HOUSTON BOYS & PLUNDERED S&LS Pg. 10 A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES DECEMBER 11, 1992 • $1.75 SUING THE BORDER PATROL THE BATTLE AT BOWIE HIGH EL PASO TIMES BY LOUIS DUBOSE also watch Juarenses slide down the concrete Women carrying sacks. of citrus fruit and apron on the Mexican side of the river and leading small children, middle-aged men car- El Paso after a few minutes appear on the American rying hand tools and young men traveling alone, OWIE HIGH SCHOOL sits on the side, then scramble through , the holes in two they move north in the morning — at about edge of Texas. From its commons you fences and cross the highway that follows the same hour Bowie High students are travel- B can look across the channelized con- the river toward downtown Juarez — by which ing south out of the Segundo Barrio. At the crete Rio Grande and watch the traffic mov- time they will have reached the southern limit end of the day, after most Bowie students have ing west toward downtown Juarez. You can of the Bowie campus. Continued on page 4 Nib kitilifilf* I a i f•T ■ .*C,.'"'.. , , ‘ i ' P;°'if -.• .4.‘‘-=‘ " \ EDITORIALS 1111 1- il ':-■-■."'..----, ' ?1 1 i alliAl THE TEXAS S server Internecine GOP OW THAT THE REPUBLICAN nomi- judicial races and one state legislative race to N nation is worth fighting over in Texas, Republican candidates. A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES Democrats may be forgiven some amusement State Republican Chairman Fred Meyer cites We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to while, in their newfound fellowship, they watch statewide election results as evidence the GOP the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are the battle lines drawing between the country- has a "very broad cross section of support" dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of human-kind as the foundation club set of the GOP and the storm troopers of and he plays down the ideological division, but of democracy: we will take orders from none but our own the "religious right." state Rep. Jack Vowell of El Paso and others conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent The old-time Republicans, who traditionally warn that their fellow Republicans need to take the truth to serve the interests of the poiverfid or cater have stood for free enterprise, less government back their party from the control of the far to the ignoble in the human spirit. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not intervention and lower taxes and thought that right or risk alienating the center, where elec- for anything they have not themselves written, and in pub- qualified them as conservative, are watching tions are won. lishing them we do not necessarily imply that we agree with suspicion and fear the ascendancy of the For seven terms Vowell has represented an with them, because this is a journal offree voices. religious right, which champions moral val- El Paso district where 52 percent are split SINCE 1954 ues at the expense of individual liberty. between Democrats and Republicans and the The Christian "soldiers," most of them fun- rest are independent. Although he considers Publisher: Ronnie Dugger damentalists who were first mobilized by Pat himself conservative, he is considered the House Editor: Louis Dubose Robertson in 1988, stormed the Republican Republican most likely to vote for human ser- Associate Editor: James Cullen Layout and Design: Diana Paciocco, Peter Szymczak conventions this past year, dictated much of the vices and the taxes to pay for them. Copy Editor: Roxanne Bogucka party platform language, including a call for a Despite his seniority, he recalls that four Mexico City Correspondent: Barbara Belejack ban on all abortions, demands for financial years ago he needed the permission of the Pat Editorial Interns: Paula George, Lorri J. Legge subsidies for religious and other private schools, Robertson-inspired delegation before he could Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, Warren Burnett, Brett Campbell, Jo Clifton, Terry FitzPatrick, vilification of lesbian and gay Americans and speak at his own El Paso County Republican Gregg Franzwa, James Harrington, Bill Helmer, Ellen an end to federal support for what they deem Convention. "Do that once or twice and peo- Hosmer, Steven Kellman, Michael King, Deborah "blasphemous art." ple are turned off forever. They may vote, but Lutterbeck, Tom McClellan, Bryce Milligan, Debbie After the national convention, where Pat they'll never go back (to a convention)," he said. Nathan, Gary Pomerantz, Lawrence Walsh. Editorial Advisory Board: David Anderson, Austin; Buchanan declared the party was in a "reli- George Dutton of Fort Worth, president of Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, El Paso; Chandler gious" and "cultural war," George Bush, who the Texas Federation of Traditional Republicans, Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Cambridge, Mass; was brought up a moderate Republican but who believes in conservative government that stays Bob Eckhardt, Washington, D.C.; Sissy Farenthold, has shown a willingness to run with any pack out of the private lives of citizens as well as a Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, Cambridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; of dogs, tacitly endorsed the Bible-thumping strong national defense. "The bottom line is George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Iv ins, Austin; rhetoric in remarks to the Christian Coalition. whether this country is going to be ruled by a Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, Republican governors recently met at a theocracy or a government that remains secu- Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Oxford, Miss.; Kaye Wisconsin resort to discuss the party's image lar," he said. "The 'big tent' philosophy is firmly Northcott, Austin; James Presley, Texarkana; Susan Reid, Austin; Geoffrey Rips, Austin; A.R. (Babe) Schwartz, problem and attempt conciliation, at least until in place in the Republican Party of Texas," Galveston; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice referred to the Dutton said, "but unfortunately, it presently is United States as a "Christian nation." When a charismatic revival tent." Poetry Consultant: Thomas B. Whitbread South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell attempted Vowell argues that the party should run off Contributing Photographers: Bill Albrecht, Vic Hin- a correction that the nation has a "Judeo- the extremists. "If you want to build strength in terlang, Alan Pogue. Christian" heritage, Fordice pointedly replied the party, you have to go out and get your mem- Contributing Artists: Michael Alexander, Eric Avery, Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, that he did not mean to include "Judeo;" he bership from the people who are available, and Beth Epstein, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin Kreneck, later backed off after criticism by leaders of if you start imposing a litmus test or being very Michael Krone, Carlos Lowry, Ben Sargent, Dan Mississippi's Jewish community. exclusive you're going to find yourself in very Thibodeau, Gail Woods, Matt Wuerker. The differences are pronounced in Houston, select company, but never in the majority. And where the party's executive committee, domi- we should be in the majority in this Legislature, Managing Publisher: Cliff Olofson nated by the religious right, stripped County but we're not. Because we're very select." Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom Executive Assistant: Gail Woods Republican Chairman Betsey Lake of most of Can any moderate Republican leader stand Special Projects Director: Bill Simmons her authority after she made overtures toward up to the religious right? The next few years Development Consultant: Frances Barton gay voters and played down the party's offi- will tell. In the meantime, Bill Clinton, who cut cial opposition to abortion rights. Lake has his political teeth on George McGovern's Presi- SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year 532, two years $59, three years $84. Full-time dential campaign in Texas in 1972, understands students S18 per year. Back issues $3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and countered by forming an independent bulk rates on request. Microfilm editions available from University Microfilms Republican Federation of Harris County. John the need to reach out to a broad section of the Intl., 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Any current subscriber who finds the price a burden should say so at renewal time; no one need Devine flexed the church-based anti-choice orga- country. A winning Democratic coalition this forgo reading the Observer simply because of the cost. past election included liberals as well as mod- INDEXES: The Texas Observer is indexed in Access: The Supplemental,' Index nization to collect 39,183 write-in votes in his to Periodicals; Texas Index and, for the years 1954 through 1981.The Texas campaign against state District Judge Eileen erates while Perot split the conservatives with Observer Index. THE TEXAS OBSERVER (ISSN (1040-4519/USPS 541300), entire contents O'Neill, a Houston Democrat who had restricted Bush. If the Republicans are willing to drive copyrighted. 0 1992, is published biweekly except for a three-week interval off their moderates and secular conservatives between issues in January and July (25 issues per year) by the Texas Observer protests at abortion clinics during the national Publishing Co., 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. Telephone: (512) convention. The write-in votes did not threaten in the next election, Clinton will make them 477-0746. Second-class postage paid at Austin, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE TEXAS OBSERVER, O'Neill, but they swung the outcomes in four welcome. — J.C. 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas MM. Send a friend the Texas Observer 2 • DECEMBER 11, 1992 Gramm Builds a House lop,...., THEserver TEXAS it Gramm's 1996 Presidential campaign in 1983 was "sold at substantially below the Might have come to an early end on market price." And, Gibson loaned Gramm DECEMBER 1 1 , 1992 November 29 when the New York Times: pub- the money to buy the land "at 8 percent at a time VOLUME 84, No.