THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240579
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 39 lines
Beware the ``politics of ethics.''
That's one of the 10 most important rules to follow when entering government service as a conservative, according to a Terry Eastland, a former Reagan administration official who spoke Thursday at Regent University.
Eastland, editor of Forbes Media Critic, addressed government and journalism students at the university as part of the ``Profiles in Excellence'' lecture series.
In his talk, Eastland laid out 10 guiding principles for aspiring politicians and political advisers.
``The Washington ethics machine can bite you quickly,'' as House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Clinton have learned, Eastland said.
Referring to Gingrich, Eastland said that innocent people can become entangled in ethical investigations by overzealous politicians. Gingrich has admitted violating House ethics rules and has been reprimanded by his colleagues.
To avoid such problems, Eastland advised students to ``understand all the government ethics rules that apply to you or the person you work for, meet them and go beyond them.''
Failing to meet the highest standards, he said, ``undermines everything'' that a politician tries to do.
Eastland served as director of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1985 to 1989. He edited The Virginian-Pilot's editorial page from 1981 to 1983.
Eastland, who wrote ``Ending Affirmative Action: The Case for Colorblind Justice,'' said he has little faith that Republicans in Washington will be able to end the controversial program. Opponents of affirmative action are most likely to succeed in legislatures and through popular referendums, he said.
His final word of advice for students: ``Remember that politics is not all there is.''