BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
AT THE HEARING ON THE IMPEACHMENT
INQUIRY PURSUANT TO H. RES. 581

This morning we commence our second public hearing in fulfillment of the mandate imposed on us in H.Res. 581. While the business of impeachment is rare, and happily so, it becomes necessary from time to time when circumstances require that it be exercised as a constitutional counterbalance to allegations of serious abuse of Presidential power. It is a part of the series of checks and balances that exemplify the genius of our founding fathers.

There are many voices telling us to halt this debate - that the people are weary of it all. There are other voices, which apparently you prefer to listen to rather than the democratic process, suggesting we have a duty to debate the many questions raised by the circumstances we find ourselves in -- questions of high consequence for constitutional government.

Voices Hyde Listens To

David Broder and the Limits of
Mainstream Liberalism

By Edward S. Herman

EXTRA! (11-12/94)

Several years ago, a Central America activist asked the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Who on his opinion page was the leftist who offset his regular offerings of George Will and Charles Krauthammer? David Broder, the editor replied.

Broder himself would quite properly deny this designation of "leftist."
But it is true that in the spectrum of opinion of leading syndicated columnists he is on the left.

In Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics, Eric Alterman points out that "Broder is the only non-right-wing pundit who begins to challenge the circulation numbers of the likes of Will [James J.] Kilpatrick and [Patrick] Buchanan," and that in the print media "the `responsible' political dialogue on the Great
Issues of the Day is thus often perceived to fall between Will on the one hand and Broder on the other." How critical and how far left does the dialogue go with Broder as the limit?

Lazy Insider

David Broder has been a successful columnist partly because he writes in a readable style on topics of current interest, partly because he seldom offends or threatens anybody. He flatters the public, the media, leading politicians and the established order in general, while occasionally chiding each of these.

One of Broder's favorite themes is the danger of reporters getting too close to their sources, and he congratulates the press (12/4/88) for "its determination to keep its distance from government, not only to avoid censorship, but to avoid co-optation." He clearly puts himself in the class of outsiders who are "inquisitive, impudent, incorrigibly independent," who "hold [government officials'] feet to the fire and devil them with questions and make them, if they can, explain and justify what they do."

But Broder is describing somebody like the late I.F. Stone, or Robert Parry, who broke much of the Iran-contra story while working for Associated Press -- surely not himself. Broder's columns never display a serious investigative effort.

Nor does he seek out independent, critical sources: In his numerous articles on economics, for example, he never cites Ralph Nader, Jeff Faux of the Economic Policy Institute, Robert McIntyre or Citizens for Tax Justice, or representatives of the Center for Defense Information.

Skip the Editorial

Instead, he quotes spokespersons for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Hoover Institution, the Cato Institute, the Democratic Leadership Council's Progressive Policy Institute and other conservative think tanks.

The farthest left Broder goes in tapping policy institute sources is Brookings, now run by former Republican officials and safely in the establishment fold.

Broder relies heavily on government officials. He reports on interviews with Bush, Richard Cheney, Daniel Moynihan, William Gray, Lee Hamilton, Les Aspin, Colin Powell and William Bennett, and he cites many other officials. He never questions their motives, and with rare exceptions takes what they say at face value. On Reagan's bombing of Libya in 1986, Broder assured his readers (4/20/86) that "Reagan has been insistent that every possible step be taken to spare the innocent," an unverifiable claim of no value except as official propaganda.

REMARKS BY WILLIAM BENNETT

FORMER SECRETARY OF EDUCATION AT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CONVENTION'S NOMINATION OF DAN QUAYLE FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT ON AUGUST 19, 1992

HOUSTON, Texas - Thank you. Let me start by departing from my text. As a trained philosopher and as a sometimes objective commentator for the news media, I'd like to say I think this is a whole lot more interesting than New York.

