December 4, 1975 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 4 (4 of 40 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
December 4, 1975 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Today's lesson, gentle reader, is about crime.
Our teacher is Ronaid Reagan, who wants to be elected
to the highest office in the land so he can fight crime. Mr.
Reagan is one of the world's greatest experts on crime in
general.
"A truly free society is also a safe society," he said on
opening his campaign for the presidency. "Our courts must
stop pampering cold-blooded killers and terrorists. Quite
simply, we must return law and order to our streets."
Mr. Reagan doesn't bother to point out a single
cold-blooded killer or terrorist who is roaming the streets
after being pampered by the courts. Who are they? Where are
they? Have you run into one lately? Name one court that has
pampered a cold-blooded killer or terrorist.
Certainly not the court that tried Charles Manson. He's in
the slammer. So is Sirhan Sirhan. Even Lynette Fromme, the
most confused terrorist and accused assassination-bungler on
record, is headed up the river.
But Ronald Reagan would have you believe that he will
pr erve law and order by cracking down on these unnamed
criminals and courts.
o CUT IT OUT...
YOU'RE GNIN6 U5
|te is not so vague, however, when he comments on
specific crimes. Let us take the myriad offenses bunched
under the heading of Watergate, which included obstruction
of justice, breaking and entering, subversion of the FBI, CIA,
IRS, and Justice Department, destruction of evidence,
perjury, violation of civil rights, lying to a grand jury,
conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy to defraud the
United States, fabricating and distributing illegal campaign
literature, burglary, violation of Federal Corrupt Practices
Act, soliciting illegal campaign contributions, making illegal
campaign contributions, wiretapping.
There were other charges, but that will give you an idea
of the crimes that Reagan commented on as follows:
"They (those responsible for Watergate) did something
that was stupid and foolish and was criminal - it was illegal.
Illegal is a better word than criminal, because I think criminal
has a different connotation. I think the tragedy of this is that
men who are not criminals at heart, and certainly not
engaged in criminal activities, committed a criminal or illegal
act and now must bear the consequences. These are men
whose lives are being very much changed by this. I doubt if
any of them would even intentionally double-park."
Ronald Reagan, to put it simply, is a phony. He has no
more interest in the law being applied equally to all offenders
than his fellow Californian, Richard Nixon.
While he attempts to scare voters into supporting him by
warning of phantom killers, terrorists and lenient judges, he
brands as misguided nice guys the conspirators who almost
destroyed the foundation of law upon which our government
is based.
What this nation does not need in the White House is
another demagogue With a Watergate mentality.
Now that Congress, with its usual dispatch, has solved the
problems of energy shortage, unemployment, inflation,
recession, budget deficit and crimes in the CIA, FBI and IRS,
it's nice to know that Washington State's senators are looking
for new worlds to conquer in the name of public service.
The Seattle P-I reported this week that Senator Warren
Magnuson is making discreet inquiries about what - if any -
help he could give in helping solve the problem of school
financing in this state.
An aide quoted Magnuson as saying, "Let's see if we can
be helpful, but by no means do we want to meddle. If we
can't help, we stay out."
A great idea. We suggest Maggie introduce a bill that
would require the state's children to be bused to Alabama, in
vehicles built by Boeing, financed with federally-guaranteed
loans from Sea-First at interest, and coordinated by
S200-a-day consultants borrowed from Weyerhaeuser.
Senator Henry Jackson has also determined he has done
about as much as he can for his home constituency in his
$42,500 post. His campaign director, Robert J. Keefe,
announced last week that Jackson has decided to put aside
his Senate duties and campaign full time for the Democratic
presidential nomination beginning January !.
Washingtonians should be happy that he is putting In'st
things first. With the crowded Democratic presidential
hopeful list now containing a candidate from each state, we
in the Evergreen State are entitled to our very own full-time
jackass in the race.
- - - mlllllltllllfltlUllillilmllllilNIHigllHUlllHiiIimlllllllllittlllHiii
Mack McGinnis'
~llllHflflllmlflHiiimfllmlflHmlllmmmllmllmmlllHIImH
A cm'toon in "Perspective" magazine shows a group of people waiting
in a doctor's office "fast line." it's a line for folks with "three
symptoms orless.' "
(Wayne Mackey in Oklahoma City Times)
Americans still trust in God. Look at the way they drive.
(Lou Erickson in Atlanta Journal)
Upon being asked whether he thinks Ronaid Reagan ivill run for
President, Jack Bunzei, President of San Jose State, nodded, "Yes, and
! understand he'll campaign in all 13 states.'"
(Herb Caen in San Francisco Chronicle)
Overheard: "'The only thing he can lick is a postage stamp - and then
only when its back is turned."
(Pierre of the Manor in Chicago Tribune)
Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, December 4, 1975
By ROBERT C. CUMMINGS
No efforts to pass additional
consumer legislation will be made
in the special session convening in
January. But a plan for
establishing an independent
Officer of Consumer Protection
and Product Evaluation hasn't
been abandoned.
It merely is being kept on a
back burner, to be pursued at a
more propitious time. The
original measure, HB 528, which
would establish such an agency
under jurisdiction of the
Governor, has been discarded, but
a new bill is being developed by
the same sponsors.
