The Boston Phoenix January 18-24, 1991: Vol 20 Iss 3

124 Pages·127.4 MB·English

“THE FLY" SHAKESPEARE
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DAVID CRONENBERG’S BEST OF THE BARD,
MASTERPIECE AND INCLUDING BRANDO
PhOTHEeR HORRORe FLICKS niAS MxARK ANT|ONY s
25TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR
JANUARY 18-24, 1991 BOSTON’S LARGEST WEEKLY FIVE SECTIONS 124 PAGES $1.50
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RIGGER
WHAT’S NEXT?
WILL THE DRAFT BE REVIVED?
THE DEMOCRATS’ DILEMMA
COUNTDOWN ON CAPITOL HILL
REALITY REPLACES ANXIETY
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PHOTOS BY AP/WIDE WORLD (TRIGGER) AND KATHY CHAPMAN (STREETS)
2 THE BOSTON PHOENIX, SECTION ONE ANUARY 18, 1991
(ISSN No: 0163-3015)
Published Weekly Vol. XX/No. 3
126 Brookline Ave., Boston, Mass. 02215 [phone]
PUBLISHER & CHAIRMAN
Stephen M. Mindich
PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
FLASHBACKS H. Barry Morris
EDITOR
Peter Kadzis
EDITORIAL
Managing Editor: John P. Mello Jr.; Design Director: Cleo
Leontis; Associate Design Director: Kevin Miller; Design
Assistant: David Axtell; News Editor: Mark Jurkowitz; Arts
Editor: Jettrey Gantz; Lifestyle Editor: Caroline Knapp;
Associate Arts Editor: Ted E. Drozdowski; Arts Editors:
In each issue throughout 1991 we will take a week-by-week look more than a repeat performance. And now, two of Reagan’s Carolyn Clay (theater), Peter Keough (film), Amy Finch
(events), Jon Garelick (music); Senior Staff Editor: Thea
back at the trends and events we’ve covered since 1966. The savviest political aides — (Michael) Deaver and James) Baker — Singer; Listings Coordinator: Gail Ross; Staff Writers:
selections below are culled from our back files. have left the White House. Who's the new director? According to Maureen Dezell, Sean Flynn, Timothy Gower, Ric Kahn, Jon
insiders, it’s Nancy Reagan. Nancy Reagan? ‘He’s going to find it a Keller, Mark Leibovich; Assistant to the Editor: Mark
Smoyer; Editorial Assistant: Alison Hagge.
little harder to deal with things without Deaver and Baker,’ says
iN & ¥¥. 29 (reporter Richard) Bergholz. ‘Remember that all the lobbying done CONTRIBUTORS
in the White House was directed by Baker. It’s a strange shift at Editors: Mary Frakes (food), E. Brad Meyer and Peter W.
WHITES WELCOME WALLACE this point.’ M(ciltacshseilcla l)(;a udWiroi/tveirdse:o ),J ohDnonny RAunbgienl , (Mpuizmzil e)C,o ucLhleoryd, SRcohbwianr tCz.
January 20, 1976 “And the world will not stand still. Ahead lies the unpredictable: Dougherty, Chuck Eddy, Kris Fell, Mike Freedberg, Clif
» Ten weeks before the "76 Massachusetts presidential primary, there could be a breakdown in the Geneva talks, loan defaults by Garboden, M. Howell, James Hunter, Jim Macnie, Bill Marx,
Robert Nadeau, Rebecca Nemser (art), Jan Nicholson,
Alabama Governor George Third World countries, even another Pershing-missile incident in Ketura Persellin, Harvey Silvergiate, Lisa Deeley Smith, Don
Wallace was running second to West Germany, this time with a warhead attached. The next term Steinberg, Gary Susman, Charles Taylor, Steve Vineberg;
Sargent Shriver in the state’s polls. will be a lot rougher than the first, both for Reagan and for us.” Cartoonist: David Sipress.
Wallace spoke at the Statler Hilton ADVERTISING
(a hotel he had accidentally called . Co-Sales Directors
the “Statler Hitler” at an earlier Ah i Ss A. William Risteen, Carola Cadley
Traffic Manager: Susan Kelley; Traffic Coordinators: Peter
press conference). According to Baldrachi, Karen Bronnenkant, Michelle Poppleton;
political writers James Barron and THE TEA PARTY ClassLiinefs iMaenagder : Larry Guerra; Classified Office
Marjorie Arons, Wallace “found he January 12, 1971 Supervisor: Michael Ryals;Classified Lines Repre-
sentatives: Chris Barno, Robert Deutsch, Ted Miller, John
had more friends here than many » In January 1969, Led Zeppelin, Pinsky, Paul Slagle, Courtney Wayshak; Associate
people thought.” played at the fabled Lansdowne Classified Display Sales Manager: Blaine Hebbel;
“Some in the crowd were Street nightclub with the ’60s-hip Classified Display Account Executives: James Berkowitz;
Classified Dispiay Sales Assistant: Demetri Panos;
observers from other campaign double entendre name, the Boston Corporate Account Executive: Michael Aliberte; Local
organizations. Some were local Tea Party. Led Zep took the stage Entertainment Sales Manager: Candace Pirello;
students. A few came because of a as the club was celebrating its Entertainment Sales Account Executives: Catherine
Sanderson, Heather Worth; National Sales Manager: Robert
morbid fascination with the near- second birthday with amps and E. Stevens; National Sales Account Executives: Carrie
George victim of an assassination. Most, business booming. Two years later, Meade, Moira Twomey; Retail Sales Manager: James
however, were white middle-class however, Timothy Crouse reported Femia; Retail Sales Account Executives: Terry Crowe, Bob
Cunnington, Andrew Tedder; Couriers: Adam Abramowitz,
and working-class supporters of the legendary Alabama gover- the demise of the club (“Tea Party Michael Byrne, Rick Ouellette.
NOS... Closing: Rock Gets Rolled”) MARKETING
“The crowd repeatedly interrupted his speech with applause. claiming that Director of Marketing
Jeff Schiffman
He played to them and their emotions, often smiling with droll the Tea Party, second only to San Marketing Managers: Caryn Hirsch, Jim Olson; Promotions
humor, sometimes mocking, sometimes plaintive, sometimes Francisco's Fillmore in status, had Coordinator: Greg Wymer.
evangelistic. made Boston “a belwether town for
PRODUCTION
“Instead of talking about how they were going to have to rock and a major market for the Production Manager
sacrifice more, he told them they had sacrificed enough and music industry.” The cause of Debbie Kiein
needed relief. He made them feel good about themselves and Jimmy Page death? Said manager Don Law, Graphic Services Director: Ann Hanson; Graphic Services
Coordinator: Janine Parker Kolberg; Graphic Services
declared himself ‘tired of all the guilt complex they’re trying to “The sophisticated listener went off into his room and started Accout Executive: Maryiou Newman; Graphic Services
give us.’ Declaring the United States ‘the most magnanimous listening to albums and getting stoned. He wasn’t interested in the Artist: John Millett; Computer Systems Manager: Harry
country in the world,’ Wallace said, ‘We haven't done everything scene anymore.” Brown; Pagination Manager: Christopher Young;
Production Traffic Manager: Matthew Thorsen; Art
right, but America is great and the reason she isn’t greater is ’cause Department Supervisor: Jessica Giles; Art Staff: Marcia
of that crowd in Washington.’... DYLAN COMEBACK Brodhead, Danie! Honig, Kevin Smith; Stat Camera
“They whooped and whistled, the guitar and banjo started up a January 22, 1974 Operator: Joseph Phillips.
CIRCULATION
lively ‘Buffalo Gals,’ and as Wallace was wheeled out, the people » Bob Dylan’s six-year hiatus from the stage is nothing Circulation Director
rose in a standing ovation, clapping in time to the music, and compared to the timeframe of today’s rock-star resurrections, Edward Daly
seemed not to want to go home.” but music editor Peter Herbst characterized the '60s prime- Operations Manager: Robert Brady; Sales Manager: Don
Bulman; Coordinator: Philip E. Hopkins; Subscriptions:
mover’s comeback as both a sell-out and a vain attempt at Amy Sloane; Driver: Jack Thompson.
