Page 2
THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1977
System almost perfect for Carter
WASHINGTON — If proof were
still needed of the impotence and
irrelevance of political party organi
zations in the era of the personalized
presidency, last week’s meeting of
the Democratic National Committee
would be Exhibit A.
The leadership of the Democratic
party gathered in the nation’s capital
for the first time since the day after
President Carter’s inaugural. It was
an important time for the young ad
ministration.
Carter’s soaring personal popular
ity was being tested on two fronts. In
the Democratic Congress, action on
his economic stimulus package — his
basic response to the problem of un
employment that was so central to
his campaign — had been brought to
a halt by a combination of conserva
tive doubts and water-project poli
tics.
David SJ-
Broderil
In Moscow, the President’s most
important foreign policy initiative —
the bid to halt the nuclear arms race
— had been rebuffed by Soviet lead
ers, raising grave questions about
the future of America’s international
relations.
In a healthy political system, a
President facing that situation would
have turned to his party leaders for
both advice and support in meeting a
challenge that involved them almost
as much as it did him.
Instead, Carter ignored the meet
ing of his party’s national committee.
And its members demeaned them
selves by a public display of petu
lance over the pettiest patronage
matters. A more dramatic example of
the breach between presidential
leadership and party responsibility
could not have been staged. While
Carter was on his lonely pedestal,
the politicians were scrabbling at his
feet for jobs.
Except for a 20-minute visit from
Vice President Mondale, there was
nothing but the patronage squawks
to tell a visitor that the men and
women of the Democratic National
Committee had any connection with
the government of the world’s most
powerful nation. Nominally, they
represented the party in power; in
reality, as Mondale’s talk reflected,
they were a roomful of paper tigers,
easily fobbed off with a few jokes.
Adapting easily to such treatment,
the committee members focused on
the parochial business of apportion
ing some largely empty titles and
appointments among themselves
and their friends.
Great emphasis was placed on the
“victory” of blacks in gaining 10 seats
on the party’s executive committee.
But not one word was said about the
consequences to the Democratic
Party of Carter having named to the
top positions in the Justice Depart
ment two of his own political pals,
Griffin Bell and Peter Flaherty, who
were opposed by the nation’s largest
Slouch
by Jim Earle
“NOW THERE’S A GUY WHO REALLY WANTS TO RE
ELECTED!”
The Battalion
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MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Jerry Needham
Managing Editor Jamie Aitken
Associate Managing Editor Rusty Cawley
Assistant Managing Editor Mary Hesalroad
Features Editor John W. Tynes
News Editor Debby Krenek
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Reporters Paul McGrath, Lynn
Rossi, Lee Roy Leschper Jr., Jan Bailey, Darrell
Lanford, Dave Tewes, Glenna Whitley, Steve
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Student Publications Board: Bob G. Rogers,
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Director of Student Publications: Gael L. Cooper.
and most responsible civil rights or
ganization, the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People.
Labor, another vital part of the
Democratic coalition, was “re
warded’’ with its ten executive
committee seats. But not one voice
was raised at the party meeting to ask
where the administration was going
on minimum-wage legislation, or
common-site picketing, or the issue
of foreign imports.
At one point, someone did suggest
to Carter’s handpicked Democratic
national chairman, Kenneth B. Cur
tis, that it might be a good idea for
him to send a copy of the Democratic
platform to members of Congress
and the administration, with a
suggestion that they read it.
Curtis said he’d see if he could
hunt up some copies of the platform,
but added, with a modesty that be
comes his position, “I’m not sure
they’d appreciate my telling them
what to read.’’
There's nothing new about this.
The other modern-era Presidents
have treated their party with equal
contempt. And why not? They don’t
need the party for anything — they
think.
Jimmy Carter won the Demo
cratic nomination in the primaries,
with his own organization, and
graciously accepted the surrender of
the Democratic Party at Madison
Square Garden. He immediately
picked up a $20 million Treasury
check for his campaign and never
had to give another thought to the
party that nominated him. In the
White House, he has sought to gov
ern, not by strengthening his party
alliances, but by projecting himself
directly to the public through televi
sion.
It was no different for the Repub
licans with Eisenhower and Nixon,
or the Democrats with Kennedy and
Johnson. The party leaders, so-
called, just have to keep their fingers
crossed, knowing they will share
only meagerly in a President’s suc
cess but will suffer the full conse
quences of his failure.
