Viewpoint
The Battalion • Texas A&M University • Wednesday • August 15, 1979
Shah, Somoza need jobs
By ROY BRAGG
I’ve never been one to get choked up over the prob
lems of a stranger, especially if the guy is in trouble
because of his own mistakes.
This goes double for politicians. I think Nixon and
Agnew got what they deserved. So did Willy Brandt and
a host of other leaders who have been forced into an
early retirement.
Being coerced, embarrassed, or voted out of office is
the second worst thing that can happen to a politician (I
am, of course, ignoring assassination). It’s like those
dreams where you wake up in the middle of a crowded
bus station and you’re completely naked. Not even Fred
MacMurray will loan you his coat.
To a politician, being naked in a bus station is nothing.
The worst thing that can happen to a politician is to be
forcibly thrown out of office. This is as humbling as being
asked by your grandmother to trade in your last name.
The Shah of Iran and ex-President Somoza of
Nicaragua are the two most recent examples of this spe
cial sort of embarrassment. I wonder how they feel about
receiving the “pink slip’’ in such a blatant manner?
Of course, I don’t sympathize with these men at all. I
know they had power and wealth while the rest of their
respective nations remained poor. I know they appropri
ated millions of dollars for their own benefit.
I’m not discussing politics or human rights, though.
I’ve heard about these guys ordering the deaths of tens of
thousands of people. I just wonder how these two guys
handled feeling the ultimate sting of rejection — being
forced from the most important job in the country.
Imagine how strange it is to be canned by the people
of a country. One day, you re the Great White/Black/
Brown Hope of the Third World; the next, not even
Liechtenstein will answer your calls.
It’s not like being deported. When someone is de
ported, they are asked to leave the country by the gov
ernment. The shah and Somoza were the government.
Besides, deportation is usually the fate of one man
who has been found guilty of a crime. Invariably, the
crime is something like keeping “el presidente’s” daugh
ter out late on a date, mugging the head of the national
police force or relieving oneself on the lawn of the presi
dential palace.
People who are deported are affectionately referred to
as “small potatoes’’ in terms of global and national signifi
cance.
But when a country of ten or so million rises in arms
against some guy, the rest of the world tends to notice.
It must be a scary feeling. Everyone hates you. Your
own people chant slogans calling for your immediate dis
posal as a leader and a human being.
All of your international allies, who used to offer help
when the revolution consisted of three lunatics with an
automatic rifle, now cough and talk about the weather
whenever you call them for help. They suddenly erect
heliports on their embassy roofs and hold press confer
ences at home asking for your resignation. Thanks a lot,
pals.
Where can you go for asylum? t Not the United States,
that’s for sure. Sure, you can come and visit for a couple
of weeks, but stay? Are you kidding? If you’re a Libyan,
drinking beer with the president’s brother while he’s
making anti-semitic remarks to the press, that’s ok; don’t
come around here if you support the United States,
though, okay?
Forgetting the “sour grapes” politics, let’s look at the
immediate situation:
First, these two guys (Somoza and the Shah) are out of
work. Second, the goverments of Iran and Nicaragua,
although cruel and merciless, were making progress to
wards modernization under these two leaders. Lastly, in
the minds of many people, there are definite problems in
the way our federal government is run.
The obvious solution is to hire Somoza and the shah as
presidential advisers or department heads.
By hiring them, we’d be helping them and possibly
helping us. Imagine the General Accounting Office
being run by the shah. No, on second thought, that’s not
a good idea. Come to think of it, I think we can rule out
the Secretary of Commerce or Treasury for the shah.
Add the Securities and Exchange Commission to that
list, too. Keep the old guy away from the FBI altogether.
I’d rather not have him anywhere, as a matter of fact.
While I’m thinking about it. Secretary of Defense is
definitely out of bounds for Somoza. So is the National
Security Advisor’s job.
Let’s just keep them around. We might need some
new ambassadors in Nicaragua and Iran someday.
Watergate: a new era
Public confidence shattered,
political apathy on the rise
Editor’s note: This is the last article in a
three-part series describing the politics
and crises of the 70s.
The spectacle of a government unable to
enact a national energy program for nearly
two years indicated that competing special
interests were near deadock: able to block
action but unable to make anything go.
Political reform also was stuck. After
passing the presidential campaign financ
ing law in 1973, Congress.balked atapply-,
ing the idea to itself. Hopes of increasing
voting by easing registration fizzled as
well.
The Democratic apparatus became the
possession of the incumbent president.
Carter got early support from party lead
ers, but many soon retreated to cover their
own turfs and see if the new man could
survive.
The Republicans, after Watergate the
party of choice for less than one American
in five, struggled. For once backing with
cash their claims of being an “open door
party, the GOP recruited black candidates
and gave them funds as well as promises.