Skip the Editorial

This is a diverse party in may ways - intellectually. And we can be very proud of that fact. That other party has nothing on us. It's late Summer in Houston at the Astrodome. We're in the process now of getting our team on the field. And we are in this week determining the nature of the game we're about to play.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to stand before you tonight to renominate Dan Quayle as Vice President of the United States. Dan Quayle - I know Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle is a friend of mine and he's a friend of yours and he's a great public servant. I'm particularly pleased to have the honor today because of Dan Quayle's success in sparking a much needed debate about our most important social issues, the values by which we live and the values we convey to our children.

"I want to be Robin to Bush's Batman."

The Ultimate Collection of Quayle Quotes

The Everlasting GOP-Stopper

Remember the last time the Republicans held the White House? No? Well, maybe these genuine quotes from Vice President Dan Quayle will jog your memory:

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle (The New Yorker, October 10, 1988, p.102)

"I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle winning friends while speaking to the United Negro College Fund

"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

Mars is essentially in the same orbit... somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"Are they taking DDT?"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle asking doctors at a Manhattan AIDS clinic about their treatments of choice. (NY Post, early May 92)

"Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is IN the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, September 1989

"You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy campers you will always be."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle, to the American Samoans, whose capital Quayle pronounces "Pogo Pogo"

"We expect them [Salvadoran officials] to work toward the elimination of human rights."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"El Salvador is a democracy so it's not surprising that there are many voices to be heard here. Yet in my conversations with Salvadorans... I have heard a single voice."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle, to the Phoenix Republican Forum, March 1990

Skip the Editorial

"It's rural America. It's where I came from. We always refer to ourselves as real America. Rural America, real America, real, real, America."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"[I will never have] another Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy Carter grain embargo."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle during the Bentsen debate

"Target prices? How that works? I know quite a bit about farm policy. I come from Indiana, which is a farm state. Deficiency payments - which are the key - that is what gets money into the farmer's hands. We got loan, uh, rates, we got target, uh, prices, uh, I have worked very closely with my senior colleague, (Indiana Sen.) Richard Lugar, making sure that the farmers of Indiana are taken care of."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle on being asked to define the term "target prices." Quayle's press secretary then cut short the press conference, after two minutes and 30 seconds.

Skip the Editorial

"I'm not going to focus on what I have done in the past what I stand for, what I articulate to the American people. The American people will judge me on what I am saying and what I have done in the last 12 years in the Congress."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I want to be Robin to Bush's Batman."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"We should develop anti-satellite weapons because we could not have prevailed without them in 'Red Storm Rising'."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"The US has a vital interest in that area of the country."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle Referring to Latin America.

"Japan is an important ally of ours. Japan and the United States of the Western industrialized capacity, 60 percent of the GNP, two countries. That's a statement in and of itself."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

Skip the Editorial

"Who would have predicted... that Dubcek, who brought the tanks in in Czechoslovakia in 1968 is now being proclaimed a hero in Czechoslovakia. Unbelievable."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle Actually, Dubcek was the leader of the Prague Spring.

"May our nation continue to be the beakon of hope to the world."

-- The Quayle's 1989 Christmas card.
[Not a beacon of literacy, though.]

"Why wouldn't an enhanced deterrent, a more stable peace, a better prospect to denying the ones who enter conflict in the first place to have a reduction of offensive systems and an introduction to defensive capability. I believe that is the route this country will eventually go."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"Well, it looks as if the top part fell on the bottom part."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle referring to the collapsed section of the 880 freeway after the San Francisco earthquake of 1989.

"Getting [cruise missiles] more accurate so that we can have precise precision."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle referring to his legislative work dealing with cruise missiles

"I can identify with steelworkers. I can identify with workers that have had a difficult time."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle addressing workers at an Ohio steel plant,1988

Skip the Editorial

"Certainly, I know what to do, and when I am Vice President -- and I will be -- there will be contingency plans under different sets of situations and I tell you what, I'm not going to go out and hold a news conference about it. I'm going to put it in a safe and keep it there! Does that answer your question?"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle when asked what he would do if he assumed the Presidency (1988)

"Lookit, I've done it their way this far and now it's my turn. I'm my own handler. Any questions? Ask me ... There's not going to be any more handler stories because I'm the handler ... I'm Doctor Spin."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle responding to press reports that his aides have to, in effect, "handle" him.

