December 18, 1975 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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.i
The State of Washington will have a new form of
representative government if a plan devised by a veteran
political worker is successful.
Bagley Mann. who at 58 has participated in the pofitical
wars long enough to be termed "grizzled" by grizzled
reporters, announced this week the formation of
Share-The-Clout Associates. The new business, with offices in
the glove compartment of Mann's car, will offer a unique new
service to citizens of the state.
"'The average voter is the forgotten man in Olympia when
the legislature is in session," said Mann. "If he is not
affiliated with a lobbying group which pumps money into the
political pipeline, he might as well spit his shout into the
wind of a hurricane, as the saying goes.
"'Share-The-Clout Associates will put the little guy on an
equal footing with the big-money boys by pooling small
amounts into one large bribe.'"
Mann said his firm will publish a list containing every
conceivable type of legislation which a citizen might be
interested in seeing passed or defeated. A citizen can check
off a box in front of the item he desires, pay Share-The-Clout
any amount he wishes (with a minimum of 50 cents) and
Mann and his associates take it from there.
"'Using a computer, we put the money into its proper
category, then see that it gets to the legislator or legislators
who can do us the most good," Mann explained.
"We might funnel it through a law firm, for instance, or
we might come up with some new ideas for applying the
clout."
As an example of how effective his plan might be, Mann
pointed out that if I00,000 citizens wanted the maximum
interest rate on credit lowered to five percent and donated an
average of two dollars apiece, Share-The-Clout would have
$200,000 to get the job done.
"That may not be the most impressive sum ever spent to
buy a bill," he said, "but it is better than crying into your
breast or beating your beer."
Mann is excited about the prospects for Share-The-Clout.
He claims it is not the money he will make that turns him on
- the firm will deduct a small fee to cover expenses and a
small estate in Palm Springs for the founder - but the impact
his plan will have on government.
"Here is a new concept in representative government," he
said. "The average citizen, the celebrated man in the street,
the little guy, will actually have a say in how his government
is run. It boggles the mind. It will also narrow the gap
between what the politician says when he is seeking election
and how he performs during a session."
By ROBERT C. CUMMINGS
The item veto power which
legislators succeeded in taking
from Governor Dan Evans a few
years ago has come back to haunt
them. It now has them racking
their brains to f'md a way to
amend the state's gambling laws
so that numerous modifications
acceptable to the Governor won't
be cast in the role of innocent
bystanders because of other
provisions which are
objectionable to him.
Their problem is that the
original gambling law was enacted
before adoption of the
constitutional amendment which
prohibits the chief executive from
vetoing less than a complete
section.
Most of the sections in the
original act are unusually lengthy.
There is one section which covers
more than five complete printed
Mann has not as yet put a name to his new form of
.... pages
goverrmaent is .......... MIOir Nothing
toward"deinocracy. As a result, the 1975 bill,
"That's not a bad term," he said, "for a system that gives
every citizen the clout of a labor leader, a corporation
president, or a garbage hauler."
II~gWlllll01NWHf~ HIHHHmHHHIIHHI
Mack McGinnis'
IIHHIHHIHHIHIIIHHIIIIWIIHHmHIIIIHHIIIUlIHHIIHHHIHHIIIIIIHI
About that female Marine officer who was forced to resign for messing
around with enlisted men, Barb Petrick comments, "The brass will
probably accuse her of tampering with the males!"
(Joe Browne in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
George Dinneweth tells about the highly rated young footballer who
kept falling down in his first game without being touched. Afterwards,
he apologized to the coach: "That's the way the rookie stumbles."
(Mark Beltaire in Detroit Free Press)
amending the original, necessarily
contained as many as a dozen or
more changes in a single section.
The Governor was willing to
go along with most of the
amendments. But several of the
lengthy sections contained at least
one proposed change which he
considered onerous.
He had no choice but to let
the entire section stand, or veto
all of it. So he chose the latter
course. Just like that old proverb,
it was a case of "one bad apple
spoiling the lot."
Innocent Bystanders
Innocent victims of the
blanket vetoes were such
respected organizations as PTA's,
county agricultural fairs and other
nonprofit organizations. They
would have benefited from some
of the more modest changes
which, if offered alone, would
I
By TONA MEDINA
Sometime early next year, in spite of
widespread opposition, the first "behavior
modification prison" is scheduled to open at
Butner, North Carolina. The euphemism for this
brainwashing factory, which will have a psychiatrist
as warden, is the Federal Center for Correctional
Research
Behavior modification of prisoners - through
drug therapy, electroshock treatment and other
devices - has caused a lot of controversy this past
year. But it seems as though the people that it most
concerns have been silent about it - prisoners.
From much debate with other concerned prisoners,
! think i can say why Butner is regarded with dark
suspicions and even fear.