None of them won in 1978 (the GOP’s
only, black in Congress, Sen. Edward
Brooke of Massachusetts, lost), but na
tional chairman Bill Brock vowed that the
Republicans are in the struggle for minor
ity votes on a longterm basis.
A lot of new politicians surfaced in the
decade after Woodstock, but politics and
politicians appeared to be continuing a
long decline in public esteem, part of what
Carter called the “crisis of confidence” in
his own campaign for a personal comeback
in the spring of 1979.
The experts competed with theories
about the American political malaise and
where it was leading. Some predicted the
long-predicted arrival of real liberal and
conservative parties; others thought new
parties would form around issues, some us
narrow as abortion, marijuana, school
prayer and budget balancing.
But the old parties did not roll over.
Congress gave them new legal status and
funds in post-Watergate reform laws and
they found new techniques: fund raising
by direct mail, credit cards and telethons,
midterm party conferences and candidate
forums.
There was discussion in the 1970s about
a public “turn to the right” and the rise of a
“Silent Majority. But election results
often failed to support its existence. Dem
ocrats, not always liberal but usually to the
left of their opponents, continued to win
most elections.
The polls that tried to plumb the pub
lic’s mood found it to be conservative in
general and liberal in specific — endorsing
both balanced budgets and spending for
education and most welfare programs.
“Single issue” politics seemed to be
making headway. Well-organized groups
supporting and fighting abortion were an
example. “Pro Life” groups claimed some
congressional scalps and were able to prod
several dozen legislatures into demanding
constitutional prohibition of abortion.
Budget balancing also had a flurry.
When Californians approved drastic prop
erty tax cuts in Proposition 13, a number
of politicians, including Gov. Edmund G.
Brown, Jr., headed for the lifeboats and
embraced government thrift. But predic
tions of a Proposition 13 tidal wave failed
to materialize in 1978.
As the 1980 elections approached, two
issues dominated public attention and
seemed sure to be the stuff of the next
decade’s political conflict.
First was inflation, which persisted de
spite efforts of government and some
business and labor leaders to combat it
with voluntary restraints and talk.
Second was energy. Its price eruption
caused much of the first problem and
raised for Americans the prospect of cut
ting back the relatively lavish lifestyle they
had enjoyed in the years after World War
II.
The gasoline shortage of 1979 was the
most dramatic manifestation of what now
was no longer a problem of the future. The
fumbling image projected by the govern
ment in its efforts to deal with the situation
almost guaranteed that this would be the
political battleground of tomorrow.
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News Capsules
NATION
OSH A to investigate arena collapu
Investigators say it is too early to tell if vibrations from a jet landing
at nearby O’Hare International Airport caused the collapse of the new
$8.5 million Horizon indoor stadium in this tiny Chicago suburb. The
wooden-beam roof of the stadium collapsed, killing five construction
workers and injuring 15 others. Damage to the 20,000-seat stadium
was estimated in excess of $3 million. A spokesman from the Occupa
tional Safety and Health Administration said it would launch a “catas
trophe investigation” into the collapse. Rosemont officials im
mediately hired a consulting firm to investigate the disaster. One
police spokesman said a jet landing at O’Hare made an “extremely
low” pass just before the collapse at 8:30 a. m. CDT. A 100-foot clear
ance beneath the wheels of landing craft had been established for the
stadium, which is located on the perimeter of O’ Hare in its glidepath.
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Escaped con caught, hostages OK
isr
Escaped convict Richard Gantz, armed with two knives, was cap
tured in Gardiner, N.Y., without a struggle Tuesday, less than two
hours after he fled into the woods around the farm house were he had
taken six people hostage Sunday. State police at Kingston said Lester
Cossano Sr., Gantz’ last hostage, was not harmed. Five other hos
tages were released Sunday night and Monday morning. State police
said Gantz, armed with two knives, was captured about 7:15 a.m.
EDT in a wooded area less than a mile northwest of the Cossano
house. Gantz surrendered without resistance near Dusenberre Road
and some railroad tracks, troopers said. He was taken to the state
police barracks in Highland.
Rockwell Society files lawsuit
The Rockwell Society of America has filed a $2 million lawsuit to
stop the Rockwell Museum from selling and advertising four
figurines. It was the second suit in a week filed against the museum in
suburban Lincolnwood. The society — a nonprofit service organiza
tion seeking to educate collectors about the value and origin of the
late Norman Rockwell’s works — charged Monday the figurines were
pirated from illustrations by Rockwell appearing on society-
sponsored collector’s plates. The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit
Court in Chicago, charged the museum’s activities were “calculated
to deceive and confuse the public” into believing the figurines were
endorsed by the Stony Brook, N.Y.-based society.
