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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1969)
I THE DAILY NEBRASKAN FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1969 AGE 2 '. "4 ! ; (I (UlOHIKH 1 J Iv 1 i "'1 f. 'A I f -ill r 3 V? 1. v? A 1 j Musical chairs, ASUN style Student government cliques are clicking Again. . Quietly even secretly small groups of ASUN senators and executives are formulating slates for the April election. The scurry to join the "right" clique usually results in a heavily-favored bloc and a few of lesser strength. After these pacts are formed, there is another scurry to round up senatorial candidates for party formation. THE CREATION of parties is the most haphazard, illogical aspect of each year's cam paign. Since the executives change annually, there is little or no continuity in party leadership, and '.iv jwk 'hm'trm- I tay, go ahead and burn our flag, cause trouble and chaos en our universities, aid the Viet Cong by your actions, and protest against our men In uniform, but by God don't ever come up to me and call yourself an American because you don't even know what the word means." Warren Storms, Letters to Editor, Daily Nebraskan, Feb. 17, 1969. The year Is 1984, and War ren Storms has just been elected President of the United States., The reac tionary victory is by 11,000 of one percent of the American people and caps a long and enduring drive by Warren up through the ranks of the In dependent American Party (IAP), of which he was a char ter member when it began on a firm ultra-conservative base in the Midwest in the early 1970's. True to form, Warren has not changed at all since he made his statement to the editor in 1969 While still a student. The circumstances of his election were in reaction to widespread rebellion "So To You Dissenters 1 throughout America by students, intellectuals, mothers, liberals and gas meter readers over America's Involvement in Viet Nam, which experts say will end soon. Calling his election a "mandate," President Storms' first action in office ' is to pass an "Alien and Sedition" act, by which he can unite the country behind the war effort, even though "the end is io sight" and "there is light at the end of the tunnel." There are now two types of citizens in America the Americans and the "Dissenters," or "Prols" as they are referred to. The "Dissenters" are being rounded up and either put in detention camps or deported to North Viet Nam, under the new policy of "If you don't like it, leave it." Unofrtunately, nearly half the members of Congress have been classified as "Dissenters" and more are being uncovered every day by reviewing texts of old speeches, in which the Congressmen have been critical of the war effort. As President Storms says, "While dissent is a freedom enjoyed in this country, I just wonder how many realize what that freedom has cost in the way of American lives." He points to the fact that Americans should be proud to defend a country in which they enjoy the freedoms of speech and dissent. Just think, he says, what it would be like to live in a country like Russia, where no one may question the government when a policy decision has been made. This speech was greeted by all the members of the John Birch Society, the Minutemen and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plus the other 13 people left alive in the country. One prominent senator, just before be was dragged off, questioned the President's policy at a committee meeting. . Sen. Why cant people disagree In a democracy? . .rres. They can, aod axe encouraged to. . .Sea. Then why are they being 6ilenced? . Pres. Because their disagreements don't agree with government policy. ..Sen. Then anyone can disagree as long as they agree? ..Pres. That is correct, sir. As they took the senator away, he was beard to be mumbling, "Freedom i s Slavery, Love is Hate . .Afterthought: There may be things creeping in this coun try besides communism. DAILY NEBRASKAN eesetd elaee pnetate paid at Unc-rtn. N iMKOtaM! Eaii.iT. 471 K. Nnn 7M58. MM 47I-1SM. t- trx!rt ratee are $4 per aomeater or & par academic year. J-BMiahed Monday edneaar Tauraoar aa Friday during the actual jwar aees duriag vuauma. Editorial Staff EVtttart Fd ioeanrles Manuring tUK'tt Una Gottacbatk! NMra Editor Jm Fvtor; Migkit New Editor Keni Cortwon; Editorial Aeaintant J o Stunner) Awumam New UMot Andy Wood: Sporta Editor Mark f . KpbiaataJi S'jifi l&ntar Joha LK ers k , Jim r-ederaen. Count. V fsioer, Suaar- Jeot"ne B'JI SmiUwrinan. ue Schltchtwneier, hue Tmy. turn Taloutt, Jnmnette Ankerman, B-bfttar SinRhi Photographer. ' t:"m uuMr. Us'la KeBtiedy. Uxlu Haysum; Reponar-PlKMoxraptier i 4 Attpon, tn oMnioHs; Copy Ekbture Jf.L fcehmidt Joaa Wage , aar. Fayiiia AMukKawB. bava Flliju. Sara Mrnraedcr. fcua Maaid. Business Staff f0'4rf MjKer ftAger Sore: Loral Ad Manager ioH Davlei fxnthtruoM Maaaxer Randy trey; Bookkeeper Ron BowliD; Secretary FViaUuan; Clafletfied Ada lean Baer: SubscripUun Manaeef I ia Ulrtrjii Cirmlatwii: Manama U-m Pavelka. Rir Diraa. Jamee ft.