To the editor:
Paul Van Dam's comments at the Weber County Democratic Convention ("Van Dam urges Democrats in Weber to get involved," Deseret News, May 18) are blatant examples of ignorance that must not go unchallenged.Van Dam claims Sen. Jake Garn is not running for re-election "because he chickened out." Either Van Dam has been in a cave for the past 18 years or has not paid attention to the Utah political scene of which he is part.
While Garn has a longstanding, widely recognized reputation for being blunt, candid and often stern, he has never been known to back down from a challenge anywhere with anyone. Not only does he not back down, in most cases, he is successfully persuasive.
As one Utah reporter wrote concerning a federal official whose position was changed during a dispute with Garn, "I'm not sure I could stand a week in the woodshed with Jake Garn and remain defiant either."
Van Dam also claims Garn does not want to talk about the savings and loan crisis. Again, I question Van Dam's whereabouts during the past six years. The record is replete with statements from Garn predicting the disastrous crisis and begging the Congress to do something about it.
Garn was a lone voice on Capitol Hill. No one listened and the problem mushroomed. Even William Seidman, the top federal official over the nation's thrifts, has called Garn the one "hero" in the whole fiasco. Unless my thesaurus is out of date, if you're looking for a synonym for hero, chicken isn't even in the ballpark.
In pointing the finger of cowardice, I would suggest that in the future, Van Dam consider individuals deserving of the title, including local officials leaving office because of the partisan squeeze. Garn leaves office as one of the most popular politicians in the state's history. I'm not sure the same can be said of our esteemed attorney general.
Gordon Todd
Salt Lake City