"Bobby Knight told me this: 'There is nothing that a good defense cannot beat a better offense.' In other words a good offense wins."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle comparing the offensive capabilities of the Warsaw Pact with the defensive system of NATO

Skip the Editorial

"Let me just tell you how thrilling it really is, and how, what a challenge it is, because in 1988 the question is whether we're going forward to tomorrow or whether we're going to go past to the -- to the back!"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I have made good judgements in the Past. I have made good judgements in the Future."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"The future will be better tomorrow."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I have a very strong record on the Environment in the United States Senate."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I was known as the chief grave robber of my state."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"We will invest in our people, quality education, job opportunity, family, neighborhood, and yes, a thing we call America."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"We'll let the sunshine in and shine on us, because today we're happy and tomorrow we'll be even happier."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"This election is about who's going to be the next President of the United States!"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"Don't forget about the importance of the family. It begins with the family. We're not going to redefine the family. Everybody knows the definition of the family. [Meaningful pause] A child. [Meaningful pause] A mother. [Meaningful pause] A father. There are other arrangements of the family, but that is a family and family values."

"I've been very blessed with wonderful parents and a wonderful family, and I am proud of my family. Anybody turns to their family. I have a very good family. I'm very fortunate to have a very good family. I believe very strongly in the family. It's one of the things we have in our platform, is to talk about it."

Skip the Editorial

"I suppose three important things certainly come to my mind that we want to say thank you. The first would be our family. Your family, my family -- which is composed of an immediate family of a wife and three children, a larger family with grandparents and aunts and uncles. We all have our family, whichever that may be ... The very beginnings of civilization, the very beginnings of this country, goes back to the family. And time and time again, I'm often reminded, especially in this Presidential campaign, of the importance of a family, and what a family means to this country. And so when you say thanks I suppose the first thing that would come to mind would be to thank the Lord for the family."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"..Buzz Lukens took that fateful step..."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle confusing a Republican congressman allegedly accused of sexual assault with Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

"Okay, I won't open it until then."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle after having been presented with an empty box that was to contain a gift from a sailing team in South America. He was told that the gift was not ready yet, but that it would be presented to him when they arrived in the United States.

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

Dan Quayle, in April 1991, was concerned that his advisors may be getting out of touch with real Americans. In order to combat this, he suggested that they "read People magazine."

"People that are really very wierd can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I'm going to be a vice president very much like George Bush was. He proved to be a very effective vice president, perhaps the most effective we've had in a couple of hundred years."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"The loss of life will be irreplaceable."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle after the San Francisco earthquake

Skip the Editorial

"Let me tell you something. As we were walking around in the store, Marilyn and I were just really impressed by all the novelties and the different types of little things that you could get for Christmas. And all the people that would help you, they were dressed up in things that said 'I believe in Santa Claus.' And the only thing that I could think is that I believe in George Bush."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle at a garden center and produce store in Baltimore (from the Los Angeles Times, Douglas Jehl, November 6, 1988)

"It's a very valuable function and requirement that you're performing, so have a great day and keep a stiff upper lip."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle remarks to oil spill clean-up workers at Prince William Sound, May, 1989

"The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle remarks to oil spill clean-up workers at Prince William Sound, May, 1989

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I could take this home, Marilyn. This is something teenage boys might find of interest.

--Vice President Dan Quayle, when purchasing a South African Indian Doll that, when lifted, displays an erection.