-..--r; dvertitUitjK ILepreKnnUtii'ee Mee Brvwa. i.ary Cirahfiquud. Lvmim Siiaiaaoa. i. L. fcduaidi. CiurtoUa Waiter. the first clique to claim the party designation of PSA is two steps ahead. (You surely remember PSA. That's where an executive clique flatters dorm independents into accepting candidacies, and then mixes in a few token Greeks. That of course throws the Greeks into turmoil; they don't know whether the PSA Greek candidates are sell-outs or the system's only chance for a voice in Senate.) Incidentally, the names being kicked around for the top ASUN spots are Bob Zucker, Bill Chaloupka and Diane Theisen. There are, undoubtedly, other pacts being made, but PSA is probably well on the way. BUT, THIS is not the time for students outside Senate to be watching the cliques click. Those dissatisfied with student government should be organizing now. Especially strong in potential are the thousands of Lincoln students, whose vast electoral power goes continually untapped. With coordinated effort, this silent bloc could virtually elect all of student government BUT, THE PACT-MAKERS continue to dominate. And many may prove to be good can didates. Without competition, however, they cannot provide effective student government. (There is some doubt, too, that those cliques will be the best.) Rather than waiting for ASUN to bungle through another unrepresentative year, the arm chair politicians should be organizing candidates. Fred Schmidt . . . r .imiaajj w iimai i laaaaM paidaMiiJ. minimum ibi.hw iw.iagjya. Scapegoat for a mentality Up close, the Pentagon is not nearly as im pressive as its photos. Its pentagonal symmetry needs an aerial view to be fully appreciated. From a passing vehicle on the ground, it looks something like a prison: bleak, foreboding, styleless. This is the stomping ground for the paper-doll and napalm set, the tangible symbol of the mili tary industrial complex, the target on which Nor man Mailer's armies of the night vented their wrath to protest both real and illusory oppression. . TO MILLIONS of others it is evidence of Amer ica's manifest destiny, a reassuring safeguard of her rightful role of leadership in the world. The men behind the walls, innocent charity insists, can not be the diabolical Masters of War whom Bob Dylan castigates. Real life human beings, one is prone to believe, simply aren't so one-sidedly evil or stupid. The Pueblo incident, however, does not enhance the miliatry's reputation for either empathy or astuteness. Commander Bucher, after experiencing almost all the tortures of Hell during his captivity, has had to return stateside to reach the Ninth Circle. For Bucher, it seems, has betrayed the sacred trust of the U.S. fighting man; he has displayed gross cowardice under fire, he has returned home without his shield, he has lacked the fortitude and perseverance of such heroes as Nathan Hale, John Wayne, and Paxton Quigley. He has broken the military Code of Conduct! THE CODE of Conduct is a six-point series of platitudes so designed that any patriotic robot can follow it to the letter. Commander Bucher broke the code twice. First of all, he GAVE UP THE SHIP, surrender ing while he still had some means of resistance: two Sons of Liberty bean-shooters against the mini armada of puny yellow-skinned savages. Secondly, Bucher publicly confessed that bis ship had been in North Korean waters, thereby making a statement disloyal to the United States. No lives were lost because of Bucher's actions; eighty-two were saved. No one is suffering from hunger or the elements or an oppressive ruler be cause of Bucher's actions. But the Navy, and the Pentagon behind the Navy, were embarrased by the Pueblo capture and Bucher makes a handy scapegoat. OF COURSE, the Navy is quick to assert that the inquisition (or inquiry, as they call it) is mere routine. But it has succeeded in shifting the wrath of the Pentagon's adoring public to Bucher; it is expedient that one man suffer for the people! The Pentagon's public consists of those multi tudes of Americans who, with their Orphan Annie mentalities, felt that their fabricated honor was tarnished by the Pueblo capture. Insult was added to injury when the United States secured the crew's release without a fight. Their "Remember the Pueblo" bumper stickers now have little meaning. The romatic dream of America in arms visiting vengeance and humiliation upon North Korea for its audiacity has been shattered. And it's all Buch er's fault he had the audacity to survive. LIFE WAS MORE sacred to him than tradition. Those Christians and Jews who would have con sidered Bucher a fool and a murderer had he acted otherwise