ENTER REAGAN rejuvenation. FINANCE
January 20, 1981 “Many of the older numbers suffered from a noticeable distance Treasurer
David Crowley
» The Reagan election was a blow to liberalism and the start of between the singer and his material, between the man and his Controller: John Bell; Merchandise Administrator: Alan
a hands-off era in federal government that would boost the past,” he wrote. “[Dylan] no longer seemed the self-sufficient Orliove; Merchandise Coordinator: Kathie Noonan; Senior
economy and widen the gap between rich and poor in America. loner, the man who makes things happen and cause people to Accountant: Jim Ouran; Staff Accountant: Joanne Manning;
Staff: Eunice DiNitto, Ginny Yardley; Receivable Director:
John Tirman marked the advent of the Reagan years with an come to him. After being deliberately out of it for so many years, Deborah Tosches; Credit Representatives: Rob Hunter,
analysis of the national mood entitled “Progressive he seemed to finally want in.” Kathy Richard; Collections Representatives: Eric Van
Deterioration.” Buskirk, Marney MacFadyen; Finance Clerk: John
MecMorrow.
“Elections, however important as transfers of constitutional HUMAN RESOURCES
power, are more revealing as swings in mood rather than Director of Human Resources
ideology. One can’t fail to observe that Americans in 1980 were Michelle M. Rosner
Human Resources Representative: Karen Williams.
more cynical about politics than ever, and it seems safe to assume ADMINISTRATION
that this extends to people’s feelings about education, law, the Executive Vice President
giant corporations — virtually every major institution that shapes Arthur Fishelman
Assistant to the President: David M. Dinnage; Office
our lives. Manager: Sandy Pardee; Administrative Assistant: Wendy
“What makes the current cynicism frightening is that it seems to Charest; Receptionist: Amy Frantz.
be rooted in hopelessness. . . . Today we are cheated out of the INFORMATION
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breeds an especially virulent strain of confusion that is edged with
ill will. Hence President Ronald Wilson Reagan.” Bob Joan Postmaster: Send address changes to Subscription
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REAGAN REDUX JOAN ARMATRADING Listings: Events will be listed free of charge, subject to
January 22, 1985 January 18, 1977 revision by the editor. All copy must be received by
THURSDAY a week before the Friday when it should appear.
» Ronald Reagan entered his » Music writer Ariel Swartley reviewed Joan Armatrading’s Mail: Attention Listings.
second presidential term unsure appearance at the Berklee Performance Center, describing the Manuscripts: Manuscripts should be addressed to the
of his place in history and with folk-and-soul stylist as “neither a pushover nor a paragon... . appropriate section editor. We assume no responsibility for
returning manuscripts not accompanied by a stamped, self-
political analysts unsure of his Armatrading can express anger without bitterness, and her
addressed envelope.
ability to govern. Steven Stark protagonists sound strong even when they're hurt. She seems to Copyright: 1991 by the Boston Phoenix Inc. All rights
mapped the Reagan crossroads offer the best of both worlds: assertive independence as well as reserved. Reproduction without permission, by any: method
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hand.
“For what it’s worth, the current
speculation about Ronnie II has EST RE-EXAMINED Subscribers’
divided into roughly two camps. January 20, 1976 Change of Address
In one comer are those . . . who » In 1976, Psychobabble author, mystery writer, and former arts
see chaos emerging as an elderly Ronald editor R.D. Rosen looked into the Me Generation self-
PASTE LABEL HERE
president rides into the sunset CHRISTOPHER BROWN improvement movement called est, founded by mentor Werner
four years too soon, leaving Erhard (né car salesman Jack Rosenberg). At that point, est
subordinates to deal with arms control and the deficit. In the other boasted 65,000 disciples looking for self-actualization and New Address
corner are those who see a born-again Reagan reversing himself, Spiritual release. Rosen described an encounter with the City
leaving his mark on history with a comprehensive arms agreement program as an “amalgam of Zen, the Protestant ethic, psycho- State ______—_ Zip
and a new, simplified tax code... . analytic insights, chutzpah, Taoism, door-to-door smarm, gestalt-
MAIL TO:
“But recent polls show that attitudes have changed; the public to-gestalt charm and much more .. . that is in theory quite Subscription Department
feels that Reagan should remain but that the “Reagan revolution” intelligent and in practice something like basic training at Fort THE BOSTON PHOENIX
has gone far enough. For an encore, the public wants something Benning.” Q 126 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215
JANUARY 18, 1990 SECTION ONE, THE BOSTON PHOENIX 3
Rabbit on my mind
by Peter Kadzis
hat would
Rabbit Angstrom PAE AS RRR
make of all this?
Alas, we'll never know.
Word of Rabbit’s death
4 SHORT STOPS
reached the public late
6 LETTERS
last year — about the cicaseseveniied thauecovivetoneunlostsensstoeseseeteeuenetts WABI WITH WIR) ooeeeneeeeneeeeneeeeeeeeeeeneccnneecenncnnneensnnens
same time George Bush
HEARD ON THE STREET by Tim Gower, Sean Flynn, and Diane Kadzis
began, in earnest, to
What the men and women on the street are saying about the war and the SSC Sedo f
deploy US forces against
resurrecting the draft.
Saddam Hussein.
HIGH ANXIETY by Mark Jurkowitz
For 30 years, Harry —
For years Americans have avoided the V-word. Now, for the first time since Vietnam,
Rabbit’s given name —
the prospect of numbing bloodshed again stares us in the face. And suddenly all the
served his creator well.
horrors of the real Vietnam War start flooding back.
Through four novels
John Updike 10 GREEN PARTY by Jon Keller
(Rabbit Run, Rabbit
Once again, a Republican-controlled White House bent on military engagement
Redux, Rabbit Is Rich,
triumphed over an essentially non-interventionist Democratic Congress. And judging
_ Rabbit At Rest) he played John Updike’s Everyman. His
from the early success of Operation Desert Storm, the Democrats’ chosen anti-war
adult years spanned the reigns of Eisenhower, Kennedy,
identity may turn out to be politically difficult to live with.
Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. And though his gray-
11 DC DIARY by Leslie Kaufman
collar life was lived far from the playpens of Washington,
A day-by-day account of what it was like to be on Capitol Hill as the Congress and
he was probably more representative of his time than
president grappled with events leading up to war in the Persian Gulf.
most flesh-and-blood policy wonks.
12 DRAFTING PLANS by Dave Lindorff
Rabbit was a jingo. Bombing North Vietnam was okay
The draft bas been dead for 17 years. But with the crisis in the Persian Gulf exploding
with him. In his view of the world, Arabs weren’t to be
into full-scale war and the chance that there could be a long-term military presence in
trusted. And the Japanese would squeeze you for all you
the Middle East, it may not be long before the Selective Service system sends out
were worth — even if you kept your wits about you.
thousands of greetings to a new generation.
But Rabbit was no fool. All the junk food and beer he
18 BEFORE THE STORM
consumed over the years before his heart finally failed
A flavor of the historic debate in Congress on the resolution giving President Bush the
never compromised his essentially acute intuition. Rabbit
power to use military force to resolve the crisis in the Persian Gulf.
may have voted for Ronald Reagan, but he was never
PEST
dirnwitted enough to have been proud of it. He devel-
oped a rather mordant sense of self. He was washed up
and washed out and so, he thought, was Reagan. It was
in that spirt that he cast his ballot. Breeding spoke to
breeding. He was, in a fundamental way, voting his class 1Th8is8 soo BDoseto n’s Bulletin Board shops for great junk, taste tests Starbucks coffee, tries
interests. S — a on cedar socks, and compares Shakespeare (yes, Shakespeare) to the movies.