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"When you make as many speeches and you talk as much as I do and you get away from the text, it's always a possibility to get a few words tangled here and there"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle defending himself (LA Herald Examiner 10/3/88)

"Public Speaking is very easy."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle to reporters in 10/88

"I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I happen to be a Republican president- ah, the vice president."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle (Newsweek 4/9/90)

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"I've never professed to be anything but an average student."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle during the VP debate in Omaha, Nebraska (10/88)

"The other day [the President] said, I know you've had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. (He paused, then said) Would you like a puppy?"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle (LA Times 5/21/89)

"In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get- The Future!"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle in eastern Illinois (LA Times 10/19/88)

"The destruction, it is just very heart-rendering."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle attempting to say the SF earthquake wreckage was heart-rending (Newsweek 10/30/89)

"I spend a great deal of time with the President. We have a very close, personal,loyal relationship. I'm not, as they say, a potted plant in these meetings."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle defending himself (Tampa Tribune-Times 1/7/90)

Skip the Editorial

"When I talked to him on the phone yesterday. I called him George rather than Mr. Vice President. But, in public, it's Mr. Vice President, because that is who he is."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle shortly after being named George Bush's running mate (8/28/88 the NY Times).

"I'm glad you asked me that. This gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about the problems with this Congress..."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle responding to reporter's questions about his use of Air force 2 to go on golf trips at the cost of $26,000/hour

"I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we will, never, never surrender to what is right."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle, in a speech to the Christian Coalition

"We are leaders of the world of the space program. We have been the leaders of the world of our... of the space program and we're not going to continue where we're going to go, not withstanding the Soviet Union's demise and collapse - the former Soviet Union - we now have independent republics which used to be called the Soviet Union. Space is the next frontier to be explored. And we're going to explore. Think of all the things we rely upon in space today: communications from... Japan, detection of potential ballistic missile attacks. Ballistic missiles are still here. Other nations do have ballistic missiles. How do you think we were able to detect some of the Scud missiles and things like that? Space, reconnaissance, weather, communications - you name it. We use space a lot today."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"Sometimes cameras and television are good to people and sometimes they aren't. I don't know if its the way you say it, or how you look."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I just don't believe in the basic concept that someone should make their whole career in public service."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"The message of David Duke, is this, basically: Big government, anti-big government, get out of my pocketbook, cut my taxes, put welfare people back to work. That's a very popular message. The problem is the messenger."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"I do have a political agenda. It's to have as few regulations as possible."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

Sam, had a great time this weekend but the golf was lousey."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle in a handwritten note written to Sam Snead in the summer of 1991, after they had played a round of golf. (Herald-Times, Bloomington, IN, July 15, 1992)

"Who's responsible for the riots? The rioters!"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle giving an intelligent, in-depth analysis of the LA riots. (Herb Caen, SF Chronicle)

"I think especially in her position, a highly successful professional woman, it would be a real exception to have an unwed child."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle to The Chron's Jerry Roberts.

"I don't watch it, but I know enough to comment on it."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle defending his opinions about the TV show "Murphy Brown" [Las Vegas RJ 21 May 92]

"Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"Speaking as a man, it's not a woman's issue. Us men are tired of losing our women."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle talking about breast cancer

Skip the Editorial

"I want to show you an optimistic sign that things are beginning to turn around."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle trying to convince reporters that the economy was doing better because a Burger King had a "now hiring" sign in the window. He was campaigning for reelection in Ontario, CA in January 1992.

"You have a part-time job and that's better than no job at all."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle after the manager of the Burger King had said that the jobs offered were part-time minimum wage jobs, which didn't pay enough to live on, and that "It's hard to find people who want to actually show up for the job."

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a cure for AIDS in the marketplace before Magic Johnson gets AIDS?"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle, 11/13/91 (CNN)

"I deserve respect for the things I did not do."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"I feel that this [1981] is my first year, that next year is an election year, that the third year is the mid point and that the fourth year is the last chance I'll have to make a record since the last two years, I'll be a candidate again. Everything I do in those last two years will be posturing for the election. But right now I don't have to do that."