are viewed as traitors by the moronic living-room patriots of the Pentagon's public. (The Pentagon is trying to prevent future disasters by conditioning new troops to suffering; but they haven't found a way to prepare a man to benignly watch his crewmen slaughtered one by one.) Pity Lloyd Bucher and his crew; they could have become immotraL All they had to do was die. The Daily Nebraskan is solely a student publication, independent of the University of Nebraska's administra tion, faculty and student government. Opinion expressed on the editorial page is that only of the Nebraskan's editorial staff. ill m tk SjfrjZ "xNaSvV E "Tjl-'lilW ilTr fcWifc "And now, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Garrison, with his bare hands... !" To have a truly open mind, one must even learn to tolerate intolerance. Last summer in the Senate Office Building's caucus room, there occurred a humorous, yet serious, spectacle. Senator Strom T h u r m o n i (Repub.-So. Car.), notorious for his constitutional, states' rights approach to decision-making, was grilling Abe Fortas, equally notorious for alleged defiance of constitutional precepts and state sovereignty. At stake in the hearing was Senate approval of Fortas' appointment as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. THE ATMOSPHERE was tense as Thurmon I doggedly pursued his elaborate interrogation designed to discredit Fortas; the soft-spoken bar rister stubbornly insisted that he could not respond to the Senator's inquiry without compromising his juristic prudence. Neither man was willing to concede a singlo point to his adversary. Last week in the Student Union, a devote? ' of fundamental Christianity was attempting to con vince a skeptical Hyde Park audience that h ; orthodox beliefs are relevant to the lives of confuseJ collegians. Heated opposition came from a number of non Christians whose despair has left them with a cynical, frustrated sense of nonbelief. Again, ther.j seemed to be no common ground, no reconcilia tion. BOTH EXPERIENCES left me with an uneasy feeling. I wondered how any society could bea the apparent strain without encountering some kin i of violent dislocation. At the Senate hearing, a cloud of custom-im posed formality shrouded the bitterness of th cleavage; at Hyde Park, emotions were less restrained and participants denounced one another in uninhibited fashion. Yet somehow I couldn't condemn any of th; four combatants. Consistent commitment has ai inherent attractiveness that makes even the mosi misled crusader admirable. SENATOR THURMOND is adamantly com mitted to strict construction of the Constitute-, and his life is dedicated to serving that commit ment. Justice Fortas has firmly and consistent upheld the sanctity of individual conscience, an 1 he has insisted that freedom is preferable u justice. The pious young crusader is willing to expos himself to any amount of ridicule while trying to share with others his own deeply-felt religiou experience. The disillusioned, despairing radical devotes himself to what he feels is the necessarv destruction of an establishment that thrives on hypocrisy and prejudice. I am struck with the realization thai, theoretically at least, herein lies the beauty an-1 the strength of the American political system -in its ability to tolerate, without resort to violence, diversity of opinion. Allegedly founded on the liberal assumption that conflict is the basic impetus for progress. American democracy not only tolerates but needs both a right and left wing. IT IS hopod that the presence of radical! v conservative individuals, such as Senator Thur mond, ensures the maintenance of those aspec of our political tradition that are worth preserv ing. Men like Justice Fortas hopefully provide im aginative innovation and constructive criticism uwi ultimately refines an ever-imperfect system The mind of the conservative, guided as a is by the conviction that men are basically ir responsible and irrational, cannot be expected admit the value of honest disagreement. Only j a context of continuity and consensus can he it. at ease. His philosophy implicitly reject; tolerance. The liberal, on the other hand, recognizes ! need for contention and strife. He foresees a pr . gressively hybridized society emerging trom the never-ending conflict of interests and ideologies. Trusting in man's innate goodness, the genuine liberal assumes the responsibility of tolerance. AND THE fulfillment of that responsibility, he finds, is no mean feat. He must learn to lo;' upon tight-lipped southern Senators and vociferous religious dogmatists with a degree of understanding and magnanimity that is difficult U attain. He must frequently evaluate his own attitu.le toward his conservative opposition, lest he someday find himself cast out of the camp of the New Left and into that of the Old Right.