Many of us in prison are aware of the heavy
drug therapy that is routine for some inmates and
we have to wonder what it will be like in a place like
Butne[. Knowing that the techniques may be
clothed in the respectability of psychiatry, we
speculate that electroshock therapy and even
psychosurgery brain operations may be used to alter
our behavior.
We worry about which of us will have to be
among the first "volunteers" to apply for Butner.
We also think about a possible double standard in
regard to the center; will the Watergate type of
prisoner have his behavior modified there?
In short, prisoners believe that a brainwashing
factory is a poor substitute for social justice. The
term "brainwashing factory" is not mere hyperbole.
Other opponents of the program --attorneys,
psychiatrists, judges have used the identical term
in this context
Other fair-minded people are disturbed at the
thought ot the government "modifying" the
behavior of those il chooses lo imprison. Such a
practice conjures up visions of "Clockwork
Orange."
One of those disturbed is Dr. Peter R. Breggin,
head of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry in
Washington. "This sort of research is aimed at
keeping control in the prisons, not on helping the
inmates get out," he says. "It's Communist style
brainwashing under the guise of behavior
modification."
And in a recent decision on behavior
modification, United States District Judge John W.
Oliver said that the true purpose of the program was
"not to develop behavior of an individual so that he
would be able to conform his behavior to standards
of society at large, but to make him a 'better' and
'more manageable' prisoner."
Even back in the 19th century, when solitary
confinement was the only method of prisoner
behavior modification, Charles Dickens wrote: "I
hold this slow and daily tampering with the
mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse
than any torture of the body; and because its
ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the
eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh,
because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it
extorts few cries that human ears can hear,
therefore ! the more denounce it, as a secret
punishment which slumbering humanity is not
roused up to stay."
As for me, ! look on "behavior mod" in the
same light George Jackson did when he said in
"Soledad Brother:"
"! can still smile sometimes, but by the time this
thing is over I may not be a nice person.
Mr. Medina is currently serving a 20-w'ar
)
sentence in the Federal lenitentiary in Atlanta,
Georgia,/or hank rohhery.
Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday. December 18, 1975
have been acceptable to Evans.
The House Commerce
Committee, under chairmanship
of Frank Warnke (D-Auburn),
following a careful study of the
veto message, has spent the last
couple of months carefully sifting
the objectionable material out of
the 1975 measure.
Now taking shape is a bill for
presentation to the 1976
Legislature which the committee
hopes can escape the veto pen.
Though the committee members
haven't conferred personally with
Evans, the committee has worked
closely with Chi Doo (Skip) Lee,
the Governor's legal aide.
Just A Few Words
In many cases, the job of
"cleaning up" the bill has
involved the deletion of just a few
words from some of the lengthy
sections.
For instance, the phrase
"games of chance" has been taken
out of the section relating to
"small-scale gambling," which
would legalize bazaars and
"carnival nights" occasionally
staged by PTA's and other
non-profit groups.
In the section authorizing
pools on baseball, football and
scores of other athletic events, the
ceiling on the price of chances has
been cut from $10 to $1.
The Lottery Issue Again
Similarly, another slight
change is expected to make a
section palatable to the Governor
which would permit drawings for
merchandise prizes at agricultural
fairs.
The section is considered
necessary due to an Attorney
General's opinion which held that
because the chances usually are
given to patrons when they buy
their admission tickets, the
holding of a drawing constitutes a
lottery.
which was enacted as a legislative
alternative to an initiative to the
Legislature.
Many of the proposed changes
are "housekeeping" amendments.
But some of the changes would
speed things up a bit by
shortening the time lag between
the time the final order is filed
and when the permit holder may
start construction.
There also is a proposal which
put the burden of proof on the
Department of Ecology in
requests for reviews.
Another amendment would
require the Department of
Ecology to notify local
government when it believes a
permit should be rescinded for
noncompliance.
The department may appeal
to the Shoreline Hearing Board
for rescission of the permit only if
the noncompliance continues for
30 days and the local government
entity has failed to take action in
the meantime.
Registration by Mail?
A House Constitution and
Election subcommittee is
preparing another attempt to
enact legislation to permit voter
registration by mail.'
Technical education in a technological age is worthless,
according to one of America's most persistent advocates of
liberal education. ....... -, ,,
"The only education worth having in an age of rapid
change is liberal education," said Robert M. Hutchins,
President of the Center for the Study of Democratic
Institutions at Santa Barbara, California.
"The aim of American education in an age of rapid
change should be to do what it can to help everybody gain
complete possession of all his powers," the former President
of the University of Chicago wrote in The Center Magazine.
"It is now clear that the only thing we can do is what we
ought to have been doing all along."
He made clear he is calling for a liberal education for all,
not just for an economic or intellectual elite.
Hutchins said liberal education, instead of vocational or
technical education, is more crucial today than when it was
advocated 70 years ago by John Dewey.
"The most obvious fact about society is that the more
technological it is the more rapidly it will change," wrote
Hutchins.
"it follows that in an advanced technological society
futility dogs the footsteps of those who try to prepare the
child for any precise set of conditions.