LA man ‘rattled’ by ‘snake’ attack
Michael Thompson was robbed at snakepoint. Thompson, 25, of
Los Angeles, told police a man knocked on his door Monday, saying
he had a package for him. When Thompson opened the door, the
robber whipped out a knife and opened the package to display a
snake. He threatened to loose the snake on Thompson unless
Thompson handed over his valuables. Thief and snake escaped with
$400 in cash and jewelry — in Thompson’s car.
Rain aids firefighters in Idaho
Firefighters are taking advantage of an inch of welcome rain in
their battle against two big blazes in Idaho’s scenic Primitive Area.
One fire was reported to be temporarily contained Monday, while the
other had stopped spreading. The rain and cooler temperatures
halted the spread of the the 65,000-acre Mortar Creek fire and the
lesser 10,000-acre Ship Island blaze, both burning along the Middle
Fork of the Salmon River 60 miles apart. Some 150,000 acres of Idaho
timber and rangelands have burned this summer and the cost of
fighting is expected to be several million dollars. The figure does not
include the cost of the lost timber and grazing land.
EPA to fund studies of acid rain
The Environmental Protection Agency will spend $900,000 on re
search projects to study acid rain — rainfall polluted by power plants,
smelters and automobiles. The phenomenon, which affects most of
the nation east of the Mississippi, could be worsened with the future
increase in the use of coal instead of oil in power plants unless re
search uncovers answers to prevent it, EPA said. The agency said
$500,000 will go to North Carolina State University for a study of
lakes which have already been damaged by such rain, and of lumber
and food crops which are most vulnerable. An additional $400,000
will go to the EPA laboratory in Duluth, Minn., to study the threat to
more than 1,000 lakes in the Boundary Water Canoe Area where
increased levels of mercury in trout, walleye pike and northern pike
may be related to acid rain.
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6 Waving the bloody shirt’ popular in D.C.
By ARNOLD SAWISLAK
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Stuart Eizenstat
recommended to President Carter that he
blame OPEC for the country’s problems.
The president apparently decided he
would do better by using a proven
scapegoat and blaming Washington.
Attacking Washington is akin to the
political practice after the Civil War of
“waving the bloody shirt” to remind voters
what horrible deeds were committed by
the Yankees or Confederates (and to divert
attention from the record of the particular
candidate or party.)
“Washington," meaning the entire fed
eral establishment from the loftiest
perches of power to the bureaucrats in the
basement, is and always has been a tempt
ing target.
Americans have always regarded gov
ernment as a kind of necessary evil. It is
needed to keep order, but people get mad
when its activities touch them, as when it
sets lower speed limits or higher thermo
stat settings.
And much of the criticism is entirely
justified.
When Congress passes laws that are not
needed or ducks problems that cry out for
action, when the Supreme Court makes
rulings that strain common sense and the
plain words of the Constitution or when
government agencies load citizens down
with conflicting rules and silly paperwork,
people ought to squawk and squawk
loudly.
But blaming everything on a kind of
all-encompassing “Washington” is a politi
cian’s dodge. It takes the place of pinpoint
ing exactly who is responsible for foulups
and abuses and making specific proposals
to remedy them.
One example: When Congress passes
and the president signs legislation grant
ing power to regulate or restrict some pri
vate activity, it often provides only the
vaguest guidelines for regulations to back
up the law. It sometimes makes no provi
sion at all for review of law’s operation.
So it is only when things go bad that
Congress or the White House get in
volved. OSHA was one such example.
Congress cannot write detailed regu
lations to enforce laws it passes. But it can
examine them before they take effect and
it can require periodic inquiries into oper
ation of the law.
The president can’t oversee every
bureaucrat’s work. But he can keep a
watch on new programs. And the presi
dent can make departments and agencies
do what he wants done or know' the reason
why not.
These are matters of accountability.
Running the government right is the Pres
ident’s responsibility. When something
goes wrong, it is at least in part his fault.
Writing legislation that solves problems
is Congress’ responsibility. 'Vhen new
laws cause more problems than fhey solve,
Congress has to share the blame.
Interpreting the law to serve justice and
equity within the framework of the Con
stitution is the Supreme Court’s duty.
When its rulings fly in the face of thc s e, it
has failed and is culpable.
It is long past time for accountability in
government. But it is just another exercise
in bloody shirt waving to blame Washing
ton" for everything that goes wrong.
WORLD
Rlast injures 100 in South Korea
Tons of chemicals stored in warehouses in the port city of Inchon,
South Korea, exploded in huge fireballs just before midnight
Monday, injuring more than a 100 people and sending thousands
more fleeing into the streets, police said. There were no reports of
fatalities in the explosions, but police said many of the 100 injured
were seriously hurt. About 5,000 panic-stricken people, many of
them in sleeping clothes, dashed for cover. Window frames were
twisted and most window panes of the buildings within a 3,000-yard
radius of the scene were broken, police said. Those injured were
either hit by flying glass or battered from debris when the shock wave
blew down roofs of houses, police said.
The Battalion
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