Wanted: ‘Bridge Builders’

Few if any issues compare with abortion for its power to split a community.

You’re on this side or that one. Each side demonizes the other. A gulf yawns in between.

It is not a promising place to look for figures who take a stand but enjoy admiration from both camps. Even so, Wilbur Lane apparently was such a person.

Lane, who died last week at age 86, was a blind widower, a former minister and a dedicated protester against abortion. He had been arrested in both Spokane and Kootenai counties.

Yet, even the attorney who had obtained a court order that Lane violated commented respectfully about Lane’s commitment to his cause.

Not surprisingly, such a comment came after Lane had died.

But it makes me wonder if there are other “bridge builders” the community should know about - now, while they’re still around and active. People who advocate a cause but not a confrontation. People who stick to their guns but keep the safety on.

If you have examples of folks who fight for their issues with passion but also with civility, please share them.

The strong arm of the law

Several writers of recent letters to the editor have been sympathetic with the California sheriff’s deputies who were seen on videotape savagely beating illegal aliens they had detained following a highway chase.

Granted, the beating victims were lawbreakers.

Granted, they were neither heroes nor martyrs.

Granted, their own bad decisions had set the stage for the confrontation.

But while arresting suspects is law enforcement’s job, deciding guilt or innocence and imposing punishment are functions of the courts.

If frustration or other excuses are allowed to rationalize police misconduct, what happens to public faith in the law?

An addition to the White House tool kit , Now, after years of unproductive debate, the president of the United States has the authority to pick and choose the individual expenditures he will approve or veto in the federal budget.

Which kind of tool will the line-item veto be - a knife for trimming fat or a lever for prying trade-offs out of Congress? Or will it make any difference at all?

, DataTimes MEMO: “Bagpipes” appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. To respond, call Cityline at 458-8800, category 9881, from a Touch-Tone phone; or send a fax to 459-5098 or e-mail to dougf@spokesman.com. You also can leave Doug Floyd a message at 459-5577, extension 5466.