From: sarfatti@well.sf.ca.us (Jack Sarfatti)
Subject: Kim Speaks!
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 03:34:48 GMT


Copy to Lawry Chickering, ICS

Are we getting the wrong messages, Mr. President?

Over a decade of Republican economic policies, or looting, depending upon
one's perception, has left America tattered and disillusioned.
Take heart.  A handsome, intelligent, and well-meaning dynamic duo promise
to put America back to work, and to bring forth an economic and spiritual
American renewal.

But already there are troubling signs that this renewal may be one more of
style than substance.  Instead of an inauguration, a solemn and humble
passing of power, we're given a 25 million dollar corporate mega-
commercial, produced and choreographed in typical Hollywood tackyslick
style.  I just hope the images that we saw aren't what we'll get -- Ken
doll men, constructed by designing women.

Consider some of your cabinet appointments, Mr. President --all thirteen of
whom happen to be lawyers.  What song of praise can you sing over the
fresh, new face of Lloyd Bentsen, other than "We may be sax playin' rock n'
rollers, but we're stayin' the course," sung to a tune with a more familiar
refrain, perhaps something along the lines of "We won't get fooled again,"
and performed by a stage full of Hollywood Reagan democrats.  But they
never quite pull it off.

Then we have Ron Brown, a former lobbyist for Sony. What kind of message
does that send to the high technology sector?  It's no wonder that a number
of American executives who endorsed you feel they've been betrayed, almost
violated, by Mr. Brown's appointment as Secretary of Commerce.

Your recently withdrawn nomination of Zoe Baird as Attorney General sends
mixed messages as well.  At best, it was bad judgement to believe that the
American public's legal interests would be best served by a former
corporate council for G.E. and Aetna Life.  Some might consider that almost
cynical.

And now that you've changed your mind on Haitian immigrants, what kind of
message does that send to those tired, and huddled masses?  Meanwhile,
illegal immigrants pour in from the Orient and Latin America. Are we
witnessing a double standard here?

Remember the controversy over China being granted most-favored nation
trading status?  Despite the fact that gross violations of human rights in
China continue unabated, that too, you say, is a complicated situation, Mr.
President.  Perhaps the sale of cheap goods manufactured by prison slave
labor is mutually beneficial to the U.S and China's economies.

Then there's the matter of our continuing trade deficit with Japan.
Obviously, we can't afford to jeopardize our "special relationship" with
Japan, over a simple thing like their institutionalization of unfair trade
practices.  In other words, is it just going to be bad business as usual?

And last but not least, we certainly can't forget the evil presence of our
perennial favorite bad guy, enemy of the entire civilized world, Saddam
Hussein - even if we have to bomb him until he dies a natural death.  Are
we sending a message to other Moslem countries, that they too, will receive
the same treatment as Iraq, should they attempt to develop nuclear weapons?
If so, then we are likely to be in a continual state of conflict for a long
time to come.
Yet, we shamelessly sit back while tens of thousands of innocent Bosnian
Moslems are raped, tortured, and murdered in a deliberately orchestrated
Serbian campaign of genocide.  So, the double standard continues, much to
the dismay of our Moslem allies.

We won't mention the promises of raising or lowering taxes, or the
inevitable upward revisions in the estimates of the budget deficit.

You tell the American people they must make sacrifices. They have already
made many sacrifices, and have been sacrificed in the process, Mr.
President.  Now it's the federal government's turn.

Our hearty congratulations and best wishes to you, the vice-president, and
your families.  We're sorry about canceling the honeymoon.  But you
understand, there just isn't enough time.  This house must now be put in
order, or we will surely lose it.

###
Copyright 1993, by Kim Burrafato