"Hence, the most impractical education is the one that
looks most practical, and the one that is most practical in
fact is the one that is commonly regarded as remote from
As these drawings usually are
offered by local merchants who reality, one dedicated to the comprehension of theory and
are valued loyal supporters of the principles.
fairs, sponsors of these annual"In the
fairs are especially desirous of
having the drawings legalized.
Disclosure Changes Disclosed
First changes in the public
disclosure law enacted by
Initiative 276 will be
recommended to the 1976
Legislature by the House
Constitution and Elections
Committee. They have been
requested by the Public
Disclosure Commission, and are
intended to simplify
administration of the act. One of
the major changes would give the
Public Disclosure Commission
enforcement powers.
Currently the commission
reports "apparent" violations to
prosecutors, with the latter
deciding whether an actual
violation occurred. Not only does
this result in lack of uniformity in
enforcement, but in some cases
violations fail to get attention
because a prosecutor's staff is too
busy with more serious cases. If
granted the authority, the
commission plans to levy nominal
fines of $10 or so for late filing,
but wants power to levy fines up
to $1,000 for flagrant violations.
Any fines levied would, of course,
be subject to appeal to the courts.
Shorelines, Too
Another act scheduled for
some changes next session is a
spinoff of still another initiative,
the shoreline management act,
present state of technology, and even more
"By golly, you're right! You CAN hear
Bill Knowland and Chiang Kai-shek
turning over in their graves!"
Editor, The Journal:
It seems everyone is very good
at telling all the bad things about
anything they can think of but
never take time to tell the good
things.
Well, I recently spent about
2½ weeks in the Mason County
General Hospital. I wish to say I
have never been treated any
better than I was
nurses and doctors and
staff were super. The
the kitchen were also
l had to start
carefully as l did not
solid foods for about two
They really did their best
r now
In the early post-Hiroshima years, people lived
with the knowledge that extermination of the speoes
scientific possibility. They comforted themselves
assumption that nuclear weapons were so horrible
nation would dare to use them. Out of the
debates of that period on the danger of atomic
emerged a dominant theme; namely, that statesmen
bluster and threaten, but they would never actually
nuclear push buttons.
The top military planner of the United States,
has now made it plain that the unthinkable has
thinkable. He may have been reflecting his apt
other countries might press forward with
disadvantageous to the United States if they believe
too squeamish to use the bomb in any showdown.
The other nuclear nations hold the same basic
Their view of their security makes the human
secondary to their national interest. All the nuclear
including the Soviet Union, China, and France, are
in the same patterns of reflexive thinking on the
ultimate force. Atomic weapons are an essential part
foreign policy and long-term strategy. Accordingly,
attempt to convince one another they are prepared t0!
the way in support of national objectives.
We are forced back, therefore, to a consideration C
realities that came into the world on August 6, 1945,
destructive warfare became total. The first
there is a basic conflict between national
interpreted by the nations themselves, and the securityc
human species as a whole. Originally, a nation's
purpose was to protect people; in today's
"protector" becomes the adversary.
certainly in any future state thereof, the kind
information that is central in American
obsolescent, if not obsolete.
"Now, the only possible adjustment tlaat we can
child is that which arises through putting him in
possession of all his powers."
Hutchins said such a liberal education would
neither training nor the imparting of information, but!
use them in a different fashion.
"The training would be in techniques the child
need under any conditions, in any occupation, at any
his life," Hutchins wrote.
"Such techniques are language and mathematics,
are implicated in everything we do. The information
be such as to confirm, refute or illustrate the principles
discussion."
Denying he underestimates the need for
competence, Hutchins said that where it is rec
have to be obtained on the job, due to ra
technological change.
He called for a new definition of liberal
"appropriate to the world we are now
characterized by very rapid change, by vast stretches
time, by the emergence of a world order and by the
demand for wise citizens and good men."
Using that definition, Hutchins said, an
tried to assist the formation of the world community *
seek to connect rather than divide men; it would seeg
so by drawing out the elements of their common
"It would be theoretical rather than practical,
though men do different things, they can all
understanding.
"It would be general rather than specialized,
though all men are not experts in the same subject,
ought to grasp the same principles.
"It would be liberal rather than vocational,
though all men do not follow the same occu
minds of all men should be set free."
Stating his case for a liberal education for all,
few, Hutchins wrote:
"When we talk about liberal education today
plagued by reminiscences and overtones of
aristocracy and snobbery. It is assumed that
insidiously undemocratic is afoot.
"But I suggest that true democrats are those
that everybody must be educated for freedOf
anti-democrats are those who think there are two
people, those who can be educated and those who
trained, those who can become human beings and
are, in Aristotle's phrase, 'natural slaves'."
Hutchins is the author also of a new book, "The
Society," in which he developed further the views
in his article in The Center Magazine,
Mailing Address: Box 430, Shelton, Wa. 98584
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