TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT1604> <title> Nov. 21, 1994: Chronicles-The Week:November 6-12 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Nov. 21, 1994 G.O.P. Stampede </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 33 The Week: November 6-12 </hdr> <body> NATION Wipe-Out Despite furious last-minute campaigning, the Comeback Kid failed this time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Weary of the ways of Washington, frustrated voters ejected President Clinton's Democratic majorities from the halls of Congress, handing control of both houses to the G.O.P. for the first time in 40 years. In all, not a single incumbent Republican Senator, Representative or Governor lost. Jubilant party leaders reveled in the political revolution--on the one hand openly stretching out an arm of cooperation to the President, on the other eagerly preparing to flex their invigorated conservative muscles. Following the devastating-to-Democrats results, a humbled and reflective President gladly took up the offer of cooperation on issues like welfare reform and streamlining government but promised to stand firm and fight on matters of "conviction" like education, gun control and jobs. The Senate Republicans won eight seats and got a bonus ninth when Richard Shelby, Democrat of Alabama, switched parties, bringing the new G.O.P. majority to 53 to 47. Among the big-name Democrats felled by voters were Tennessee's Jim Sasser and Pennsylvania's Harris Wofford. A number of struggling Democrats survived: Massachusetts' Ted Kennedy, New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg, Virginia's Charles Robb (who beat out controversial Iran-contra figure Oliver North) and, apparently, California's Dianne Feinstein. Kansas' Bob Dole, a possible presidential contender, will become the new Senate majority leader. Colleagues in line to head key committees include Strom Thurmond at Armed Services, Jesse Helms at Foreign Relations, Orrin Hatch at Judiciary and Alfonse D'Amato at Banking. The House Republicans have their first shot at running the House of Representatives since 1954. The shift is expected to produce a series of political tremors for the next two years as the Speaker's chair is transferred to the often corrosively partisan Newt Gingrich. The Speaker-in-waiting sent only a limited peace signal to the Clinton Administration--"Cooperation, yes; compromise, no,"--and wasted little time in blasting "counterculture McGovernicks" and "left-wing elitists" at the White House. Among the Democratic war-horses sent out to pasture by the electorate: Illinois' Dan Rostenkowski, Texas' Jack Brooks and Washington's Tom Foley, the current Speaker. The Governors One of the Democratic Party's most eloquent voices was silenced: New York Governor Mario Cuomo lost to G.O.P. challenger George Pataki. In Texas, George W. Bush, the former President's eldest son, beat Democratic incumbent Ann Richards. But in Florida, Jeb Bush, the other Bush son running this year, lost to Lawton Chiles--handing him the distinction of being the only big-state Democratic Governor left in the nation. California stayed Republican, re-electing Pete Wilson. Ballot Measures With the votes barely counted, the heated battle over California's Proposition 187 promptly shifted to the courts, following the measure's approval by a 3-to-2 ratio. Pending hearings, two judges temporarily blocked enforcement of the measure, which would deny most public services to illegal aliens and their children. All sides expect the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately to decide the initiative's constitutionality. Elsewhere, the electorate in seven states voted in favor of term limits for members of Congress. And in a groundbreaking vote, Oregonians approved a measure that will allow doctors in the state to help some terminally ill patients end their life. Child-Pornography Reversal It may or may not have been a sign of the Clinton Administration's reaction to the week's conservative election results, but the Justice Department reversed its position in a child-pornography case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorney General Janet Reno said the department now believes that a federal obscenity law can be applied to photos of clothed children if the images are lascivious. Tears, Anger in Union County In an emotional farewell, the shocked residents of Union County, South Carolina, joined the family of 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander Smith to bury the two children whose mother has confessed to drowning them. Meanwhile, Susan Smith, who originally claimed the boys had disappeared in a carjacking, sat in jail under a suicide watch. Scott Vaughan, her brother, apologized to the community's black residents for his sister's fabrication of a black carjacker-kidnapper and for the ensuing racial tensions the story fostered. The Simpson Case Judge Lance Ito backed off from his threat to pull the plug on TV coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder case and ruled that a camera will be allowed to broadcast the trial. The judge also refined the list of materials jurors can read or watch: TV-news programs and talk shows are off limits, as are print articles about the case, but entertainment shows are O.K. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County district attorney Gil Garcetti announced that no charges would be brought against Simpson's close friend Al Cowlings, who drove the Ford Bronco during the memorable freeway chase with police. Garcetti said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. Sex and the Navy, Again Still reeling from the Tailhook sex scandal, the Navy was hit again with sexual-harassment charges. Officials revealed they were looking into the complaints of 16 female students at a naval training facility in San Diego who said they had been verbally harassed and, in some cases, groped by instructors. The Navy, hoping to demonstrate its new sensitivity, said an investigation had begun "immediately." WORLD Iraq Recognizes Kuwait Seeking to bring an end to trade sanctions that have destroyed its economy, Iraq officially abandoned its territorial claims against Kuwait. The announcement, signed by President Saddam Hussein, said Iraq accepted "the sovereignty of the State of Kuwait, its territorial integrity and political independence." Although Washington welcomed the recognition as "positive," the U.S. and fellow U.N. Security Council members noted that it was just one step toward compliance with U.N. resolutions. "There is a very long list of things Iraq has to do to get sanctions lifted," said Sir David Hannay, Britain's chief U.N. delegate. Quitting the Arms Embargo The Clinton Administration ordered its military to stop enforcing the arms embargo against Bosnia and said the Pentagon would no longer share intelligence reports on arms shipments with its European allies. The move, Administration officials said, was in response to congressional orders, and is expected to have little military impact. But it is certain to strain relations within NATO, where enforcing the embargo now falls entirely to the Europeans, who have long argued that permitting the Bosnians to arm themselves will only escalate the war and put thousands of U.N. peacekeepers at risk. In Bosnia fighting heated up as a Serb warplane fired a rocket into the Muslim-controlled town of Bihac. Ten people were reported killed in the attack. Artillery and sniper fire are increasing in Sarajevo as well. A Welcome Visit Seventeen years after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's historic journey, King Hussein of Jordan became the second Arab leader to pay a public visit to Israel. "The Israeli and Jordanian people are on the threshold of a peace that I hope generations to come will cherish, protect and enjoy," said His Majesty after nearly three hours of discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in northern Galilee. And Yet Another Bombing In Gaza a Palestinian suicide bomber destroyed an Israeli army checkpoint, killing three soldiers, injuring passersby and prompting Palestinian police to detain dozens of activists from Islamic Jihad, the militant group that quickly claimed responsibility. A Shrine Reopened Israelis and Muslims are once again able to pray at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, where nine months ago an Israeli zealot killed 29 Palestinian worshippers. But the new prayer arrangements--including a strict division of the shrine into Jewish and Muslim areas and limitations on the number of worshippers--are resented by both Jews and Arabs. Haitian Cabinet Sworn In After weeks of closed-door politicking, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide finally has a full Cabinet. In a ceremony attended by Haitian politicians, foreign diplomats and officers in the U.S. military command, Prime Minister-designate Smarck Michel pledged to tackle the job of rebuilding his devastated country. U.S. Ambassador William Swing praised the new Cabinet as a "good, strong group of people." A Woman for Sri Lanka Campaigning hard against her country's "culture of assassination" (her husband and father were both murdered by political extremists), Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga won a landslide victory to become Sri Lanka's first female President. Disturbing the Peace Two members of a gang with links to the Irish Republican Army were being held in connection with a killing that took place during a robbery of a post office facility in Newry, 30 miles south of Belfast. The murder of a postal clerk was the first since the I.R.A. announced a cease-fire in September. It caused the Irish government to rescind plans for the early release of I.R.A. prisoners. Sinn Fein said the killing was tragic and wrong. BUSINESS A Big Blue-Apple Deal? IBM and Apple agreed to produce a personal computer that would operate the software of either company, but industry analysts were skeptical, noting that a common software system had yet to be approved. Back to Basics for Sears Returning to its retailing roots, Sears, Roebuck announced it would spin off its $9 billion stake in Allstate, the nation's second largest insurer of homes and autos. By Kathleen Adams, Lina Lofaro, Lawrence Mondi, Michael Quinn, Alain L. Sanders and Sidney Urquhart HEALTH REPORT The Good News -- A new study finds that adults who eat two to four helpings each week of dark-green leafy vegetables--spinach, say, or collard greens--may be substantially lowering their risk of suffering from macular degeneration, a condition that is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. -- The