Word: contra
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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CERTAIN MEMBERS of the audience at a last week's conservative club-sponsored "Contra" lecture came with a somewhat different purpose in mind than most. They came not to hear the man speak but to shout him down. Needless to say, they achieved their objective; the man was not heard. But in this case the result was a pyrrhic victory...
However, this deferment theory eliminates America's ability to use its own morals, interest, and considerable expertise in determining its own policies. We did not reflexively give military aid to anti-Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua because they asked for it. In fact, many people overrode the Contra sentiment, claiming that there were more effective and more moral ways to achieve much-needed reform in this repressive Central American country...
...confusion came in reading Mr. Crystal's letter commenting on Katz's article. Mr. Crystal bristles even at Mr. Katz's weak formulations, boldly declaring that "the Contras' behavior is objectively [his emphasis] wrong" and thus justifies the extreme actions of the protesters. Mr. Crystal, however, in his zealous pursuit of convenient truth, completely avoids discussion of the fact that the actions of the Sandinista government with regard to its deplorable treatment of the Miskito Indians, or its suppression of civil liberties, especially the organs of the Church, which have voiced dissent over government policies, are objectively wrong and deserve...
...contra-versy raging in the U.S. today is not--as Pat Buchanan would have us believe--one that pits those willing to tolerate a totalitarian regime against those who will not. We tolerate them all the time and will continue to do so long after the curtain is drawn one way or another on the present Nicaraguan imbroglio...
However, the manner in which they conducted themselves was deplorable. Of course, the Contras are unpopular on campus but freedom of speech is not for the popular alone. How would they feel if two of their members tried to speak against Contra aid before a group that was in favor of it, only to be heckled, insulted and chased out of the hall, squirted with fake blood? The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech to ensure that the voice of minorities can be heard. In this case, the Contras are the minority. The protesters could have spoken during the question...