President Clinton, that most partisan of politicians, has lost no time in finding a way to use the Oklahoma City tragedy to his advantage. By assailing the country's popular and populist talk shows as "purveyors of hatred and division," he has simultaneously retaliated against the most vociferous critics, and all but accused them of being the authors of the worst terrorist act ever committed on American soil.

These expressions of American disaffection and anger at our government-- as vociferous as they might get-- are not the source of the degeneration of civil society. The blame for that degeneration must be laid squarely on the shoulders of our President and the bipartisan government, whose incendiary disregard for the American people has lit the telephone lines on every talk show in the country and the fuse on the bomb outside the Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City.

Mr. Clinton, together with our Congress (including Mr. Gingrich), and the intransigent and arrogant bipartisan political establishment are blocking the urgent attempts of Americans to reform the way to do politics in America. In his speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, no less a populist than Ross Perot reinforced the extent to which the two parties have failed to respond to this agenda. He pointed out how popular sentiment in favor of radical campaign fiance reform, against the influence of corporate lobbyist , against NAFTA and GATT, and for the Balanced Budget Amendment, has been manipulated and disregarded by both parties. This kind of flagrant disregard for democratic approaches to opening up the policy-making process creates a climate for fanaticism and terrorism. Bipartisan governmental arrogance and abandonment are more reckless, and more dangerous to our democracy than the "loud and angry voices" condemned by Mr. Clinton.

Not content with using the Oklahoma City tragedy to try to censor the dialogue of the American people, President Clinton is also using these frightening events to drum up support for his ill-considered "Omnibus Counterterrorism Bill". And he is not alone. Republican leadership -- including Senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle, speaker Newt Gingrich, and Rep. Henry Hyde, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee-- are tripping over each other to line up in support of the Administration's bill.

The bill creates a new crime--"international terrorism"-- which actually doesn't cover anything that isn't already a crime. The sole purpose of this bill appears to be allow law enforcement agencies to avoid certain constitutional protections that currently apply to Americans exercising their right to speak out and freely associate. For instance, the bill allows for "guilt by association." If an American supports the lawful, humanitarian activities of an organization the President has declared to be a "terrorist" organization, that American can go to jail for up to ten years. If this bill had been in effect when the African National Congress was designated "terrorist", then an American who contributed to freeing President Nelson Mantel could end up in jail. An illegal and unconstitutional investigation of me and my independent presidential campaign conducted by the FBI's counter terrorism division in 1988 and again in 1991 falsely branded me "armed and dangerous," a statement the FBI was later forced to retr

act. Presumably this bill could make terrorists out of more than 100,000 Americans who have contributed to my political efforts.

The bill suspends posse comitatus-- that time-honored democratic principle which forbids the military to get into the business of civilian law enforcement. It loosens the rules for wiretaps, and reserves the presumption of innocence -- accused persons are considered ineligible for bail.

The Oklahoma City bombing is being used in the crudest and most despicable kind of political gamesmanship by our President and other politicians of both parties. The men, women and children who died in the blast deserve more than cynical electioneering. Hopefully, their legacy will be a more fervent and independent coming together of all the American people to take our government and our country back.

4/25/95

Dr. Lenora Fulani is the country's leading African American independent. In 1988, running as an independent candidate for president, she became the first African American woman on the presidential ballot in all 50 states. In 1994, Dr. Fulani helped found the national Patriot Party, which is bringing together her supporters from the African American, Latino and White communities with the mostly white supporters of Ross Perot's 1992 presidential campaign.

Dr. Fulani is a frequent commentator on national television programs and radio shows. Her weekly column is syndicated in over 100 Black newspapers around the country. She also co-hosts a weekly talk show cablecast in 10 cities across the country, including New York City, San Francisco and Boston.