Food and Drug Administration is close to granting approval for use of the antidepressant drug Prozac in treating bulimia, the mental disorder characterized by binge eating and purging. -- A new cream containing the drug doxepin has been shown to alleviate the often severe itching associated with eczema. The Bad News -- American teenagers are much less physically active today than they were a decade ago, says a new report, which found that only 37% of high school students exercised vigorously at least three times a week. A similar study in 1984 put the figure at more than 60%. -- More reason why today's teens could be easily beaten up by their forebears: a federal report concludes that 1 in 5 is overweight; that's up from 15% in the 1970s. -- New research shows that men under intense psychological stress are 4 to 6 times as likely to die of sudden heart failure than other, calmer men. Sources - GOOD: Journal of the American Medical Association; Associated Press; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. BAD: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Circulation. NEWLY IMMOVABLE OBJECT OF THE WEEK Presumptive Speaker Newt Gingrich takes on added gravitas. Tom Foley, meanwhile, proves resistible. INSIDE BAGHDAD Let Them Eat Cinder Blocks Iraqi President SADDAM HUSSEIN may be pleading poverty in his effort to get the U.N. to lift its devastating economic sanctions, but U.S. officials say Saddam has spent approximately $1 billion on palaces and VIP facilities since the Gulf War. One of the most opulent is a palace on Lake Tharthar, about 80 miles northwest of Baghdad, that is said to be five times the size of the White House. When the construction boom is over, the Master Builder of Baghdad, his family and top officials will have roughly 45 getaways, three times the prewar level. WINNERS & LOSERS Winners OL' SPARKY--New York's hot seat may be back thanks to new G.O.P. Governor. DAN QUAYLE--His stock can only rise with Sonny Bono on the national scene. PHILIP MORRIS, ET AL.--No more grilling of tobacco execs in new Republican Congress . Losers RUDY GIULIANI--New York's G.O.P. mayor backed Mario Cuomo, now faces the music. ROBERT MICHEL--House minority leader retires just in time not to be Speaker. THE PRESIDENT OF FINLAND--He was here--and promptly got lost in the election frenzy. THE CRYSTAL BALL "The 1992 election vindicates a hypothesis about the cyclic nature of American politics...Each phase recurs at roughly 30-year intervals. Thus the 1920s, 1950s and 1980s were conservative periods; and thus Theodore Roosevelt brought in the Progressive Era in 1901, Franklin Roosevelt the New Deal in 1933 and John Kennedy the New Frontier in 1961...No one, therefore, should be surprised by the arrival of a new liberal phase in 1992." -- Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Wall Street Journal, Nov. 12, 1992 BATTLE OF THE BUZZWORDS Journalists had many colorful options for describing last week's GOP victories: Number of mentions in the press and on TV talk shows, 11/7 through 11/11. <list> <item> Hurricane: 8 <item> Tsunami: 18 <item> Earthquake: 50 <item> Tidal Wave: 140 <item> Landslide: 263 </list> THE MORNING LINE Mario Cuomo lost his bid for a fourth term as Governor of New York last week. Amid not very substantial rumors that the former minor leaguer might become the new commissioner of baseball, Time asked various experts what they thought he might be doing with his time come January. Jack Newfield, Columnist, New York Post "I don't think he'll be a lobbyist or a lawyer; I don't think he'll pursue any kind of corporate or materialistic career. I think his future is in communications. It's his strength." Ed Koch, Former mayor of New York "He'll probably do everything I'm doing but even better: be a radio talk-show host, a partner in a law firm, write a political column, go out on speaking engagements--for which you get paid rather handsomely--write a book and teach, do commercials." Rush Limbaugh, Talk-show host, author "The Democrats have been looking for the liberal version of Rush Limbaugh. Mario Cuomo should host his own talk show and show everyone how easy it is." Sam Roberts, Columnist, New York Times "He'll defend the first person sentenced to death in New York State." SCORECARD They Also Serve Who was this election's hottest political consultant? Who can lay claim to being the James Carville of the mid-1990s? Analyst Kevin Phillips, author of Arrogant Capital: Washington, Wall Street, and the Frustration of American Politics, cautions that given the lopsided nature of the returns, "this election is not one in which you could grade Democratic and Republican consultants." Right, and winning isn't everything. POLS: IN LIKE GEORGE? "George Foreman is indeed an inspiration." --victorious Virginia Senator Chuck Robb "About a year ago, I faced longer odds than George Foreman." --victorious California Governor Pete Wilson "What did Georgie Foreman do? He gave a left, then a right, then it was over." --victorious Florida Governor Lawton Chiles RAW DATA From the Washington Post: Nov. 6, 1994 Correction A photo caption in yesterday's Real Estate section incorrectly identified a monument near the proposed Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington. The monument pictured is the Lincoln Memorial. </body> </article> </text>