There are a few peole around who
nourish the dream of seeing a politi
cal party strong enough to sustain a
President in times of trouble and
confident enough to restrain him
when his misjudgments threaten his
party with ruin.
A number of those advocates of
party responsibility — some of them
active politicians, some of them
academics — have found places on
the Democratic Party commission
assigned to evaluate the current
presidential primary system. The
commission is named for its head,
Michigan Democratic Chairman
Morley Winograd.
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Hopes still running very high
for U.S.-Soviet arms limitation
If there is any chance for the
Democratic party leaders to reclaim
their place in the sun, it lies in the
Winograd Commission finding some
way to rake the runaway power of the
proliferating presidential primaries.
Only if the politicians recapture a
voice in selecting the President will
they have any influence with him.
But don’t make any bets on this
happening. Jimmy Carter has pro
nounced the present system “almost
perfect. ” And for him, in this spring
of high popularity, it is.
(c) 1977, The Washington Post
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President
Carter wants to end the nuclear
arms race and to set the superpow
ers on a course to wipe all the
doomsday weapons off the face of
the earth.
But his first attempts to persuade
the Soviets that there is a better way
than the balance of terror are being
written off as a failure by old-line
diplomats.
In the 1950s, Russian leaders re
peatedly called for “general and
complete disarmament.” But those
Coleman hearing ‘was a joke’
Editor:
In reference to Wednesday’s se
nate nominating committee meeting
on the appointment of Dr. John B.
Coleman to the Board of Regents,
th ere are a few points I’d like to bring
up. Students are probably not aware
of these facts, which likely weren’t
presented in any of the media. I
should hope people would be in
terested.
First of all, no one seemed con
cerned with the welfare of Texas
A&M. All that was discussed dealt
with the morality of abortion, which
all people who testified insisted was
as bad as Nazi Germany killing Jews.
(I’m not making analogies, this was
mentioned.) Since Dr. Coleman is
part owner and participates in an
abortion clinic in Houston, he is
dubbed “immoral by these people.
Lewis Berry, a Houston lawyer,
compared this situation to “putting
prostitutes and pimps in public of
fice.” As you can see things got quite
off track, and much time was wasted
at this meeting. Abortion is legal and
we are not to impose our individual
moral values upon anyone. Coleman
could not possibly have any effect
upon Texas A&M’s moral values, as
Senator Walter Mengden infered by
asking Coleman if he would force all
Texas A&M medical students to
learn how to perform abortions.
Ira Early, president of Life Advo
cates in Houston, was also present at
this meeting. I don’t think he was
there in concern over Texas A&M
University, as everyone should have
been, but rather to acquire some
publicity for his organization. He
was cut off by the chairman of the
senate committee as soon as he
began his emotional presentation
against abortion. Early was at A&M
several weeks ago in a debate on
abortion in which he presented simi
lar material. But here again, the
purpose of the meeting is lost. Early
should go home and revise his game
plan. If he wishes to abolish abor
tion, he should go back to its cause —
problem pregnancy. If there were
less unwanted pregnancies, there
would be less abortions — you know,
cause and effect. He should lobby for
birth control education for young
people in public schools. This would
reduce the number of abortions
needed and certainly should be con
sidered less “immoral” than abor
tions.
All in all, the meeting was a joke. I
wish more Aggies could have been
there. It just didn’t seem to show
enough concern over our university.
Also, very little respect was paid to
Dr. Coleman, who sure had to put
up with a lot of crap. Perhaps we
should all invade Austin next week in
support of Dr. Coleman and Texas
A&M University.
— Scott Gordon ’79
What about
campus reports?
pus, sponsored a Bowl-a-thon with
all proceeds to go to the Muscular
Dystrophy Association. While The
Battalion did contact me about
Bowl-a-thon, no story was ever run
in the paper.
Why did The Battalion not run
any stories on these events? Both
took place in the M SC, the center of
student activities, yet The Battalion
did not feel they were worthy of
coverage in the paper.
Perhaps The Battalion should
cease running AP stories, which
everyone reads in the morning pa
pers and devote more of its space to
coverage of campus activities.
— Russel R. Kirk ’77
Editor:
Last week two activities took
place on the TAMU campus which
were never reported in The Battal
ion.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday Aggie Blood Drive was
held in the Memorial Student Cen
ter (MSC). Although I did see ad
vertisements in The Battalion, I
never read a story about what Aggie
Blood Drive was all about. And I
know the advertisements were paid
for by one of the sponsoring organi
zations .
