DATE=05/10/02

TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST

TITLE=FRIDAY'S EDITORIALS

NUMBER=6-125665

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=YES

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The long-simmering private gun ownership debate is back in the headlines and in editorial columns. The Middle East continues to draw attention; and there is more comment on a politician's murder in the Netherlands.

Here is __________ with a closer look and some quotes in today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: A reinterpretation by the Bush administration of the U-S Constitution on the issue of an individual's right to carry a gun is causing growing controversy. In Texas, where many people feel strongly about the right to carry a gun, The Dallas Morning News writes:

VOICE: Administration officials dismiss it as a minor change in established policy, but you would never know it from the outcry on both sides of the gun debate to a new position articulated by the Justice Department … … It has been over 60 years since the high court put forth its view on the issue…. That the 'right to bear arms' was best interpreted as related to the right of states to maintain militias.

For six decades, the Justice Department has agreed. Not anymore. The [new] briefs insist the real and clear intent of the Second Amendment was to protect the rights of ** individuals** [Editors: Italics for emphasis] to keep and bear arms. … The question of which interpretation is correct will not be answered anytime soon.

TEXT: In Minnesota, The Minneapolis Star Tribune comments:

VOICE: It takes nerve to chuck [Editors: slang for "to throw away"] a government stance that has prevailed for more than six decades - - and a fair bit of audacity. [Attorney General] Ashcroft's move is proof, if any were needed, of his brazen willingness to exploit his power to promote personal agendas.

TEXT: In Hawaii, The Honolulu Advertiser calls the move "… a dismaying action that honors dogma over common sense…," while today's Waterbury [Connecticut] Republican-American in Connecticut comments:

VOICE: The people hurt most by restrictive gun laws are not criminals, but law-abiding citizens who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights by buying and using guns for sport or self-defense.

TEXT: Turning to the Middle East, The Akron [Ohio] Beacon Journal laments that the latest suicide bombing in Israel, which killed 15 Israelis, shows how violence dictates the agenda.

VOICE: The terror was almost predictable. It didn't play to [Chairman] Arafat's advantage. He has been trying for months to get [President] Bush to lean on [Israeli Prime Minister] Sharon. The pattern has become familiar … Each time progress toward peace seems in the offing, terrorists strike, and in their way, … control the agenda.

TEXT: In Florida, The Palm Beach Post comments:

VOICE: … Whatever response Israel chooses, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also must show interest in a political settlement. Otherwise, he will discourage those in the Palestinian Authority who want the sort of reforms President Bush has encouraged.

TEXT: Regarding European developments, The [Bergen County, New Jersey] Record commiserates with The Netherlands over the political assassination of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn.

VOICE: … [His] assassination … is the most dramatic demonstration yet of a growing crisis in Europe, set off by the failure of mainstream political parties to address the volatile issue of immigration.

TEXT: Cuba is back in the news following a statement by a top U-S arms control official who has accused Cuba of having a limited biological weapons program. Undersecretary of State John Bolton says Cuba may be transferring technology to nations hostile to the United States. In Pennsylvania, The Allentown Morning Call says the "timing of [the] accusations… is curious [and] suspicious."

VOICE: First, it included no substantiating evidence. Also, it occurred as former President Jimmy Carter - - a conflict mediator for the past 20 years - - prepares to leave for Cuba in an attempt to improve relations … As long as the Bush administration can't produce more convincing evidence that Cuba is providing dual-use technology to rogue states, we still believe engagement with Cuba … is preferable to continued isolation.

TEXT: Newsday on New York's Long Island, is also suspicious of what it calls Mr. Bolton's "preposterous suggestion," and its timing, but for another reason.

VOICE: … [it] makes no sense - - unless one looks north [of Cuba], to South Florida and its upcoming election. The Bush family already owes a heavy electoral debt to anti-Castro Cubans in Florida, who may well have tipped the state's electoral balance in the president's favor. Now, his brother [Jeb Bush, the Governor] needs their support to stay in the state house.

TEXT: In New England, today's Boston Globe calls the Bush administration decision to withdraw from the newly forming International Criminal Court "a foolish and unnecessary act," while in Florida, The Miami Herald adds that "rejecting the world court is a mistake."

Today's New York Times turns its attention to business practices in American Samoa, far out in the Pacific, where the paper charges sweatshops are badly mistreating Chinese and Vietnamese workers.

The Times salutes a court decision in American Samoa last month ordering -- quote -- "a garment factory to pay three-and-one-half-million dollars to 270 workers… [whom, the court said were] cheated of wages, beaten and deprived of food, something that should never have occurred anywhere, much less on American territory."

Finally, to Mexico, where today's San Antonio [Texas] Express-News comments on the threat to marine species of overfishing. The paper notes conservationists recently met on the beaches of Rancho Nuevo on the Gulf of Mexico to continue trying to save the Kemp's ridley sea turtle.

VOICE: The turtle … poached nearly to extinction, appears to be making a comeback. About four-thousand of the shelled creatures - - compared to as few as 400 not long ago - - are expected to lay … their eggs on the Gulf's beaches. The successful hatching ensures the species' survival.

Sadly, the story of the Kemp's ridley sea turtle is the same as other marine species in Mexico …[where] overfishing has reached alarming proportions. If the Mexican government and the international community do not address the issue immediately, some … species could become extinct, causing serious damage to the ecosystem…

TEXT: On that environmental note, we conclude this editorial sampling of Friday's U-S press.

NEB/ANG/TW