"'Empires" Jealously Guarded
Because it would consolidate
most consumer protection
functions now conducted by
numerous existing state agencies,
besides adding new areas of
protection, the plan has
encountered considerable
opposition within government
itself.
Few of the existing agencies
are willing to surrender any of
their present powers. This is
nothing new. Similar obstacles
invariably are encountered
whenever a proposal involves the
dipping of somebody's wings, but
they seldom are insurmountable.
Sponsors don't feel the
"climate" is right. There is
insufficient demand, and there
also is the question of fiscal
impact.
Austerity On The Throne
Though the situation could
change - as it has on occasion
before - austerity currently
reigns supreme in the 44th
Legislature.
Rather than approve new
programs, the lawmakers are more
inclined to cut back sharply on
numerous existing programs.
One of the few things on
which the Legislature and the
Governor agree is that sharp
cutbacks appear the only
alternative to new or increased
taxes.
It looks like a tough session
for the legislators. The thought of
additional taxes in an election
year can be frightening, but the
prospect of cutting back on
numerous programs also can be
distasteful.
By comparison, the task of
saying "no" to proposals for new
programs can be childishly simple.
Some Are Unavoidable
Complicating the problem is
the fact that some new legislation
is mandatory to avoid
jeopardizing federal grants.
A new health cost
containment act, updating the
certificate of need law, must be
enacted to conform with new
federal legislation known as the
Health Planning and Resources
Development Act.
Also needed to conform with
this law is legislation establishing
a single state agency to develop
and regulate health programs.
According to the House Social
and Health Services Committee
staff, both bills will have a fiscal
impact.
Education A Question Mark
In view of the state's financial
plight, few are willing to predict
what will happen in the area of
education funding, which is billed
as the principal reason for the
coming session.
A spokesman for the
Association of Washington
Business commented in the most
recent edition of AWB's official
publication that it is doubtful if a
majority of the state's citizens
'VI.ieU..O, aJ.a, t6. URANIdM FU t.
!
A I AD NAME ."
would support a level of spending
"anywhere near" the amount
school forces asked for through
special levies and from the general
fund earlier this year.
"It is probable, on the other
hand," he wrote, "that most
citizens believe state spending for
all purposes can be cut back to
the level of revenue available from
existing tax sources."
He added, however, that this
doesn't necessarily indicate there
shouldn't be a shifting of burdens
within the present tax structure.
Social Programs In Trouble
There doesn't seem to be any
question that sharp cutbacks in
the state's social programs will be
unavoidable without a
supplemental appropriation next
year.
Meanwhile there is little hope
for ~ew programs developed or
being d ev'elopefl~/.by the
Legislature's. Social and Health
Services Committees which have a
fiscal impact.
Included in this category are
bills providing for geriatric health
screening, adult day care, and
establishment of a nursing home
ombudsman.
Mandatory Sentences Shelved
The fiscal impact alone is
enough to defer any action to
enact amendatory legislation to
establish mandatory minimum
sentences for all felonies not
presently covered.
But regardless of the potential
costs involved, the Senate and
House Judiciary Committees,
which have met jointly on the
subject, has agreed to defer action
until a report on the subject is
completed and released by the
Governor's Criminal Law and
Justice Planning Committee.
That isn't expected ¢~il ~rly
next spring.
By JIM FITZGERALD
If justice is truly blind, a Secret Service man is currently
being investigated by the FBI. His alleged crime is desecrating
the American flag, the same rap that put the FBI on my trail.
Gerald Ford was recently campaigning in Chicopee,
Massachusetts, when a small boy waved a flag too close to the
Presidential nose which has understandably developed a
nervous twitch. A Secret Service man jumped forward,
grabbed the flag and threw it to the ground, saying "Get that
thing out of here!"
That thing? The American flag touching the ground?
Wasn't that Secret Service man ever a Boy Scout? Geez.
It's true a flag pole up the nose could be damaging. But
this nation can always get another President who smells.
However, this nation has only one flag and it must be
respected, by God, or our very foundations will crumble and
our Republic will slide into the cesspool of Communism. And
what would it matter then if the President couldn't smell
because he had a nose full of stars and stripes?
I'm an expert on how the flag can get a guy in trouble
with the FBI. A new law requires the FBI to tell a citizen if
he has ever been investigated by the Bureau, and why. So last
May I wrote to Clarence Kelley who got J. Edgar
Hoover's job after Pat Gray, his first replacement, was caught
hiding secret papers in his shirt drawer. I asked Kelley for the
The following editorial is from a newsletter of the Center
for Science in the Public Interest.
Food faddism is indeed a serious problem. But we have to
recognize that the guru of food faddism is not Adelle Davis,
but Betty Crocker. The true food faddists are not those who
eat raw broccoli, wheat germ, and yogurt, but those who
start the day on Breakfast Squares, gulp down bottle after
bottle of soda pop, and snack on candy and Twinkies.