Also, last Saturday starting at 2
p.m. and lasting until 6 a.m. Sunday
morning, Alpha Phi Omega, a Na
tional Service Fraternity on cam-
Editor’s note: The present editor
works under the premise that a siz
able percentage of the studentry at
Texas A&M does not receive any
other newspaper and therefore
would not get state, national or
international news reports if The
Battalion did not carry these re
ports.
Also, we are limited to a certain
extent in what we can cover be
cause of the limited size of our re
porting staff. The editors have to
make decisions concerning
priorities in coverage as we cannot
report everything that happens on
campus.
We ordinarily try to give ad
vance notice of events to our
readers. Any oversights are not in
tentional or deliberate.
A Showing Of
WATERCOLORS OF THE SOUTHWEST
by RUSSELL R. WATERHOUSE
At Texas A&M University Rudder Exhibit Hall
April 12-27, 1977 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
Presented by the MSC Directorate
OPENING RECEPTION
Tuesday, April 12 3:30-5:30 p.n
Rudder Exhibit Hall
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were the days of clear American nu
clear superiority.
President Richard Nixon changed
the strategy at the start of his admin-
from “suDeriority” to “suf-
U .S.-Soviet
istration from
supenority
ficiency.” Since th
Commentary
negotiations for offensive nuclear
arms limitation have centered on
parity, if such a thing is possible.
But now, Carter has introduced a
new element — a reduction of the
arsenals and a retreat from de
velopment of even more sophisti
cated missiles and first-strike
capabilities. He is trying to put a
cap on the arms competition before
the technological explosion makes
that an impossibility.
Kremlinologists and the pundits
are critical of Carter’s package of
proposals, but even more so of his
approach to the Soviets. They say
that kid gloves and greater secrecy
would have been more appropriate;
that the Politburo should not have
been caught off guard by dramatic
new proposals; that Carter has
naively put the Russians on the de
fensive.
His critics also say Carter has
clouded the carefully nurtured at
mosphere of detente by sending
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to
Moscow with radically new propo
sals, and no advance warnings.
Carter’s diplomatic advisers see it
differently. They say that since the
election, Carter has signaled his in
tention to seek more far-reaching
goals in arms control than his pre
decessors. Futhermore, they say
Carter does not view the Vance mis
sion as a bust.
“Jimmy is a patient guy who
thinks of the long haul,” said one
aide. He doesn’t mind one step
backward to take two steps forward.
Isunaini is a i
i the residents
Bjng the Paci
■his is a jus tit
Kil waves” h;
to Japan in
:cently as 1
1964, and
He’s looking to long range[960v
his and the secretary’s bel team of Te
there will he an agreemenpeanographers
Both Vance and National p»puter prog
Affairs Adviser ZbignieBallow them
ezinski insist they did nmow had the ef]
Soviet Leonid I. Brezhne One of the r
mediately embrace CarteriHReid, noted
“to go beyond established; isually the prod
ings to actual reductions. sBhquake wit
is no question that the Sm™ close enou
that followed gave the ■ ause a surge. A
leadership some pause, oh mic islands
On the positive side, a use such sur
aides believe that in “gomjBprthan those
and letting the AmericanpBhis surge is
on the take-off as well aslt M flexing up
in foreign policy, the Pres n4ind of water
won their support and uni feross, Reid sj
ing. They believe the same Piters of these
Congress. RememberingcBtrenches iii |
of the past, they say thatcKka, Japan,
solid hi partisan supporlBnes.
foreign policy. BGravity cai
With U.S.-Soviet armsl»ate outvvarc
suming next month, then i '«es from five
is “no panic.” Irt travelling
Carter appears convk® miles per
considering the alternative loi gated sour
the unleashing of a ftild occur in
threatening, budget-busl nt nna and he
race — the United StatesBtain directio
Soviet Union will realistical«A near-by si
an accord before it’s too la'^tor and incr
“ ~ ~ k" Reid said
Headers jorii he size <)f ' 1
V Pf.,
p water, far
Guest viewpoints, in ill, maybe a
tion to Letters to the braves from dee
are welcome. All pieces I wave lenp
mitted to Readers iice the ene
should be: Be re, the hei
• Typed triple space Bases, someti
• Limited to 60 charactenBfeet, he said
line BHawaii is s
• Limited to 100 lines Bo all the m;
Submit articles to f|ids also have
McDonald 217, CollegeBt they cause
tion, Texas, 77843. Aut|
name and phone number!
accompany all submissions
1 converge a
|nage, Reid
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