-- Senator Dan Quayle

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"My position is that I understand from a medical situation, immediately after a rape is reported, that a woman normally, in fact, can go to the hospital and have a D and C. At that time... that is before the forming of a life. That is not anything to do with abortion."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle explaining that Dilatation and Curettage, a form of abortion which occurs after fertilization, is not really abortion. (the Washington post, 11/03/88)

"Add one little bit on the end... Think of 'potato,' how's it spelled? You're right phonetically, but what else...? There ya go...alright!"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle correcting a student's correct spelling of the word "potato" during a spelling bee at an elementary school in Trenton.

"I should have caught the mistake on that spelling bee card. But as Mark Twain once said, "You should never trust a man who has only one way to spell a word."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle, actually quoting from President Andrew Jackson.

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

"This president is going to lead us out of this recovery."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle at a campaign stop in California and and then at CA State University, Fresno (The Quayle Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1992)

"We have to do more than just elect a new president if we truly want to change this country."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"We are ready for any unforseen event that may or may not occur"

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

"[The U.S. victory in Gulf war was a] stirring victory for the forces of aggression."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

And, finally:

"Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

You said it, Dan!!

Thanks to Ron Williams for all these quotes!

Remember, nothing - nothing more powerfully determines the shape of a child's life than his values, his internal process, his beliefs, his sense of right and wrong. It is the child's values, more than his race, his class, his sex, his ethnicity, his neighborhood, his genes, his background. It is the values that a child is taught that will more determine that child's fate.

Skip the Editorial

And, consistent with our theme tonight, I remind you of what you already know. It is given to families preeminently to provide those values. Now having been buried beneath the Reagan and Bush landslides of the last three presidential elections, the Democratic Party is now eager to wrap itself in the banner of traditional values. But to be a champion of traditional values requires more than rhetoric.

Skip the Editorial

The American people will judge the two parties not only by what they say but by what they do, by what they stand for, and by what they will fight for. So let the Democratic Party invoke the mantra of a new covenant. Our grand old party will continue to hold to our sacred old covenant and the ideals which they embody. America does not need false prophets bearing new covenants. What we need are men and women of character who adhere to old principles.

Family values represent a great dividing line between the parties. This line, be sure to remember, involves very specific matters of policy. For example, we believe that families should be able to send their children to schools that they choose. Not all teachers are parents but all parents are teachers - children's first teachers, children's all but indispensable teachers. And those parents should be able to send their children to schools that affirm the most deeply held convictions of parents.

Second, we believe that our nation's public schools should not be doing things like handing out condoms to our children.

Educators should not be allowed to usurp the authority from parents in this and other sensitive areas.

Skip the Editorial

Remember, the child is not a ward given to the state for its nurture. The child is a gift of God, given in trust to his parents. And our schools should treat our young people as gifts of God, not as subjects of social experimentation or as young animals in heat.

On our side of the cultural divide line we believe that our government should not subsidize pornography and obscenity. We do not believe that filth is a cultural achievement worthy of public support. Our culture has become increasingly coarse, just read the unredacted sex in the Starr Report with no expletives deleted.

It has begun to fray our social fabric. Our children have suffered from this. There are, after all, some things that children simply should not see.

It's bad enough that so much of what passes for art and entertainment these days is the rampant promiscuity and the casual cruelty of the movies and television in much of our popular culture. But to ask us to pay close to 50 Million Dollars for it is to add insult to injury. We will not be intimidated by putative cultural guardians into accepting either the insult or the injury.

Skip the Editorial

We believe, as well, that more of our children should have the opportunity to be raised with fathers in their lives. Young boys and girls who do not grow up with fathers are far more likely to drop out of school, to become promiscuous, to go on welfare, to use drugs, and to commit crime.

In saying this we do not disparage the good, noble and sometimes great effort of single or divorced mothers. I know of what I speak. My mother was divorced and raised my brother and me. Later in my life a stepmother intervened with love and affection and care.

