Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 16, 1995 TAG: 9510160081
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Recently, a federal judge in Richmond ruled against the governor's challenge of the motor-voter law. It's a welcome decision that the judge ruled the law constitutional. It's one that will help many of the 1.6 million unregistered voters get on the rolls.
The most disturbing aspect wasn't so much Allen's questioning of the constitutionality of this law, but rather his insistence that the law was infringing on states' rights. Having stated with genuine horror in his voice that this law would allow more people on welfare to vote (heaven forbid!), in reality he was posturing for his own narrowly defined political agenda. It seems to me that he was elected to serve the best interests of all Virginians.
During the civil-rights movement in 1965, it was Democratic governors of the Old South, like George Wallace of Alabama, who were the obstructionists. Since Bill Clinton was elected president, it has become fashionable among some Republicans again to proclaim the federal government to be the enemy.
Must we still be fighting these ``states' rights'' battles in 1995? Treating the federal government as if it were an invading foreign power is a very destructive tactic. This battle was fought and lost in 1865. Neither our state nor our country is well-served by those with this attitude.
CLARK WEBB BLACKSBURG
The media trial, revisited
APPARENTLY the media determined that O.J. Simpson was guilty before the trial began. They cynically mused over what deceptive tactics the defense would use to ``trick'' the jury. They never noticed that Judge Lance Ito foiled the defense at every turn while allowing the prosecution to equate spouse abuse with a savage double murder.
I don't think any of us have ever met the kind of person who would engage in such a horrific act: They're extremely rare. Yet we're supposed to believe that he did it and, shortly after, appeared totally at ease on a flight to Chicago. Those who saw Simpson in ``The Towering Inferno'' and the ``Naked Gun'' movies realize that, with all due respect, he's not a gifted actor.
Much has been made of the celebrated chase. Running implies guilt - right? From the beginning, Simpson must have known that he wasn't just the prime suspect, but the only suspect. Unlike everybody from Rush Limbaugh to The Roanoke Times, I'm not going to use my personal opinions about the case to attack the integrity of a jury the prosecution helped select. I don't, in fact, know whether Simpson did the murders or not, and neither do the media.
MICHAEL BARBER ROANOKE
What dogma hides abusive priests?
CRAIG Mason writes in his Oct. 5 letter to the editor ("Americans should listen to the pope"), "He [the pope] also knows how we've fallen from a once-believing nation to a self-centered one, even using the Constitution to underwrite such sins as abortion and homosexuality." Mason suggests that Roman Catholicism is an effective institution against homosexuality. However, historically when one of its priests was discovered to be violating young male parishioners, the Roman Catholic institution would quietly transfer the offending priest to a different parish. This practice was stopped or modified only after many of these terrible situations came to the attention of the American public.
Our Constitution protects our children from molestation. What document or dogma did the Roman Catholic Church use to underwrite the practice of hiding abusive priests at the expense of innocent children?
STEVE COX BLACKSBURG
by CNB