What would Angstrom make of Bush, an East Coast SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOSTORES by Mark Leibovich
aristo who has made a career of parading around in the What happens when he wants to rent Dirty Harry and you want to rent Dirty Dancing?
curious drag of a self-made common man? It’s doubtful It all gets awfully messy. A look at what your choice of videos says about you, and why
he'd be fooled. He might have belched with approbation it can get you into trouble.
when Bush announced that the liberation of Kuwait was ROAD WARRIORS by Gail Ross
at hand. But he wouldn’t buy the faux Rough Rider They're fast. They're tough. They’re a little bit nuts. Meet Boston's bicycle messengers.
rhetoric. Scratch Rabbit and you'd find a realist. Rabbit ABORTION: LIFE BEGINS AT . . . by Demetria Martinez
would know in his jumpy and battered heart that the war Han-Martin Sass, a philosopher from Georgetown University, bas proposed making
with Iraq was about oil.— the lubricant of our rusty abortions illegal after 70 days, the point at which “brain life” begins. As some see it,
industry and our creaking economy. this could resolve the abortion debate once and for ail.
THE 10-WEEK WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING by Caroline Knapp
Se 0 es As proposals like Professor Sass’s become increasingly popular, it’s time to watch out.
Such theories may seem to offer a safe middle ground, but in fact they’re extremely
‘BB ayor Raymond shaky.
Flynn made a 10 THE STRAIGHT DOPE by Cecil Adams
rare foray into 11 AID & ACTION compiled by Gail Mandel
international affairs 12 DINING OUT by Robert Nadeau
several days ago. His Ristorante La Questura dishes up Italian fare in (of all places) a renovated jail in
motive — as noble as it Dorchester. Plus, the Phoenix restaurant guide and late-night cheap eats at Dolly's at
was practical — bears Kay & Chips, in Somerville.
witness to the sagacity of 15 THE PUZZLE by Don Rubin
Tip O’Neill’s dictum that
all politics are local.
Flynn asked the US
government to exempt
from call up James 2 8 DAYS A WEEK
Ff it’s hot, it’s in the Phoenix, so pay a visit to our listings pages before you step out. If
Menzoian, MD, a Boston
you're movie bound, turn to “Flicks in a Flash,” Boston’s most inventive film guide. For
City Hospital trauma and
the latest news in the arts world, read up on the “State of the Art.” And in “Next
vascular surgeon. ‘Three
Ray Flynn other BCH surgeons have Weekend,” Amy Finch gets an earful on the music business from Trent Reznor of Nine
Inch Nails.
already been called to
fufill their military obligations. Enough is enough, Flynn THEATER
Bill Marx finds that the Hartford Stage’s The Master Builder is built to last, Carolyn
argued. Menzoian was needed to minister to local needs.
Clay turns a page on The Diary of Anne Frank at the Lyric, Gary Susman says the
The story, in a nutshell, suggests the sort of ongoing
conflict that has for 10 years characterized the differing Triangle’s Backward, Turn Backward puts an unusual spin on a common theme; and
Robin Dougherty praises Cole, the Porter-fired musical review at the Back Alley
priorites of local and national government. That's no
doubt why it ended up on page one of the Boston Globe. Theatre.
DANCE, ART, and TELEVISION
It also highlights another, less obvious point. Tens of
Thea Singer bids a fond farewell to Concert Dance Company; Rebecca Nemser gets
thousands of young men and women have enlisted in the
together with “Convergence,” a show of African-American photographers at the
Reserves as a way to defray the skyrocketing costs of
Photographic Resource Center; and Clif Garboden tries to make sense of PBS's Making
higher education. Now that it has been demonstrated that
THE MASTER Sense of the Sixties.
combat duty is no longer an abstract concept, will
individuals be so quick to shoulder military obligations? BUILDER 10 FILM
Peter Keough reports that Come See the Paradise is a haven for clichés and that Hidden
And what will that mean for our all-volunteer and largely
Agenda needs a stronger platform; Robin Dougherty speaks with Hidden Agenda’
poor and working-class military?
director, Ken Loach; Steve Vineberg deplores Zeffirelli’s outrageously unfortunate
ea 5 ARR Hamlet; and Charlies Taylor says Lasse Hallstrém, director of Once Around, bas yet to
learn any new tricks. Plus, in “Trailers,” Freeze, Die, Come to Life, Lionheart, The End
of Innocence, and Flight of the Intruder.
we efine me as “thirtysomething.” But please, do so
only in terms of demographics. I’ve been 13 CRITICAL MASS
Peter Sellars’s Mozart has been called many things, but... boring? Jeffrey Gantz
intrigued by the effect that the mounting tension
pre Wednesday, January 16, had on many of my friends. explains.
Men who over the years had slowly found themselves 14 MUSIC
Jon Garelick reads Ronald Shannon Jackson’s beat poetry; Stephanie Zacharek hears
drifting from their previously McGovern-ite views of
jazzers UYA and Human Feel blow for freedom; Ed Hazell improvises on Marilyn
foreign adventure toward a vague sense that maybe
Crispell; Steve Elman hails Abbey Lincoln's latest address; Lloyd Schwartz commends
Reagan and Bush weren't all wet suddenly began to have
second thoughts. It was as if something in their DNA had the Boston visit of Peter Maxwell Davies; Robert Moses finds strong roots in Robin
Holcomb’s modern American plainsong; Michael Freedberg samples Jellybean’s new
been stirred by prolonged exposure to CNN. They began
confections; and Jim Macnie gets dope with Run-D.M.C. Plus, in “Live and on Record,”
to speak in set phrases again: The US is “morally
Charlie Parker and the World of Skin.
bankrupt.” Our military strategy is “racist.” Our lack of an
energy policy is “reckless.” I’m sure it’s no surprise that 26 HOT DOTS 27 LISTINGS
that sort of rhetoric faded with the early reports of 34 ART LISTINGS 38 PLAY BY PLAY
successful air strikes. 40 OFF THE RECORD 41 FILM LISTINGS
A final note: As we go to press, the New York Stock 42 FILM STRIPS
Exchange closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
scoring its second-highest gain in history — 114.60 points.Q Credits: Kathy Chapman (with News) and David Sipress (with Lifestyle).
4 THE BOSTON PHOENIX, SECTION ONE JANUARY 18, 1991
| SHORT STOPS
|
HERO OF THE WEEK
Barbara Locurto When nine Republicans won previously Democratic
state Senate seats last fall, it was automatically assumed
At a time of shrinking resources and sinking morale,
by political observers that the new senators would form
Barbara Locurto is known to some as the miracle
an instant coalition with the seven returning GOP
worker of 26 Court Street, home of the Boston School
incumbents, thus assuring the Republicans the power to
Department.
sustain any vetoes by Governor William Weld. But barely
Locurto is the director of the Boston entry in a
a fortnight into the new legislative session, Senate
national initiative called the IMPACT II Teacher
Republicans are already learning that party growth — and
Network. But the way she answers the phone better
its resulting diversity — can breed dissent.
identifies her calling: “Hello, teacher support.”
According to Senate and GOP insiders, there was “a lot
Locurto’s program plays the role of educational
of grumbling” earlier this month among the newer
matchmaker. It identifies top-shelf classroom projects
Republican senators when veteran Senate Minority Leader
and then taps the teachers to share the wealth and help
David Locke appointed conservative senators Robert
train other teachers who adapt the offerings to their
Buell of Boxford and Edward Kirby of Whitman to two of
own educational home bases. Like the “Start Your Day
the three assistant-minority-leader slots under his control.
With a Song” program developed by one teacher
(Mary Padula of Lunenburg was named to the third
primarily for kindergarteners and first graders — which
position.) The move was consistent with Locke's belief in
imparts, among other things, rhyme, rhythm, repetition
the seniority system — though he was reportedly
— that is now being used by 23 other teachers in their
pressured by Republican moderates to set aside this
own classrooms.
conviction in 1989, in order to appoint relative newcomer
Locurto also hustles to rustle up money, so she can
senators Paul Cellucci and Peter Webber to the leadership
offer $750 grants to the demonstrater teachers and $200
posts along with Padula.
grants to the adapter teachers for input time and
“I think the minority leader went with the seniority
supplies. “We reward them in small ways with money
system and just took the three senators who had been
and in big ways with respect and information,” she says.
there the longest,” says freshman Senator Matthew
In an often super-serious school department,
Amorello of the recent appointments.