As Barbara Bush said earlier, it is this idea of the family that we embrace; mothers and fathers, stepmothers and stepfathers, adoptive mothers and fathers, foster parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters.

So in talking about the family we will not disparage the noble efforts of good women. But in noting the decline of the American family we will say something to the men of America. And to the men of America we say this, man to man. Fatherhood involves a lot more than getting a woman pregnant. Real men, real fatherhood means love and commitment and sacrifice and a willingness to share responsibility and not walking away from one's children.

Skip the Editorial

Let me, as well, very briefly address the tumultuous issue of alternative lifestyles. Heaven knows there are lots of them. This is a free country. Within very broad limits people may live as they wish.

And yet, we believe that some ways of living are better than others. Better because they bring more meaning to our lives, to the lives of others, and to our fragile fallible human condition. Marriage and parenthood should be held up because between marriage between husband and wife and in fatherhood and motherhood come blessings that cannot be won in any other way.

We believe these things and we believe them strongly because we believe the family to be our most important institution. We believe our families to be the first, the best and the original department of health, education and welfare. In our time, efforts must be made to preserve and strengthen the family. Heroic efforts, if necessary. And we, this party, will make those efforts.

Skip the Editorial

Let me be clear about one thing. When we talk about traditional family values we are not using code words. We are not seeking a political wedge issue and we are not speaking to demean or to belittle others. Rather, we're seeking to honor and to affirm what is best in us, what Lincoln has called the better angels of our nation.

But there are differences between our two political parties and the differences are real and the differences have consequences. So we Republicans will continue candidly to address the issue of values. We will be civil but we will not yield. We will not be discouraged from discussing right and wrong without embarrassment.

We will not be discouraged from defining religion as the anchor of morality, and we will never stop affirming that all real education is the architecture of the soul.

This understanding of what we hold dear, of what we believe, has far too few defenders in our public life.

One of the reasons that's the case is that those who candidly speak out on behalf of these matters become the object of assault and caricature by their critics from the adversary culture.

POLITICAL
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

KENNETH STARR
Ken Starr

QUESTION:
Who is the last president to be impeached and ousted from office?

KENNETH STARR'S ANSWER:
Bill Clinton, oh not that is the next one not the last one. None. No President has been impeached and ousted from office...Yet.

RETURN TO

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

Judgining from the Democratic Convention it may now have become politically correct to say you are in favor of the values of family and personal morality. But what is not so politically correct is to be precise about what you mean. What is not politically correct is to stand up against the critics. What is not politically correct is to say that there are some things that we stand for and there are some things that we will not stand for.

POLITICAL
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

PAULA JONES
New and Improved Paula Jones

QUESTION:
When Washington insiders refer to the loop. What are they referring to?

PAULA JONES' ANSWER:
The distinguishing characteristics of Bill Clinton's penis....The "loop" is Washington's perimeter highway.

If you think this is unfair, click on this.
Ladies and gentlemen, it may not come as a great shock to you, but let me say it anyway. I am very proud to tell you that Dan Quayle is not politically correct.

Dan Quayle has stood for family values. Dan Quayle has stood up against his critics. He has been principled. He has been courageous. And in response, he has been belittled. But he has not been silenced. In Dan Quayle we have had a case study in courage under fire.

Through it all this good and decent man has demonstrated his grace, his resolve, his resilience. He has earned our respect and we will stand by our man.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased and honored to place in nomination for the Vice Presidency of the United States our friend Dan Quayle.

Avoiding Issues

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

Unlike conservative counterparts such as Will, Krauthammer and William Safire, Broder has no agenda of issues that he presses. Instead, he shifts from topic to topic like a butterfly, touching lightly on a point of current interest and moving quickly on.

