Past opinions provide perspective

Looking Back reviews opinions published in The Spokesman-Review during this week in history.

Olympics boycott, March 23, 1980

An S-R editorial supported President Jimmy Carter’s call to boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow.

“The boycott is a specific reaction to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. ‘Afghanistanism’ is a newspaper term denoting a topic far removed from anything with local application. The Soviet takeover of Afghanistan, like Hitler’s early moves in Europe, could end up having a good deal more local application than anyone wants.

“No one favors dragging politics into the Olympics. Competitive sports have been damaged in the past by boycotts stemming from disagreements between participant countries over which the host nation has no control. In the present case, it is the host country itself that has earned the condemnation of the entire world. Whatever other nations do by way of reaction will send a signal to those running the Soviet Union. Taking no action at all is just as much a signal as taking some strong action.”

Women’s rights, March 24, 1972

An editorial took note of the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Congress.

“Following 40 years of campaigning by feminist groups, Congress has now passed the Equal Rights Amendment. The amendment, which states women are to receive absolute equality with men before the law, passed the House last October by 354 to 23 and this week passed the Senate by 84 to 8.

“It will become the 27th amendment to the United States Constitution if it is ratified within seven years by three-quarters of the nation’s state legislatures, amounting to 38 states.”

It continued: “As the amendment moves for consideration of the various states, the extent to which women will support ratification is not yet certain. Even though some discriminatory laws were written to protect them, few women are likely to object in most of the consequences of the amendment if ratified. Among them are the wiping out of state laws which impose special limits on the types of jobs women may take and the number of hours they may work. Others limit women’s rights in some states to handle property and start businesses on an equal basis with men and some maintain discriminatory admission practices by state colleges and graduate schools.”

Postscript: The amendment was adopted by 35 states, including Washington and Idaho, but fell three states short of the total needed.

Star Wars, March 26, 1983

An editorial panned President Ronald Reagan’s call for a space shield against ballistic missiles.

“If arms reductions are the ultimate goal, they can be attained only by negotiation and mutual reductions. To simply change the scope of American armed strategy, which the administration advocates, does not reduce the threat of nuclear war. It only changes it.”

It concluded: “Defense is best provided by proven technology, not Star Wars dreams.”