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The Veep and the Baby Shower
(c)1992 by Lois B. Laulicht
One could really enjoy snapping Quayle's garter and suggest that he was
annoyed that neither he nor Marilyn were invited to the Murphy Brown
event. We could escalate this ridiculous vein and assert with great
certainty that folks in high places don't work late, or chase women but
secretly watch TV in order to update their reality check. I bow to the
greater power of the pundits among us. Do it and enjoy!
Some folks will never learn and for this, we have only ourselves to
blame. Ross Perot accurately described this orchestrated event when
he said, "Only in America would a TV show become a political issue." He
also went on to say that he thought it was goofy. It depends on what
he means by goofy.
They're trying to do it again! The Republican establishment defined
the standards of patriotism, the flag, and anti-communism for too many
years. This time they attempt to unfurl the banner of the fictitious
American family! When one looks at the American family and the admini-
stration's position on questions of abortion and public assistance, this
is a blatant attempt to corner political ownership of the virtues of
a story book family. Implicit in this tactic is blaming social ills
upon a new family structure ignoring that the single parent middle
class family is creating traditions of its own. It's a long leap to
equate the problems of divorce which is a middle and upper class luxury
with deep problems of structural poverty within poor urban neighborhoods.
This latest attempt takes the questionable prize for the politics of
race to an all time moral low. If the Republican attempt is successful,
the Democrats are again caught on their ineffectual me-too dime as was
Mr. Clinton when asked for his reaction to the Quayle speech.
Again we find the Republican leadership looking for villains by
playing upon the fears of the many and targeting the most
vulnerable...the poor female head of household. Indeed, the problem of
unmarried and unschooled babies raising babies and the problems this
social phenomena creates for the rest of us are huge. The legitimate
means for families to make it - no jobs for them - leaves a population
with little to lose. President Bush in the Notre Dame commencement
address dwelled upon social disintegration as a response to the
Los Angeles riots consistent with his recent campaign speeches.
It is my conviction that this bait and switch tactic attempts to focus
upon these ills to protect the Admnistration from the unrelaenting glare
of the damning indictment of fraud, waste, and priviledge. These very same
sanctimonious social magicians with their political sleight of hand offer
no believable explanation for the Republican Iraq affair, the Savings and
Loan affair, or the Republican federal deficit. We still need answers of
substance to the Republican Iran-Contra deception, multi-national
(American?) corporate profits and subsidy, export of American jobs, and
wholesale corruption and fraud within the defense industry. The final
straw is the arrogant display that our interests are only important in
an election year while those of special interests are always front and
center. We see again the old shell game which this group of people uses
so successfully.
It becomes very apparent that this response to the recent riots in
South Los Angeles will be the cornerstone of the Republican election
campaign. It is another Willie Horton symbol! Much less crude but
delivering much the same message. The media masters watch TV too and
this is THEIR response to the American dream. The cynical leadership
within the Republican power structure is only interested in
maintaining the status quo and it is easier with one of their own in
the White House. They believe that this symbol, the Ozzie and Harriet
cache, will cover in the thirty second pre-election TV advertising
slot, the issues of abortion, fear of another racial out break in your
town and on your street, the latent and not so latent racism in
America, and finally, the virtues of keeping the tried and true white
establishment priorities in power.
The failed attempt of some weeks back to smear the efforts of those of
us who worked in the anti-poverty agencies of the sixties and early
seventies was an ineffectual cheap shot. The Republican party is
bankcrupt. Their only viable issue until the the collapse of the cold
war was that of anti-communism. They are a party in search of an
agenda and under this leadership, thoughtful and honest conservatives
are not allowed to function. Jack Kemp only now has entree to the White
House because he is probably the only sitting cabinet member who has
even thought about the problems of the poor and the problems of
legal options for this segment of the population. The Democratic
establishment in this country is little better. Both political parties
mouth platitudes and then go along with the moral and financial rape
of our greatest resource -- our people.
No political party is going to successfully turn back the clock on the
role of women in this society. No political party can return to the
days when women and children were chattels primarily because
they really don't want to. Not for good, pure and beautiful reasons
but for pragmatic hard economic and political reasons. If all
married women quit their jobs and stayed at home the impact upon the
economy would be catostrophic. Wages have fallen across the board
because the power structure knows that it is possible for a family to
make it with both parents working. The recession has been bearable for
many because the wife can and does work. Given all that has happened to
this country fiscally these last twelve years, there has been an
implicit assumption based upon the premise of a two income household
that has kept us solvent and made us credit worthy.
To suggest that single, unmarried females of color created the problems
of the inner cities and that we as a nation have no responsibility for
their loss of hope and stability is a shoking indictment of us all.
That these nasties would try and expect to be successful using this
kind of a ploy is not surprising. What is very frightneing to me at
least, is that it has taken too long for the public to respond even
from within the very safe context of Candace Bergen's Murphy Brown. I
had to wonder what her father would have said with his Charlie McCarthy
voice and how safe from his barbs would have been this bunch in power.
Quayle, the messenger, got what he needed, finally, a bit of public
notice. The administration has sent up another trial ballon in search of
an issue.
Perhaps the raging clatter will reveal the inconsistencies in our
avowed public values and pragmatic family values. Those of us, both
men and women, who have had emotional and financial responsibility know
that those glorified days of Harriet and Ozzie existed only in the
imagination of the well healed on their way from boarding school to
the country club. Their perceptions of the American family was white,
middle class, Protestant, and average. The melting pot of the turn of
the century was European and mostly white. The reality checks of TV
no longer work. That's why CBS has become a sports network and FOX
more in keeping of what we may be, somewhat blue comedy and a racial
blend.
There is a simple and fundamental statement which has to made
publicly. It is to the advantage of those who want power and wish to
stay in power to short change our kids and our schools. A half
literate society doesn't have the intellectual tools to deal with these
sleazy PR events. Until poor people have the same access to jobs,
education, and health care they will be made the villains every four
years when someone decides to take control of the White House.
Internet: lois.laulicht@channel1.com
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