But he avoids many of the tough issues that the conservatives repeatedly address. He has dealt infrequently and gingerly with abortion, gender and sexual orientation issues. He had no column on civil rights during the Reagan years, when civil rights laws were gutted. Only one Reagan-era article devoted even a few paragraphs to environmental policy (7/25/82), criticizing the "environmental extremism of the Carter administration."

`MUSIC Protect The Freedom of Speech`

`ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO CENSOR MUSICIANS!`

On Thursday May 30th, C. Delores Tucker, William Bennett, Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Senator Sam Nunn held a press conference in Washington, D.C. The message: censor "obscene" music. In another release June 27, their message was: censor "pro-drug lyrics". These censors announced their plan to pressure major record companies to discontinue production of what they called "obscene" music and music which contains "blatantly pro-drug" lyrics. All of the CD's targeted as "obscene" already carry RIAA Parental Advisory Labels. Parents are already provided with the information they need if they choose to monitor their children's musical selections. Discontinuing production of this music takes the freedom of expression away from everyone - musicians and fans of every age. The artists targeted this time are:

Wu-Tang Clan

Too Short

The Notorious B.I.G.

Geto Boys

Tha Dogg Pound

Rappin'4-Tay

2 Pac Shakur

Gravediggaz

Onyx

Dove Shack

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

MC Eiht

Cypress Hill

MC Ren

Cannibal Corpse

Ol'Dirty Bastard

Lords of Acid

Junior M.A.F.I.A.

RBX

Black Crowes

Blues Traveler

This is just one example of the forces who want to censor your music. There are many others, including The American Family Association, Wal-Mart, the Governors Alliance Against Drugs, and state legislative action in Georgia, Maryland, Texas, and Michigan.

Join us in expressing support for the musicians and free expression. Tell these and other would-be censors that enough is enough!

In November of 1997, Mass. M.I.C. was able to give 7,850 signatures on this petition to each Senator and to C.Delores Tucker at the Senate hearing on the possible effects of music violence on society. We will continue to host this petition to continue our fight against music censorship.

We the undersigned totally support all artist's right to create music and all individual's right to choose the music they will listen to. We ask that those who wish to censor popular music make more beneficial and positive use of their time, money, and power by striving for better opportunities, education, and support for young people.

He has had only passing phrases on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has been entirely silent on Guatemala and Chile. South Africa was also ignored by Broder in the Reagan/Bush years. He never discussed the apartheid system, South Africa's assaults on its neighbors, Reagan's policy of "constructive engagement" or U.S.-backed Angolan guerrilla Jonas Savimbi.

During the 1980s, Broder several times noted in passing that he opposed the contra war in Nicaragua, but his only full column on the subject (8/19/87) lauded Reagan for finally "turning to diplomacy" and working on "a sounder premise than the maintenance of a mercenary army of `contras.'" (In fact, Reagan's "diplomacy" was seen in Central America as trying to undercut the efforts of regional governments to stop the war.)

Patting Republican Backs

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

Also unlike his conservative counterparts in their treatment of Democrats, Broder doesn't attack or try to discredit Republican leaders; he leans over backwards to pat them on the back. Thus, Lee Atwater, the organizer of the Willie Horton campaign of 1988 is "tough and effective" (11/25/90); George Bush, ultimately responsible for the Horton ploy, did this despite a "life-long history of tolerance and decency in racial matters." (6/9/91)

Reagan himself was repeatedly lauded for his "presidential" qualities and "national leadership of a high order," e.g., on Grenada and in pushing through his economic program (11/4/84), and any short- comings were "overshadowed by the grace with which he functions as chief of state in moments of national tragedy and triumph." (12/22/85)

Broder is more severe on Democrats, except those hard to distinguish from Republicans (so-called "New Democrats"). For Broder (8/14/87), those who attacked the Bork appointment were "quick-lip liberals" who "pop off in opposition." Jerry Brown, campaigning in 1992, was attacked (2/26/92) as a "loud-voiced protest candidate" offering left-wing populism and "phony salvation."