Locurto, a 24-year veteran of the Boston Public
What apparently chafed some freshman and moderate
Schools, has a strong sense of humor (she says she’s
Republican senators, as well as some elements within the
from the Yogi Berra school of administrators and
Weld administration, was the ideological tenor of Locke’s
fundraisers — “It’s not over ’til it’s over”). She is well-
new leadership team. Both Buell and Kirby are among
thought of by teachers and advocates alike. She is
the legislature’s most conservative members, particularly
fiercely pro-teacher, having spent eight years in the
on social issues, and some Republicans had hoped a
classroom herself. And she is manifestly modest.
more moderate member such as Lucile Hicks of Wayland
“If you want to meet the real heroes, come see me,”
or Henri Rauschenbach of Brewster might have been
she says. “I'll point you in the direction of the teachers.”
included. Buell, for instance, has been a consistent
KATHY CHAPMAN
opponent of the gay-rights
bill which finally prevailed
in the Senate last year. Over
the years, Kirby has
THE ONE-MINUTE INTERVIEW fairly popular incumbent with $1.3 million in the bank.
repeatedly attracted atten-
When you throw those vegetables in the mixmaster,
tion for his homophobic
Michael McCormack on you come up with a solution that says ‘No go.’ comments during debate on
“If the economic situation in the city changes, I'd
running against Ray Flynn that legislation, and helped
reconsider. But for my chances to increase, the city
earn his rock-bottom rating
would have to take an economic downturn, and I’m
from the Civil Liberties
City Councilor Michael McCormack has toyed with certainly not rooting for that.
Union of Massachusetts by
the idea of running for mayor of Boston on several “I'm not going to step out and be Joe/Tierney, circa
voting to require AIDS
occasions during his 10-year political career. Last fall, 1990. So today the answer to the question ‘Are you
testingas a condition of
he stuck his toe in the local political waters in an running?’ is ‘no’.
receiving amarriage license.
attempt to determine if waging a mayoral campaign “It looks as if there won’t be any credible candidates
So much for the united Locke: seniority first
against popular incumbent Ray Flynn would be akin to this time around, and that’s too bad. Because this
GOP front when Weld
running a marathon or to running in place. Apparently, would be the time to beat him. Next term [in 1995], 25 JOHN NORDELL
begins delivering on his
he’s decided it would be too much like the latter. people will jump into the preliminary, and he’ll win
campaign promise to support gay rights. And that’s not
“I don’t think it’s very likely I'll run. I'd like to. The because the opposition will be so divided. And he will
the only potential battleground that might expose the
problem is Ray Flynn isn’t Kevin White. You've got a run again. I think he’ll run until they carry him out.”
ideological divide among Senate Republicans. Newly
elected State Treasurer Joe Malone has expressed support
for the creation of off-track betting — an idea that’s sure
to pit the resolutely anti-gambling Locke and his cronies
against the new GOP senators whose urban districts will
be desperately needing new sources of tax revenue.
— Jon Keller
Two and a half years after Boston cops busted him for
trying to save drug-users from AIDS by dispensing clean
needles, Jon Parker last month took his National AIDS
Brigade, and its guerrilla war against the epidemic, to a
new staging ground — a storefront in Mission Hill just a
few feet from where Parker was arrested in August 1988.
In addition to the needle-exchange program that has
earned Parker national recognition over the past five years,
the fledgling drop-in center at the corner of Parker and
Tremont streets offers addicts and others peer counseling to
cope with AIDS-related issues, and referrals to housing,
medical care, drug treatment, and social services. Moreover,
an apartment above the storefront currently houses two
people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Will Murphy says that a registered nurse already
MICHAEL ROMANOS volunteers her time to work with addicts, and the Brigade
is hoping more cash and volunteers will allow the
storefront to offer medical screenings and HIV testing to
@ THE SIGN-UP SHEET addicts and non-addicts alike, and facilities such as a
desktop publishing center for community residents. The
goal, he adds, is to become a resource for the entire
Mission Hill neighborhood, not just its drug-users.
(om The Watertown Multi-Service Center offers volunteering opportunities for those interested in helping
Parker began his needle-exchange crusade five years
youths who need positive role models. Volunteers spend up to three hours a week with a youth. For
ago, when he was a graduate student at the Yale School
more information on this Friend-to-Friend program, call Anne at 926-3600.
of Public Health. After beginning in New Haven,
Northern Light Alternatives provides emotional support for people affected with the HIV virus. Connecticut, he expanded the campaign first to his native
C Volunteers are needed for office set-up, administration, and fundraising. Call Matt at 423-3035. Boston and eventually to most of the nine other states
where clean needles are outlawed without a prescription.
( om American Intercultural Student Exchange (AISE) seeks host families for international high-school Intravenous drug users, the fastest-growing category of
students. AISE is also seeking American high-school students who would like to study abroad. For people with AIDS, spread HIV by sharing tainted needles,
information on either program, call 1-800-SIBLING. and frequently pass the virus to their sex partners and
their unborn children.
(om Southwest Boston Senior Services needs volunteers interested in working with the elderly. Hours are
In January 1990, Parker was acquitted in Boston
flexible. Call Ann Bloomfield at 325-6565. Municipal Court of charges stemming from his 1988 arrest
(om Joint Action in Community Service, Inc. needs volunteers to work by telephone at home providing when a judge ruled that he broke the law in an effort to
slow the spread of AIDS.
information, advice, and referrals to economically disadvantaged youths in the Boston area. Call 565-2187
An open house for the drop-in center is scheduled on
or 1-800-356-2599, or write to Joint Action in Community Service, Inc., P.O. Box 8802, Boston, MA 02114.
Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.
— Sean Flynn
plebtYoe) e]i —
Coucert Series
SNSAeI LNOON A
EAE
SAINES AA
|
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Fii3
i
:
:
ita Cachelvell(cle)(-Meim@rchliatlnmsioy &@u le
WIT AECOMDE AND MORE
Gui ton i [phone]
6 THE BOSTON PHOENIX, SECTION ONE LETTERS JANUARY 18, 1991
NIGHTSTAGE
Best Nightclub
—Boston lagazine We welcome responses from cause Our City national embarrass- day it opens.”
TONIGH] readers. Letters should be typed ment. Pu-lease! Remember that a
Fri., January 18 ¢ 9 pm (double spaced) if that’s possible, Miguel Satut thoughtful, critical assessment of a
and every letter must include the Associated Grantmakers of movie does not require telling us,
writer’s name and address, as well as Massachusetts your readers, everything!
a telepbone number (we'd appreciate Rachel K. Anderson
one where we can reach you during Brookline
CRYBABY-
business hours). The last is solely for
purposes of verification: as you can BOOMERS Editor's note: sorry if the review
Sun., Jan. 20 ¢ see on this page, only the writer's spoiled the story. Our general policy
THE DE name and town are printed, and Maureen Dezell did a thorough job is to avoid giving away the ending of
HUSTON BAND these may be withheld if there is good of demonstrating her point in “Cry- a film, or any details that might spoil
LADIES EXPRESS reason. baby-boomers” (“Personally,” News, it for the audience. In this case the
All letters are subject to editing for January 4). The article was a collec- information given seemed relevant to
considerations of space, fairness, tion of her gripes about her peers. the critical point the reviewer was
and literacy. It was full of the inconsistencies of making. Also, it did not seem the
one who is quick to spot faults in oth- “ending” of the film per se, since
ers but fails to recognize them in one- Leonard's reversion begins about
NEW BLOOD,
self. The very sentence that informs halfway through the film.
