Shane Malone - Eureka Street

Committee of Congress heard
evidence on the Governors' welfare
reform plan, the Democrats conceded
that the Republicans would not listen
to any liberals' objections but
retorted, 'What about the Catholic
Bishops' The bishops issuing their
'Religious Call to Political Responsibility'
have set down the challenge
' to be principled without being
ideological, to be political without
being partisan, to be civil without
being soft, to be involved without
being u ed.'
It is a bitter irony for Americans
that at the end of the Cold War, they
lack political leadership which they
can trust and proudly show the world.
While their cities are fracturing along
racial lines, they engage in constant
soul searching and debate about their
responsibility to bring peace and reconciliation
to the world's
trouble spots.
U
' oN THE YuKoN and in the
sweat lodges on the Indian reservations,
in the city back streets and in
the magnificence of marbled national
institutions, people are wondering
what it is to be an American when
the world's most robust democracy
is subject to government shutdowns,
when the nation comes to a standstill
over a murder verdict that splits
the viewers according to race, and
when Pat Buchanan, the happy
warrior with the angry m essage, becomes
a serious contender for office.
Meanwhile, this same country is
the world's most endowed haven for
the arts, higher learning, scientific
research, and religious liberty.
Attending an inner city all-black
Baptist Church, I introduced myself
as a visitor coming to learn about the
Bill of Rights. The entire congregation
laughed, and after the service
they wished me lucl