Republicrat Policy Agenda

If you think this is unfair, click on this.

On issues where Broder is willing to stick his neck out, his differences with the Republicans are largely matters of style. On welfare and "family values," Broder joined the Republican/New Democrat throng by trumpeting "the centrality of values like family stability, personal responsibility and work" -- while downplaying economic conditions and
racism (3/24/93). Broder strongly favored NAFTA on the ground that it represented society's "winners" and would enlarge U.S. markets.

Broder was also extremely kind to the Reagan/Bush court appointees of the past decade, and raised no objection to the resultant ideological restructuring of the courts. Souter, for example, was "a superb choice -- both substantively and politically" (7/27/90) -- despite "grumbles from the political extremes."

Except for the low-intensity Nicaraguan and Salvadoran conflicts, Broder got onto the war bandwagons of the Reagan/Bush era with enthusiasm. The Grenada invasion he found entirely justifiable based on our natural imperial rights (11/2/83): "We are old-fashioned enough to think that, even in a nuclear age, there are such things as spheres of influence and geographical areas of vital interest."

Skip the Editorial

Broder was equally keen on the Panama invasion of 1989. He criticized (1/14/90) an open letter to President Bush that called attention to the invasion's violations of the U.N. Charter and OAS agreement, signed by "69 left-wing politicians and activists" (including former Sen. J.W. Fulbright). Broder dismissed it as "nonsense" and simply "static on the left."

During the Gulf War, Broder exceeded himself in patriotic ardor, complaining of the Democrats' "usual spectacle of disarray" in failing to give Bush immediate authority to fight (1/11/91), and accepting without question the administration's false claim of an interest in a diplomatic solution to the crisis (8/19/90, 1/18/91, 4/10/91).

Independent Moments

Broder's most independent moments were his attacks on Reagan's economic program in the years 1981-84, in which he assailed Reagan (and the supportive Democrats) for a damaging policy mix that promised dire consequences. Over succeeding years, however, Broder's focus was increasingly on the deficit and its threat alone, and the menace of "runaway entitlement spending" (1/2/94).

He also was initially ambivalent about Reagan's military buildup, and occasionally hinted that its rate was excessive. But in the end he accepted the level of military outlays, and never spoke of a "runaway" military budget. Broder even lauded Reagan in retrospect for his military buildup, which made us ready for the Gulf War, and he expressed worry lest we shortchange our military establishment (8/29/90). The Republicans, wrote Broder in a final accolade to the Reagan/Bush years (1/17/93), "did not let America's armed might wither away."

Keeping Debate Within Bounds

David Broder has prospered as a syndicated columnist because, while a decent person, he never threatens the larger special interests -- the "winners" whom he advises the Democrats to heed in contests like NAFTA. When his better instincts would lead to opposition, as in
the case of the contra war against Nicaragua, he remains exceedingly quiet and his tiny forays have no weight.

Skip the Editorial

On most foreign and economic policy issues, Broder lines up with the conservatives. He relies heavily on official and conservative institutional sources, engages in minimal independent research, and rarely asks hard questions.

He even helps keep debates within proper bounds by castigating those who challenge establishment premises as extremists, or by simply ignoring them. In sum, David Broder is an ideal "leftist" for a media and political establishment that can't even abide a serious liberal challenge.

Edward S. Herman is senior editor of Lies of Our Times and co-author with Noam Chomsky of Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. He is indebted to Adam Horowitz for research help on this project. A fuller version of this article is available for $2 from FAIR.

REMARKS BY WILLIAM BENNETT

"I want to be Robin to Bush's Batman."

POLITICAL HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

RETURN TO

POLITICAL HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

MUSIC Protect The Freedom of Speech

ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO CENSOR MUSICIANS!

POLITICAL
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

POLITICAL
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

`MUSIC Protect The Freedom of Speech`

`ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO CENSOR MUSICIANS!`