MY ARSE! us how offensive she finds the casual
overuse of “terms that once described
GOING WILD
I saw your spot on Peter Foreman profound emotions” starts out, “I hate
(‘The One Minute Interview,” pop-psych hyperbole.” OVER ORGONE
News, December 14). So? How is In a particularly ungracious passage
he indeed different from the typical she bitches about a “world-class whin- As an independent scholar with
Massachusetts Republican of tradi- er” she saw at a party. Although this nearly 20 years of research and field-
tion, cloned from Federalism? New woman is introduced to us as a casual work experience investigating the
blood, my arse! Here is another lit- acquaintance, Ms. Dezell is privy to biophysical research findings of the
tle lad from the country club set, intimate family insights; she is adored late Dr. Wilhelm Reich, I was out-
who will ape the Democrats and by husband and son, she doesn’t have raged to read the incredibly derogato-
who will tell we “little people” to to work. “Still, she’s a malcontent,” ry and twisted statements about
pay the tax bill he and his col- fumes Dezell, the implication being, Reich, and about myself, in the syndi-
PIRATE PROD. & GINO
leagues run up. That is why what more could a woman want? This cated column “The Straight Dope,” by
Massachusetts is and will remain a is the same writer who flatly states Cecil Adams. Adam relied heavily on
one party state. that the educated, white middle class a previously published attack upon
I am glad we have a free, two-party are among the most privileged peo- Reich and myself, by Martin Gardner,
system in New Hampshire, since ple ever. Personally, I find that a (Skeptical Inquirer, Fall 1988), but it
ENUFF Z NUFF
November 1990, when the Libertarian bizarre notion but it might explain is a big mistake to elevate Gardner's
Party gained ballot status. And some- her harsh judgement of her friend. unstudied criticisms to the level of
TIN PAN ALLEY
day it will happen in Massachusetts, She sneers at the number, the exact fact, while so completely ignoring
WITCH BONNIE
particularly if the Foremans continue number no less, of self-improvement and trivializing the decades of solid
~ CHUCKLEHEAD
to prove how useless they are at pro- and recovery books now available, published experimental evidence on
GANG ST*RR POSSE tecting citizens from the Bulgers and yet a few paragraphs later she’s indig- the orgone energy question by Reich,
dip their hands into the taxpayer's nant there's no childcare book specif- his co-workers, and by younger
DIRTY TRIXX
Sat., January 26 © 8pm pockets themselves. ically advising parents raised in dys- researchers, like myself, who have
DIFARONME NEPWO NYOZRIK O ASNDA ONN CTHTE UAXIAS RSTYAGE : functional families. I know this is the replicated his controversial experi-
Arthur W. Ketchen age of specialization but I would ments in more recent times.
BLITZSPEER Nashua, NH guess any book that deals with the For the record, SJ magazine refused
Wed, January 30 ¢ 9 pm healthy nurturing care of a baby to publish my rebuttal to Gardner's
TOGETHER IN A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE STOMPBOX
MARTI JONES & would do. attack on Reich, and I later discov-
DON DIXON RESIGNED OVER . I think some whining and com- ered that the parent organization of
SALTONSTALL plaining is healthy and acceptable to that magazine, CSICOP (Committee
SHFOri,C KRA r® H E© AV18+ Y ThCurLsdIay,F FJanS. 31 O@ F18 + most people, as long as it is done in for the Scientific Investigation of
The only disagreement that I have moderation and with a sense Claims of the Paranormal), has a
METAL HORNS
DOONEN with Maureen Dezell’s excellent arti- humor. And I don’t think it is limited long-standing policy of not doing
Mon February 4 © 7:30& 10:30pm
cle analyzing the Flynn administra- ‘to any one generation. The only dif- * research, and also of not allowing
FROM SAN DIEGO CARTOON tion’s failed record in implementing ference between Maureen Dezell and persons attacked in its pages the right
THEF AULTTTIM ATBE UIRN GJAECURZZ I JAZZ FACTORY fair-housing laws in the City of the rest of us is she whines in of rebuttal. It is not a scientific orga-
Boston (“Les Misérables,” News, newsprint. nization in the least, and most of its
Tue., February5 ® 7:30& 1 0:3p0 m January 11) is with the caption that Genevieve Wolf members are professional or amateur
appeared under a file photograph of South Boston magicians. Gardner, himself a card-
me. The caption should read — Satut: trick and math game expert, has
resigned when Flynn failed to SUSPENSE made a career out of smearing Reich,
ANT FARM
embrace Saltonstall as fair-housing SPOILED and is articles are notable for their
ZUG ZUG director. In fact, the only positive out- nasty tone, the highly selective lifting
HAS 3 come of the whole very disappoint- Aaaargh! of materials out of context, and most
ing episode has been the friendship The above barely conveys the frus- important, from the perspective of
Thurs., February 7¢ 8pm 18+ 11pm 21+ that has developed between Tom tration I felt after reading a particular- the sciences, the total ignoring of
BIM SKALA BIM PRECIOUS Saltonstall and me. ly odious sentence in Robin published positive-research evidence
THE HIGH HATS
For the record, I resigned my Dougherty’s film review of Awaken- supporting Reich’s claims. Adams
METAL
appointment as Commissioner of the ings in last week’s Phoenix (“Sleep- successfully condensed the worst of
Fri., Feb. 8 © 8pm + 11pm Boston Fair Housing Commission ing Giant,” Arts, January 11). The the journalistic slime from Gardner’s
RONNIE EARL & BARACUDA
(BFHC) in protest of the unwarranted grievous sentence I am referring to is earlier article into his own.
SUGAR RAY SHOOT SHOOT intrusion of Flynn and his political the one which revealed to me what I am sick and tired of seeing
STRAIGHT JACKET
BLUE HEAVEN UNDERFIRE operatives in the hiring process of a happened to Leonard Lowe (Robert Reich’s name, and now my name,
Sun., Feb. 10 © 7:30pm & 10pm director for the BFHC. Members of De Niro) at the end of the movie. dragged through the mud by “jour-
SUN RA & HIS the BFHC have the authority to If you are going to allow your nalists” or other self-proclaimed “sci-
Thur., Feb. 7 @ 18+
INTERGALACTIC KILLING appoint a director as stated in the city reviewers to spill the beans, as it ence experts” who are too preju-
ordinance that created the commis- were, at least alert us gentle readers diced, hostile, and lazy to get their
ARKESTRA
JOKE sion (Ordinances of 1982, Chapter in the beginning of the article. facts straight.
Wed., Feb 13 ©7:30pm + 10pm 10). Perhaps a cautionary sentence such
TRUMDPEOTNER ECXHTREAORRRDIYN AIRE Flynn opposed the unanimous as “Warning: the following review James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Fri, Feb.. 8 @ 19+ nomination of Saltonstall, the candi- may gravely undermine your cine- Director of Research
VALENTINES DAY Early Show 8:00pm Doors date recommended to the commis- matic pleasure by telling you the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab
Thurs., Feb 14 ¢ 9pm HE BENTMEN sion by a broadly representative com- whole plot of the movie on the first El Cerrito, CA
HIGH FUNCTION mittee of citizens, which purposefully
THE BEDROCKS included his two top advisors on civil
MARTIN SEXTON Fri, Feb. 8 @ 18+ rights, simply because he wanted to
10:30 Doors establish political control over an TaG2eli”aeSlsaeii ieeeetd seee n
HFri.E, FRebE 1T5 I¢ X9p m FRONT LINE agency which was asserting its right
to assume a more active role in
ASSEMBLY
Thurs., February 21 ¢ 9pm enforcement of fair-housing laws.
JUNE TABOR & THE After intense pressure from civil
OYSTER BAND Thur, Feb. 28 @ 18+ rights advocates, Flynn wavered and
appeared to accept Saltonstall as
THE JUDY BATS 10:00
director of a truly independent com-
ACCFrLiA.,I FMeEb D2 2 T#R8 U+M 1P1EpTmE R THSKEA FTESOTIAVASL TWEITRH:S mission with a mandate to pursue the
cause of fair housing. It became
AND COMPOSER
MARK ISHAM THE BUSTERS painfully clear during negotiations
with Flynn’s top aides on the parame-
Fri., March 8 #8 + I1pm ters of this new arrangement that
STRUNZ & FARAH
there was really no commitment
823 Main 4S9t7.,- 8C2a0m0b ., Mass. FRTiAcAkdeGmtisAs sAi,voain l abvlarei eaOst.u tallelt s Twhoamt soweivtehrd.r ewIt waass a acta tnhdiisd attieme atnhda t I (eeelkl., Chnete,y yoBuurre, atbhseorleu teilsy noc orTreedcaty: teihtehreer, iCsh enot .
