Sweet Victory Indeed

In what is indeed a reversal of fortune, the White House and more specifically the Clinton Administration has done a 180 as it pertains to its ongoing war with the Boy Scouts. In all likelihood, this is due to what can only be described as a phenomenal backlash from both Congress and the American people at large.

Knowing that this issue could cause a huge rift between Clinton and Gore and be a major issue in the presidential campaign, the Justice Department announced they were no longer ‘going after’ the Boy Scouts in their push to see if they were violating Clinton’s unconstitutional Executive Order 13160.

Now, all of a sudden, we have Al Gore saying that the Scouts are welcome at the White House should they choose to pay him a visit. We may even possibly hear of an apology from the Democratic National Committee for the booing of the Scouts at the DNC convention in Los Angeles last month, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Such an action cannot happen soon enough and would be long overdue.

The Justice Department has said it will no longer actively pursue the matter as it pertains to EO 13160. After all, the Supremes ruled 5-4 that the Scouts have the right to choose by what criteria they will admit their members, and the EO that was designed to circumvent the ruling issued five days earlier.

Boy Scouts spokesman Greg Shields has indicated that the Scouts receive little if any federal funding. Janet Reno has also made it clear that the Scouts have no need to worry as to the use of the site of their quadrennial jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, an Army base in Virginia, and that there will be no challenge to their using the facility next summer. In addition, Chase Manhattan Bank has said that it will resume its financial support of the Scouting program. Even corporate America can wise up to making bad PR moves, and this course correction is indeed most welcome.

When you take into consideration the fact that the Scouts have spent their own money improving some of the equipment and facilities used there, they are well within their rights to use the base, as is any other group that makes a reservation sufficiently in advance. Public facilities should be available to any and all groups, provided they do not use it for illegal activities. Discrimination against one group or another for whatever reason is contrary to freedom of association, regardless of what some rabble-rousers may think in their own mind.

It’s refreshing to see in this day and time of Clinton and his Executive Order signing spree to see him brought to heel by the people that put him in office in the first place. It is even sweeter to know that the voices of the masses still count for something despite the ganging up on the Scouts by those who would seek to destroy them.

Now that the furor is beginning to die down, perhaps we can take a moment to realize that when addressing pressing concerns in contemporary society, we need to take a balanced approach in order to reach the best possible solution. There needs to be a meeting of the minds in a spirit of reason and cooperation. It helps to be mindful of the fact that in many instances, that there is more than one acceptable solution to any given problem.

Attacking the Boy Scouts for excluding gays from the ranks of its leadership is not the answer, whether the attack is from the gay community or from agencies that are sympathetic to their cause. Such action only demonstrates and reinforces the intolerance that they themselves deplore. Clearly, they cannot have it both ways, yet they continue to think they can.

The best thing to do is leave the Scouts alone, and let them concentrate on doing what they do best – preparing the next generation of America’s leaders. If the youth of today can take the meaning of the Scout Oath to heart in being mentally awake and morally straight, then there may be hope for the next generation of elected officials.

Not only in Washington, but all across America.

You can e-mail your comments to Timothy at trollins@idirect.com.

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission