Bring on ND beer commercials
Gary Caruso
Capital Comments
What a refreshing experience for us "Cafeteria Catholics" who are criticized for not blindly following church dogma to watch so many Becks beer commercials during the Notre Dame-Georgetown men's basketball game aired on ABC.
It was amusing that "The Jesuit Catholic University of America" and that secular organization called "The Big East" permitted alcohol commercials during this all-Catholic game, especially when ND officials like to consider the Irish team as representing "The Catholic University in America."
Where was the sense of outrage from Notre Dame as they raked in the television proceeds? Many find it amusing that ND football games will not accept sponsorship from alcohol manufacturers while drunken slobs carry open containers throughout the campus during Saturday afternoons.
Don't get me wrong, I was one of those drunken slobs in my youth. However, it is difficult for me to explain to my Georgetown friends how commercial money in the Big East differs with that of the independent NBC football contract.
Today, Punxsutawney Phil will express his outrage at the Georgia "copy groundhog" who is attempting to "overshadow" Phil. And just recently, the Bush Administration expressed moral outrage for all the Clinton staff pranks prior to their departures from the White House. Morality usually has different meanings to different folks.
History has shown that almost every presidential administration during modern times expresses frustration at being succeeded by an administration of the opposite party.
The issue resurfaced last week when Bush officials moving into their offices found that the "W" key had been popped off of many computer keyboards. George Walker Bush had made a three-fingered "W" his signature salute in the waning days of his campaign, and the keyboard incident was portrayed as hijinks on talk shows and in news accounts.
Clinton administration officials confirmed that pranks were played on the incoming Republicans, but contended that nothing malicious had been intended. The Democratic officials said the actions were meant to be funny, or in some cases were an outlet for frustration by soon-to-be-unemployed staffers.
But a little tomfoolery is typical in transitions between presidents. On the day Gerald Ford left Washington, his staff ground peanut shells into the rug of Air Force One ... like Jimmy Carter was personally going to clean it! Carter staff took pizza and ran along the halls of the Old Executive Office Building smearing tomato sauce along the walls for the Reagan staff to enjoy.
Incoming administrations often accuse their predecessors of trying to make life difficult. In 1993, some Clinton officials cried foul when they found hard drives missing from their computers, but they turned out to have been seized by an independent prosecutor looking into the Bush administration's use of passport files.
However, Clinton administration officials found numerous "Bush-Quayle" stickers plastered on desks when they moved into the White House. Some maintained that phones and computers had been disabled.
In defense of the departing Clintonites' deeds, some Democrats say that this year's mischief pales in comparison to what Clinton and Gore staffers encountered eight years ago. They say that office closets were locked shut and keys thrown away, almost all office supplies were stolen or discarded and scrawled signs contained greetings like, "Welcome you [expletive] draft dodger!" and "Go [expletive] yourselves, you gay lovers."
Clinton and Gore officials admitted to having left official-looking signs on office doors that said roughly, "Office of Strategerie" (a reference to a "Saturday Night Live" spoof of Bush), "Office of Subliminable Messages" (another reference to Bush malapropisms) and "Division of Uniting." Another sign with the words "Office of Communications" acquired the ever-so-slight hint of the word "RATS" in the background. The Office of Management and Budget was recast as the "Office of Management and Fudgit."
Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne, was welcomed with the placard "Office of Uniter-Divider Division." One room within the Council of Economic Advisors' suite of offices became the "Council of Economic Advisors — Fuzzy Math Division."
Republicans even play pranks on other Republicans. When Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore III took office in 1998, his aides accused the fellow Republicans on the outgoing staff of George F. Allen, now a U.S. senator, of disabling the telephone-answering system, emptying toner from all the copiers and leaving all the computers in a big pile. Both men are strong Christians who won the backing of Pat Robertson and his Christian Coalition during their respective elections.
So which of those Republican Virginia politicians and their staffs are really moral, or more moral? For us Cafeteria Catholics, it depends on how many Becks beers you drank.
Gary J. Caruso, Notre Dame '73, served in President Clinton's administration as a Congressional and public affairs director. His column appears every other Friday. His e-mail address is Hottline@aol.com.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, February 2, 2001