TickeTtisc kaevtariolna,b lee att Nir y SBaoxn Oeff ice, or atA xis night ofs how. resTihgannedk. you for your in-depth cover- aNno riil lsu tsihoenr e, a am eyteasptheorrd,a y.y ou TnK nfoawc t,w hCahett ,I mteiamne i?s?
Out of Town/Harvard Sq., Concert Charge age of an issue that continues to
497-1118, Teletron 720-3434
pYebfloe) alt
Coucert Series
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Thurs., January 24
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THE BAGS
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Fri., January 25 + 18+
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SEXPLOITATION
UNCLE BETTY
Wed., January 30 + 18+
JUDGEMENTAL
THE BLACK
PAUL HULTMAN
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Friday, February 22
Thu., January 31 » 18+
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BOSSTONES
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WITH SPECIAL GUEST-
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THIRD ESTATE
CHUCK
Wed., February 6 18+
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BOP (HARVEY)
Thur. February 7
MAX CREEK A very special acoustic show with:
Hall &
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DRIVIN' & CRYIN’
Fri. February 15
THE REMBRANDTS
Sun. February 17 Performing all their hits!
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Presented By ee tee We gee ee a eon
JANUARY 18, 1991
8 THE BOSTON PHOENIX, SECTION ONE
AT WAR WITH IRAQ
Downtown antiwar rally, January 15
KATHY CHAPMAN
Heard on the street
by Sean Flynn, Timothy Gower, and Diane Kadzis
eah[ekiee ebna sonia
As war broke out in the Middle East, would be no one to take care of my 20- one life for. This doesn’t make me proud . . | would never go and kill anybody. I
Phoenix reporters asked young men and month-old son. A lot of women are in the of my country. If they want to kill him they would get put in jail or run away first.”
women of draftable age for their opinions same position, so they shouldn’t get should sic the CIA on him.”
about the Gulf crisis and a possible involved in a war. If women libbers want The draft: “I don’t think women would Susan Miles, 24 ORg e
resurrection of the draft. Interviews were to volunteer [to fight] and show how make good soldiers. It’s one thing to talk Student
conducted in Boston, Brookline, Cam- tough they are, that’s fine. But women about it, but I think it’s another thing Jamaica Plain
bridge, and Somerville, at Codman Square, didn’t start this war. This is a man’s war. If when you actually see all the blood and The war: “I think the problem is we just
Downtown Crossing, Adams Corner, we had a woman president, I don’t think guts. Also, we'll lose a whole generation don’t know why we're in there in the first
Jamaica Plain, Copley Square, Kenmore we'd be over there. We're the ‘peace- of children if woman are required to fight. place. There hasn’t been like one reason
Square, Davis Square, Harvard Square, and makers.’ ” I hate to see our values go down the given at all. I'm completely against going
Coolidge Corner. tubes.” in there. I would be against the draft. But
Jacqueline Leary, 26 on the other hand, obviously there’s a
Tony Wright, 19 Home bealth aide Tim Griffin, 26 major problem going on, but we just don’t
Student Roxbury Bank teller know why we're there.
Dorchester The war: “I don’t think we should be Dorchester “I’m against war. On the other hand, I
The war: “I don’t think we should be there. The guys that are waging war are The war: “Despite the antiwar bullshit don’t know, you're sort of in a situation
over there. It’s not our war. This is not only thinking of themselves. It’s all about that’s going on, we have to stop this guy where you don’t want Hussein to take
ene e
over oil. As I understand it, only 10 oil. Just look at the people [in Congress] now. Hasn't history taught anyone a lesson? over any more countries. I just think it’s
percent of our oil comes from Saudi who voted for Bush’s war.” Hitler could have been stopped and wasn't. too fast. I think we’re jumping the gun. I
Arabia. We could do without that. This is The draft: “Women should take care of He used intimidation and it served him just don’t think it’s worth it at this point.
all about money and power. Once we help the soldiers. They’re just not cut out for well. That’s why I feel Hussein is an evil There’s been no reason given that makes it
out Kuwait and Israel, they will have an fighting. They could panic under pressure. man that needs to be stopped. If we don’t worth it to me at all.”
obligation to help us out.” Men are more aggressive. I wouldn’t go. do it now, we'll pay a heavier toll in two to The draft: “I mean, a draft? I’m against it.
The draft: “Will I go and fight? I guess I I'd go to jail first.” five years, when he has nuclear bombs. I'm against everyone being in there right
would have to under a draft, but I He’ll drop-them on Israel and who knows now. But if there is a draft, I wouldn’t be
wouldn’t want to.” Carl Miller, 21 where else. So this is not just a United States against women being drafted.”
Retail supervisor war. This is a United Nations thing.”
Darrell Hester, 25 Boston The draft: “I will go [and fight]. I don’t Stefanie Carroll, 24
Kitchen worker The war: “Our involvement is necessary want to, but I have to. Dodging this thing Sales clerk
Dorchester because we can’t allow Saddam Hussein to isn’t fair to the guys in World War II who Boston
The war: “What are we fighting over? take over the Middle East. I would like to fought to preserve freedom. It’s not fair to The war: “I don’t want to get involved in
Oil? If our troops weren't there, then the see him handled without the use of force. I the guys who served in Korea, or the guys the politics. I support the men that are
price of oil would be rising sky-high. I have a brother who’s in the Army. He’s not from Vietnam, who were kicked around over there. If Bush says go, they go. I have
don’t buy that. And I don’t fight no war for over there yet, but he’s prepared to go. I when they came home.” friends over there and they say the same
no one that doesn’t give me a job at home. will too. I have faith in my country. I feel thing.
This is a war right around here in the we're much more technologically Rebecca Agone, 20 “Last I heard, yes, [my friends] were
ghetto. Every day on these streets is a war, advanced and knowledgeable. I think Waitress [worried], but they know what they have
and I’m not going to fight another one in Hussein is fighting a losing battle.” Jamaica Plain to do. They knew going in that they might
some desert.” The war: “It’s ridiculous. I just wish have to fight someday, so. . . .”
Beth Kaplan, 28 people would stop and think about things The draft: “If they want equal rights,
Tanya Cabral, 23 Consultant before they go around killing people. It’s they should be drafted.”
Donut shop manager Cambridge not really worth dying over five percent of
Boston The war: “I’m opposed to this all the our oil or whatever. Or the economy or George Pena, 28
The war: “I don’t understand the whole way. I think the Arabs should bear more of something. Put people to work on the Sales clerk
thing. I don’t know why we're over there, the responsibility of dealing with the threat streets instead.” Boston
fighting for something that’s supposed to of Hussein. The oil is not worth giving up The draft: “[I would feel] really crummy. The war: “He [Hussein] has been in
be more precious than life itself.” there too long, and in my opinion, I think
“I want to know if President Bush has HOW TO JOIN AND PROTEST it’s time to do something. And if there was
had any body bags specially made for his a draft, yes, I would go.
family. Innocent lives are at stake here, “But I don’t want to go now. [Laughs.]
and this one war isn’t going to create Those interested in learning about peace activities at area campuses can Only if it’s necessary, I will do it.”
peace in the Middle East. Isn’t it funny contact the Brandeis Coalition for Peace office (736-4763). And the
how they [Bush and Congress] come up Cambridge-based Emergency Coalition for Peace, Justice and Non- Richard René, 19
with all this money for war when we have Student
Intervention in the Middle East (661-8066), which has served as an umbrella
jobless and homeless people that need East Boston
group organizing antiwar rallies during the Gulf crisis, continues to be a
help in our own backyard?” (Richard was discharged from the Navy
The draft: “If I were drafted there clearinghouse for information about local antiwar activity. See STREET, page 24
JANUARY 18, 1991 SECTION ONE, THE BOSTON PHOENIX 9
AT WAR WITH IRAQ
New world,
new reality
by Mark Jurkowitz
eorge Bush has justified his big-stick
approach to Saddam Hussein by
claiming he is working for a new,
post-Cold War world order.
According to this vision, the old
bipolar superpower rivalry will be
supplanted by a broad coalition of nations
that will act in concert to deter — and if
necessary punish — rogue aggressors.
