Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Don’t say nay to ‘Made in U.S.A.’

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999 | 9:39 a.m.

Ruthe Deskin is assistant to the publisher. Her column appears Thursdays. Reach her at deskin@vegas.com.

"Buy American Made." That was the message on one of the signs that picketers were carrying at the Wal-Mart store, urging shoppers to buy products made in the United States. Other signs alleged that the store was purchasing merchandise produced by children in Bangladesh, which the management denied.

Other problems the unions might have with Wal-Mart, I can understand, but I have to wonder why Wal-Mart was singled out for this alleged indiscretion when almost every department store and specialty shop in town is guilty of carrying large quantities of foreign-made goods.

I don't know if they use child labor in Sri Lanka, Colombia, Mexico, China, Korea, Japan, Bolivia and dozens of other areas that supply to the United States. I would assume that some of those countries would not be too hasty about checking the ages of the garment makers.

For years shopping has been a pastime for me -- my R&R on a hectic day. Usually I am appalled at the atrocious price tags on seasonal merchandise, and I vow to wait for sales before parting with any hard-earned cash. Lately I have been making it a practice to check labels to see where the goods were manufactured.

A recent experience tells the story: I was looking at warm-up suits in one of the popular department stores. Everything seemed to have been made in a foreign country -- even garments carrying the names of well known designers. A friendly clerk approached and asked if she could be of assistance. I told her I was looking for something made in the U.S.A. We searched rack after rack and never did find anything with a made-in-America label. Since that time I have become almost obsessive about checking labels and the results are astounding.

Finding gifts and clothing with a U.S.A. label is not easy. Try it some time and you'll most likely agree. The arguments given in justification of the importation of foreign goods are usually based on cost. But, like the pickets, I would urge "Buy American" -- if you can find it.

Give the Clark County Commissioners an A-plus for effort. They are doing everything they can to keep the smut peddlers off the sidewalks on the Strip and around the Convention Center.

Of course, they are being shot down consistently by judges and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union. The latest setback was a ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George that the signs prohibiting passing out the salacious material to visitors must be removed, leaving the porno people free to shove the disgusting material into the hands of tourists, many of whom resent the intrusion.

Don't you often wonder if the ACLU would be as tenacious protecting the visitors' right to not have this junk shoved into their faces as they are making sure the porno peddlers can operate without restriction?

Kudos to Bill Morse and his associates with the Las Vegas History Foundation for donating more than 200 of the "History of Las Vegas" videos to the Clark County School District.

Motto for the day: "When you are angry, take a lesson from space exploration -- always count down before you blast off."