Young Bulldogs Grow Into Champs 
Berwick Claims Wvc D-i Title

Albert Goryl 
Feb. 12, 1996 
Albert Goryl Of Simpson Street, Swoyersville, Died Monday At Wilkes-barre 
General Hospital.

Thursday, February 15, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





`Politics' doesn't do justice to the president's visit &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Politics behind president's visit to region, analysts say,'' Wednesday's
headline readAnd the analysts are partly right. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But boiling our national leaders' every move down to nearly pure
self-interest robs both the leaders and the led of their dignity. That's not
fair. To prove it, ask yourself how you'd respond if an "expert" dissected
your behavior in exactly the same way. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bought your spouse a Valentine's Day card on Wednesday, did you? Fishing
for a kiss or a compliment in return, no doubt. Selfish, selfish, selfish. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Worked late last week to finish up an important report? Uh-uh. Slavishly
licking the boss' boots in order to get ahead is more like it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gave interviews to the local media describing the president's motives as,
in part, self-serving "politics"? Sure. Anything to be considered an "expert,"
and advance your career by getting your name in the paper. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 These interpretations may hold a germ of truth. Everything human beings do
has a big element of self-interest, after all. Mother Theresa herself could be
(and has been) criticized for harboring selfish motives, since her work with
the poor brought her both satisfaction and fame. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But that description hardly does justice to Mother Theresa. And returning
to the examples above, any spouse, worker or political-science professor would
be rightly offended to see their well-meaning behavior dismissed so smugly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Self-interest is an accurate but misleading explanation for many of the
things people do. It paints an unflattering portrait most people don't
deserve. It elevates the analyst to a higher moral plane, where noble service
to humanity rules and crass self-interest is unknown -- even though that's
patently ridiculous. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And when it comes to studying government, dismissing what elected officials
do as so much politics cheapens the debate in some way. Was President Lincoln
playing politics when he gave the Gettysburg Address, or signed the
Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves? Sure he was. But so what? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 We weren't the first to consider these thoughts. In the current issue of
The Atlantic Monthly, writer and journalist James Fallows hammers the media
for worshipping politics as the be-all and end-all. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Reporters' unhealthy interest in political strategy and public-opinion
polls gives short shrift to more important issues, Fallows writes. For
example, it puts attention less on whether certain policies will work, and
more on whether they'll "play in Peoria." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Such thinking is as common at The Times Leader as at any other media
outlet. So here's a partial mea culpa : If President Clinton actually starts
the bulldozers rolling on the Wyoming Valley's talked-about-for-20-years dike
project (as promised), we don't care what his motivation is. And neither, we
believe, will grateful generations to come. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

`politics' Doesn't Do Justice To The President's Visit ``politics Behind President's Visit To Region, Analysts Say,'' Wednesday's Headline Read.