Even with the collapse of communism, this
seems a utopian concept, one destined to
crash against the rocks of realpolitik.
However, even if the new world order
does not emerge from the rubble in Iraq,
the Gulf crisis and the first hours of
' combat have unearthed a whole set of
new realities for us to contemplate.
You know it’s a new world when the
outbreak of war is brought to you like the
kickoff in the Super Bowl — live and on
the air. The spectacle of network
newsmen calling the play-by-play as the
bombs began falling on Baghdad might
have represented a new frontier for TV
journalism, but it’s too creepy to watch.
Phone lines suddenly going dead in
Baghdad; the look of momentary panic on
the face of ABC’s Saudi Arabian
correspondent Bill Redeker as a chemical-
Men became tools of their military hardware.
weapons alert sounded and anchor Peter
High anxiety
Jennings told him to bug out anytime he AP/WIDE WORLD
wanted to; and the idea that top American
officials would learn of the onset of the
war by watching CNN makes the global
village seem a little too small for comfort.
You know it’s a new world when a
Soviet foreign-ministry spokesman —
speaking the King’s English and looking
like Tom Brokaw — comes on the Today America grapples again with militarism
Show a dozen hours after the US has
pulverized a former USSR client state to
note calmly that the carnage is too bad but
this is what Saddam gets for thumbing his
nose at efforts to settle the crisis hy Mark Jurkowitz
peacefully. The official even refused to
take the bait when Bryant Gumbel asked if anuary 15 was not just another day while at the same time sanitizing it with the exhibition season.”
he really thought George Bush had in the home of political consultant fantasy of the big screen. Debates over There is something else about the way
exhausted every possible avenue for peace Michael Goldman. Three times how many died in vain in Southeast Asia this war came off. Both sides said they
before attacking. God, we’ve come a long during the middle of the night his were superceded by arguments over wanted peace. Both scrupulously avoided
way since Khrushchev used to pound his twin 11-year-old daughters, Lauren whether the Russian-roulette games military accidents. The shape of a
shoe on the table. On the other hand, if and Michelle (saturated with Persian Gulf depicted in The Deer Hunter had really workable deal always seemed tantalizingly
what we've basically got here is a you-do- talk in their classroom) wandered occurred. close. The belligerents seemed to
what-you-want-in-the-Baltics-and-I’ll-do- nervously from their beds to ask if the war Now for the first time since Vietnam, the understand the destructive havoc a war
what-I-want-in-the-Gulf deal between had started yet. Told that the US bombing prospect of numbing bloodshed again could wreak. Yet despite all this, the war
Bush and Gorby, the new world order would probably not begin until darkness stares us in the face. And suddenly all the happened. Events overtook rationality.
looks very DOA. had fallen in the Middle East, they horrors of the real Vietnam War start Men became tools of their military
You know it’s a new world when war awakened at seven the next morning. flooding back: My Lai, napalm, dead Gls, hardware. Countries seemed to slide
strategists don’t talk in terms of men killing Their first question: what time is it in Iraq? the corrosive national debate, and the folly involuntarily toward war.
men but of machines destroying other A dozen hours later, as the bombs really of intractable politicians on the warpath. In Nothing is more anxiety provoking than
machines. I can’t tell whether this is new did start falling in this most eerily scripted the moments (and, to my chagrin, I don’t to lose control of one’s destiny.
Pentagon-speak designed to convince war, a group of adults — allegedly always feel this way) when I think Bush’s
those on the homefront that no one is hardened by years in the cynical news Gulf policy is fatally misguided, a distinctly The enemy we don’t know
really dying or whether it reflects hyper- business — stood transfixed in front of a unpleasant sensation wells up inside me. Before the August 2 invasion of Kuwait,
technological warfare. But it does suggest newsroom TV as the first reports of anti- It’s the exact same stew of helplessness, it could be safely said that three out of
a more hopeful day when the flesh-and- aircraft fire around Baghdad were phoned outrage, and fear that I tasted a generation every four Americans didn’t even know
blood combatants can be rendered in by adrenalized network correspondents. ago when Richard Nixon came on the tube who the leader of Iraq was. Now that the
obsolete by warriors made strictly out of The faces in the room were ashen, the to announce some dangerous escalation — media’s given us a five-month crash course
metal. breathing audible, and the Adam’s apples be it the B-52 attacks or the mining of in Saddam 101, we know even less. Is he,
You know it’s a new world when the bobbing. The high anxiety — which had Haiphong Harbor — of that god-damned as Dr. Jerrold Post, a psychiatry professor
United States’s top military man — next to been inexorably building across every bloody and interminable war in Viet- at George Washington University who has
Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney — is sector of this society from the moment nam. become Saddam's Gail Sheehy, says, “the
Colin Powell, the son of a Jamaican Saddam Hussein crossed into Kuwait — Bush may swear to us that we won’t quintessential survivor” — a ruthless but
immigrant who happens to the the showed no signs of abating now that have to live through another Vietnam. But canny despot who is fundamentally driven
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And if reality had overtaken anticipation. A few he’s already made us remember it in all its by a perverse pragmatism? Or is he, as the
the war goes well, there will be an reasons why. long-repressed horror. Wall Street Journal strongly suggested in a
avalanche of speculation about Powell as frightening January 16 profile, the
national political fodder. Vietnam flashback The slow-motion war unhinged dictator who eschewed 11th-
And finally, you know it will be a new George Bush has tried to sell the Gulf Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman hour diplomacy in favor of blithely sipping
world when the fighting is over. We just War by making a simple promise: “This wrote about the “surreal quality to this coffee and tea with Perez de Cuellar?
don’t know how new. Will the US military will not be another Vietnam.” Although approaching war. . . . Never in our lifetime Saddam, to steal Winston Churchill's
involvement seriously destabilize the this campaign may be quick and dirty, he have Americans walked up to war with famous assessment of the Soviet Union, “is
region by uniting traditional foes — Arab vowed, it will not be long and such a strangely studied pace.” a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an
leftists and nationalists and their demoralizing. But though Bush invokes Goodman’s on to something here. The enigma.” Not only is that extremely
fundamentalist brothers — in a potent the V-word to reassure us, the truth is that slow build-up to the Gulf War was worthy unnerving, it in some way imbues our
anti-Western alliance? Or will this war the Gulf crisis is forcing us to recall the of Hitchcock. Under the management of adversary with extraordinary powers,
prove to be the cataclysmic event that pain of the Vietnam experience in a way Bush and Hussein, the crisis moved with a foremost among them the ability to keep
breaks the Middle East logjam and finally that we’ve been scrupulously avoiding. measured, inexorable growth of tension us guessing about what might be in store.
puts a wide-ranging peace initiative on On some level, we’ve been faking it a that drove the viewer into a state of Does he have workable chemical
everyone’s front burner? And what about little on Vietnam. For many of us who emotional trauma by the time the climactic weapons, bacteriological weapons, or
here at home. Will this war — if it even came of age in that period, Vietnam scene arrived. As with Hitchcock, it was even nukes? Who can be sure? Did he get
faintly ends up resembling Vietnam — be (before the Gulf crisis) conjured up fuzzy, murder on the mind. blasted by the initial US bombing wave
the one that makes isolationalism our romanticized images of Woodstock, long For five months, we watched the nerve- because his troops were outclassed, or
foreign policy and jerks the presidency out hair, moratoriums, good dope, and the fraying cycle of bluster, diplomacy, and does he, as understandably worried
from under the Republicans? Or will a flower of our youth. Hell, in lieu of dealing preparation of this crisis. Envoys flew in observers noted, “have something up his
decisive victory end 20 years of post- with the wrenching realities of that and out of world capitals with all sorts of sleeve?” Will he surrender to save his
Vietnam trauma as we relish the role of conflict, we preferred to let popular culture ideas. Leaders routinely insulted each country or fight on to the last Iraqi?
being the only surviving superpower and do the talking: Apocalypse Now, Platoon, other. Warriors planned and even made To date, Hussein has been the most
start strutting around the world stage like The Deer Hunter, and even M*A*S*H were their strategies public. “It’s the first time,” nerve-jangling adversary you can imagine.
Hulk Hogan? QO the vehicles for communing with the war noted one wag, “that a war had an The one you cannot figure out. QO
JAANUARY 18, 1991
10 THE BOSTON PHOENIX, SECTION ONE
AT WAR WITH IRAQ
Green
party
Silvo Conte
Foreign-policy
voice still eludes
Democratic
Congress
by Jon Keller
ven though they lost the vote, the
unity displayed by Democrats during
the congressional debate over the use
of force in the Persian Gulf was the
party’s most emphatic moment of
self-definition since the 1964 passage of
the Civil Rights Act. Once again, a
Republican-controlled White House bent
on military engagement triumphed over an Joe Moakley Richard Neal Edward Kennedy
essentially non-interventionist Democratic
Congress. And judging from the early Non-interventionists
success of Operation Desert Storm, the
Democrats’ chosen anti-war identity may
turn out to be politically difficult to live
with.
Older, more conservative Democrats
such as Senator Robert Byrd, of West No John Waynes in
Virginia, the former Senate majority leader,
and populist Young Turks such as fresh-
man Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone Massachusetts delegation
may never agree on anything again. But
during three days of debate last week,
Byrd and Wellstone found common John Kerry :
ground in opposition to President Bush's
request for authorization to wage war ven at a moment of broad Democratic unity in opposition colleagues that over half the names on that wall are there
against Saddam Hussein. For Byrd, a to a military attack in the Gulf, Massachusetts’s because too many legislators were too often too willing to just
compelling reason to stick with sanctions congressmen stood out as the most homogeneous close ranks with the president.”
alone was his perception that Germany delegation of them all. Reviving memories of the lone Representative Gerry Studds offered the intriguing, if
and Japan have “hardly spoken eloquently state to give its electoral votes to anti-war candidate somewhat circuitous, argument that although the US is in the
with their pocketbooks,” but instead have George McGovern, in 1972, the Bay State’s was the only major Gulf to “protect our economy” — é.g., for oil — war would
“only opted to hold our coats.” To Well- delegation in which all House and Senate members voted mean higher oil prices, thereby damaging the economy. “By
stone, the cause was simply “not worth against the resolution authorizing President Bush to use force surrendering to war we will in that sense surely and
fighting for right now.” against Hussein — a move that may, given the initial success of ironically defeat ourselves,” he said. And Representative Joe
And when the debate ended, House and the allied offensive, leave the Massachusetts crew more isolated Kennedy condemned the “misguided machismo mentality in
Senate Democrats had lined up alongside from the national political mainstream than ever before. Among America now — a John Wayne attitude that says somehow or
Byrd and Wellstone with remarkable other delegations, only congressional teams from two smaller another, this is the way we should conduct foreign policy.” If
solidarity. In an era when ideological states — Hawaii's four-member contingent and North Dakota’s we took our “policeman of the world” role seriously and
divisions within the Democratic party have three-member delegation — also registered a unanimous no became engaged in “every single conflict in the world,”
become common, only 86 of the 265 vote. (Voting unanimously in support of Bush’s policy were posited Kennedy, “this country would not only be morally
House Democrats bolted from the party to delegations from Alabama, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New bankrupt, we'll be bankrupt economically as well within six
back Bush. Nearly half of the defectors Hampshire, and South Carolina.) months.”
were Southern congressman who The state’s 13-member delegation offered up some of the And Massachusetts came up with even that rarest of
traditionally follow a more conservative debate’s most emphatic anti-war rhetoric as well. Senator commodities, a Republican, Representative Silvio Conte, who
line on foreign policy. In the Senate, there Edward Kennedy chastised Bush for “belligerently” threatening voted against Bush’s preferred resolution. (The other wayward
were only nine Democratic defections. war against Iraq and called that “the Good Cop-Bad Cop House Republicans were first-term California Representative
(Unsurprisingly, given that it’s their theory” which “represents the worst kind of brinksmanship.” Frank Riggs and third-term Maryland Representative Constance
president, GOP legislators were un- Senator John Kerry, a decorated Viet »m vet, invoked his Morella.) “I believe the most successful resolution we can ask
swervingly loyal to the party line, with service experience in his argument against mounting a show of for is that Iraq leaves Kuwait without a shot fired,” said Conte in
only five Republicans in either branch solidarity with Bush: “Just go down to the memorial here in a brief statement. —JK
voting against the pro-Bush resolu- Washington and look at that black granite wall. I say to my
tion.)
“I was surprised the balance of Democrats now argue, in a reprise of their clarifying what circumstances would Representative Romano Mazzoli, one of
Democratic sentiment was as strongly anti- Reagan-era mantra. Yet now, as then, they warrant military recourse. several Democrats to argue that armed
war as it was,” says Boston College are unwilling, or unable, to provide “There were two Democratic parties in force should begin only when fortress
political analyst William Schneider. “The alternative scenarios beyond “stay the the 60s, LBJ and Scoop Jackson on one America is directly threatened.
Democrats did something quite funda- course.” side, Bobby Kennedy and Eugene Less wacko were legislators who
mental here. They did what they’ve been Much of the Democratic response McCarthy on the other,” says WBZ Radio warned of war’s potential human and
moving towards for nearly 20 years — cleaved into familiar American streams of political commentator Peter Meade. “Now economic costs. New York Senator Daniel
defined themselves as an anti-war party.” isolationist or pacifist thought. Our borders you see just a handful voting with the Moynihan at least tried to focus the debate
That stand took a degree of courage, aren’t under attack, some Democrats president. And the problem is that while on policy alternatives with a critique of “an
given the political damage the party may argued; we mustn't play global policeman; the majority may know what they’re institutional lurch back into the manner
sustain should Bush’s Gulf policy succeed. the cause doesn’t justify the carnage or the against, they don’t know who they are or and mode of the Cold War,” although his
(In one national poll published on the eve monetary cost; we’re carrying water for what they stand for.” speech did not include any new
of the debate, a staggering 80 percent of undeserving foreigners, and so on. The suggestions of how to deal with heavily
** &
those surveyed thought Congress should outpouring of heartfelt doubt from the The Senate Democratic leadership went armed expansionist dictators. Yet time and
give Bush the authorization he wanted.) Democratic majority and leadership, to great pains to avoid the appearance of again, the debate bordered on irrelevancy
But as a group, the Democrats’ rhetoric coming so close to the United Nations any fundamental disagreement with Bush’s when even experienced Democratic
had the ring of sincere moral conviction deadline for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait policy. Majority leader George Mitchell senators drifted into heavy-handed
for which they deserve credit. and after so many months of passively insisted there “is not a debate about emotionalism. Ohio Senator John Glenn
But while the Democrats were busy following Bush’s lead, raised the question American objectives in the current crisis.” invoked the image of rows of “flag-draped
claiming anti-war turf, they also fumbled a of why such evidently profound But Mitchell’s reticence was not shared by coffins.” Michigan Senator Donald Riegle
crucial opportunity to present their own misgivings about the use of military force all of the Democrats who followed him. said he was “convinced” that if the
world-view. That’s nothing new — it had been held in abeyance at all. And you They offered up a cornucopia of reasons offspring of the President, Vice-President,
seemed congressional Democrats spent didn’t need to be a fan of Bush’s policy to rot to fight Hussein, many of them Cabinet, and Senate were on the front
much of the 1980s floundering in a come away from the debate wondering sensible, some not. lines, “we'd be taking more time.”
reactionary role, sniping at US foreign where the beef was in a Democratic “Is Saddam Hussein sailing up the Among the Democrats who found
policy without significantly challenging or world-view that could support the Hudson River and about to lay siege to the reasons not to go to war in the Gulf, a
changing it. The confrontational aspects of placement of US troops in a war zone, World Trade Towers? Is he . . . about to special prize for ingenuity goes to
Bush’s Gulf strategy are inconsistent with then turn around and offer multiple come into Louisville, my district? No, he’s California Representative Nancy Pelosi,
the post-Cold War world order, the reasons why war is a bad idea without not. He’s been stabilized,” said Kentucky See DEBATE, page 22