Food faddism is promoted from birth. Sugar is a major
ingredient in baby food desserts. Then come the artifically
flavored and colored breakfast cereals, loaded with sugar,
followed by soda POP and hot dogs. Meat marbled with fat
and alcoholic beverages dominate the diets of many
middle-aged people. And of course, white bread is standard
fare throughout life.
This diet - high in fat, sugar, cholesterol, and refined
grains is the prescription for illness; it can contribute to
obesity, tooth decay, heart disease, intestinal cancer, and
diabetes. And these diseases are, in fact, America's major
health problems. So if any diet should be considered faddist,
it is the standard one. Our far-out diet - almost 20% refined
sugar and 45% fat is new to human experience and foreign
to all other animal life...
it is incredible that people who eat a junk food diet
constitute the norm, while individuals whose diets resemble
those of our great grandparents are labeled deviants...
,inl-
Editor, The Journal:
The current debate over
sentencing and length of terms for
those convicted of crimes
overlooks the nature of prison
itself. While liberals and
conservatives may disagree on
sentencing and treatment, they
can agree that the current system
of housing large numbers of
inmates in mass prisons, such as
Walla Walla, creates a potential
for violence and is destructive to
both the personnel and residents.
Over recent years we have
seen 39 deaths during the uprising
at Attica, San Quentin's infamous
"Bloody Sunday," and the
wounding of hostages at Walla
Walla. The horrors of large prisons
have been well documented. We
should all be familiar with
problems of contraband, violence
upon both custodial personnel
and inmates, and the destructive
results of mixing psychotic
offenders with the general
population.
Thus, the current prison
system results in inmates and
personnel living in constant fear
and hostility, rather than
reinforcing constructive attitudes
for the inmates' eventual return
to society.
These problems will not be
overcome by the infusion of more
tax dollars into the present
archaic system. Washington State
is committed to spend $44.9
million over the 1975-77
biennium to maintain current
institutional facilities. It is a
travesty on the taxpayers of this
state that funds are appropriated
to maintain a counterproductive
penal system where the current
measure of success is whether a
riot is averted or the number of
stabbings reduced.
Bureaucrats and politicians
are too often guilty of
maintaining current institutions
and programs more out of inertia
than examining whether those
institutions are accomplishing
their intended purpose.
During the 1974 Legislative
Session, Senate Resolution 244
was adopted, creating a
Coereetions Development Task
Force to review the entire
corrections system in
State. The task force wial
of a wide range of
including King
Stanley Soderlund,
William Day, Re
Adams, Tacoma Police
Smith, Spokane
Prosecutor Don
County Sheriff Eugene
Yakima County
Lenore Lambert, Dea~
University of
School Charles Z.
Attorney John Darrah.
After eight mot
investigation, the
recommended that a
system should be
following guidelines.
1. Small,
should be established to
better handling of
residents, especially
psychiatric problems
of violent behavior, j
2. New institutions~'
not exceed 150 resid~$
units of not more than 25,
3. As new facilities
available, the
Monroe and Walla
reduced.
During the 1975
Session, the De
and Health Services
Capital Budget
for 15 new facilities.
was deferred by the
pending the submission
detailed plans. The
now preparing a
submission to the
Session of the L¢
It will be up
to act. I would
Legislature to a
implementation
correctional system
guidelines set forth by
corrections task force.
The failure to move
the planned
prison population to
specialized units
more violence,
continued deaths of
serious assault and
of corrections
Martin
fi
contents of my FBI file, if any.
This started a fascinating correspondence
result in the discovery of perpetual motion.
letter said there'd be a delay in answering my
later he said he'd send the file for $33 to
expenses. I sent the dough and he wrote again
to write again and this time have a notary public
signature. This was done. And finally last week,
months, Kelley allowed me a slight peek under
One reason I'm in the FBI files is because
wrote about the flagand J. Edgar Hoover in
when some Vietnam war protestors were burning
remember? And Hoover was bombarding
with "official bulletins" saying flag burners
people who should be ashamed of themselves, t
column saying flag burners were stupid but not
long as they owned the flag. And this
included:
"If he hasn't anything better to do, I have a
Hoover should sit down and read that portion of tla
Report which states clearly what a lousy job the
protecting John Kennedy from Lee Harvey Oswald.
also prepare a message explaining why every
country knows there is a nationwide crime
but little is ever done about it. No matter what
says, crime pays more every year and you'd
That's what put the FBI on my tail. But
he wasn't revealing my entire file, saying the law
to withhold "information that is related solely to
personnel rules and practices of an agency and
memoranda not available through discovery
during litigation."
It's difficult to be certain what that g
but I think Kelley is refusing to reveal how his
about investigating me. Do "personnel rules" cover
At any rate, He said I have 30 days to appeal his
the Attorney General. I intend to do it and
posted if you live long enough.
Meanwhile, we can all feel sorry for that
man who threw our flag to the ground. A
be appropriate. If he wanted to throw flags he
become a football official.
a/t°q"
011
County"
Mailing Address: Box 430, Shelton, Wa. 98584
phOOe
Published at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton,
Washington 98584, weekly, i
Second-class postage pa d at Shelton, Washingt°
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $6.00 per year in Mason
in advance -- Outside Mason County $7.50
EDITOR AND I:;UBLIsHER .....................