized as Bush now threatens. The huge gap between rich and poor will widen. As reported on “Meet the Press,” a recent poll shows Bush winning by 4 percent over Gore with Nader pulling 5 percent of the liberal vote. Nader says his purpose is to push progressive issues, and that the Democrats can use a four year “cold shower” as punishment for the inadequacies of the Clinton administration. Is Mr. Nader, who has a long and distinguished record, on an ego trip? I understand his desire to drive the Democrats to more progressive positions on international trade, civil liberties, consumer rights, environmental protection, defense spending, etc. But that can be done much more effectively from inside the party and from inside elected positions of political power. If Bush gets elected, the Greens will have done a historic disservice to their important cause in this critical time. Darby Riley, Chair Texas Environmental Democrats San Antonio DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS I should like to correct Jim Hightower’s mischaracterization of George W.’s air pollution abatement program called C.A.R.E. It is not a program of voluntary “compliance” with Texas clean air laws, as Jim says in his column \(“The tary “reductions” real small reductions in emissions from grandfathered plants. Wake up and taste the sulfates, folks. Joel Gormley Fort Davis JULY 7, 2000 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 15