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Presidential Power
Not at all a surprise to most people, the Nixon
Administration is expected to oppose a bill restricting
the president's war-making powers. The bill passed
the Senate last week by a substantial margin, but is
expected to meet more than casual opposition when
it comes up for debate in the House of
Representatives.
One of the not-so-surprising opponents of the bill
in the Senate was Barry Goldwater from Arizona. In
debate he called the legislation unrealistic, unwise and
unconstitutional. Citing many historical instances in
which Congress had continually given monetary
support to armed conflict at the request of the
President, Goldwater emphasized that the legislative
branch already has "basic control over the size and
strength of the military sinews with which the
president can wage war."
Jacob Javits, a Senator from New York who is
sponsoring the measure argues that the President will
still have the authority to call in forces in time of
emergency or attack, but his power to see that the
forces remain in action after 30 days will be subject
to Congressional approval.
The passage of this bill is important to the security
of our nation today. Maybe a President in time of
conflict will, out of conscience or even pride, think
twice before he commits men and materials whose
activity will be rigorously scrutinized for 30 days by
all of Washington.
i Porque?
On Thursday, the Arts and Sciences faculty will
meet again to deliberate on proposed changes in the
group requirement scheme now mandatory for each
student pursuing a degree in Arts and Sciences.
On today's editorial page, an argument in favor of
greater flexibility in the undergraduate curriculum is
presented by Tom Weist. Weist is a member of the
group that drafted the proposals the faculty is now
considering.
Foreign languages, or any other course for that
matter, is valuable only if the student takes the
course by choice. To be forced to complete a
fouf-sern ester sequence that most often results in
nothing more than 16 hours of credit on a transcript
is certainly not in keeping with scholarly tradition.
The responsibility for conscription of foreign
language students rests with the high school. A
general area-of-study outline is best for the
undergraduate.
Let the students make the most of their
educational experience. They are the ones, who live
with it the rest of their lives.
Barry Pilger
It has become painfuEy apparent that
the American public is easily misled.
Reading the newspaper is nearly as
stimulating as watching the third act in a
mystety play. But the dramatic reversals
arc hardly entertaining.
Some recent third-act reversals: Dila
Beard appears not to have heart trouble
after all; President Nixon is instructing his
staff to emphasize Soviet support of
Hanoi in order to wheedle pabhc support
for the escalated air war; Henry Kissinger
was lying about Pakistan and India; the
Pentagon is selling itself; President
Johnson, peace candidate, surreptitiously
escalated the Vietnam war.
It's an election year. With exposes a
daily event, people are confused about
whom to select for president-reluctant to
change for fear things will get worse.
Ine confusion of the public is
aggravated by its size and diversity, and
its special interest orientation.
This is an election year; the men
ranning must be scrutinized rather than
the issues they are espousing. And if the
men are to be scrutinized, the scrutiny
must go deeper than the ephemeral public
image. What is the candidate's political
history? Does it reveal consistency,
integrity and foresight?
The White House resident in the next
four years must be a man who is willing
to lose sight of his chances for re-election
and pay attention to the crises in the
country. It exist be a man with enough
vision to make decisions that will be
defensible and credible 10 years from
now.
The man is George IfcGovcrn. He is
becoming a more believable candidate
and a more logical choice daily.
McGovcrn's political foresight is
startling. In a May 1971 news article,
McGovcrn predicted that by the time the
primaries rolled around, the race would
be narrowed to Muskie, Humphrey and
himself. Muskie, he projected, would win
in New Hampshire, but he, McGovern,
would take him in Wisconsin and become
a "serious contender in the Democratic
primary.
Perhaps McGovern's foresight is
another name for a seldom violated
honesty. His 1963 stand against the
Vietnam war is somewhat overworked as
a selling point, but it is an unmistakable
indication of his ability to act without
popular support, which is rapidly
becoming indispensable for intelligent
poulkaJ IcaJerMup.
Public policy-making today has
multiplied implications for the future
community because legislators are dealing
with larger numbers of people, greater
sums of rnoy ana increased measures of
power. The highest public official does
not have the resources of time and energy
to do the wisest thing in every situation
as well as woo the public opinion.
Nixon's most conspicuous mistake is his
overconcern with fluctuating and elusive
popular opinion.
The same concern is visible in Muskie's
cautious attitude. McGovcrn says of him:
1 like Ed, but the first time I remember
Ed saying anything at all about Vietnam
was at Chicago, where he was the leader
in the floor ht against the peace plank.
Everybody's against the war now, and it
requires neither courage nor intelligence
to speak out. The question is whether we
can afford that excessive caution when
we'll be facing other problems where we
can't wait 10 years to decide what the
right course is."
McGovern's approach to his campaign
is a clear rendering of his character. He
announced his candidacy January 18,
1971. The polls showed be had two per
cent of popular support. With aggressive
. campaigning he gained three percentage
points in the polls by mid-March of 1971.
In the first two months of his campaign
he had received S 25 0,000 in
contributions three-fourths of
contributions were between SS and SIS.
The South Dakota senator is cot
intimidated by the odds against him. That
attitude has paid off with a substantial
margin of votes in New Hampshire, a
victory in Wisconsin and the lead in the
most recent poll taken in Boston, ( site
of an upcoming primary).
His gradual but steady gains in public
favor are as unexpected today as was his
election in " a solid Republican state
(Wisconsin) in 1963. McGovern's
toughness and tenacity," as he describes
it, are working for him.
The Democratic candidates are very
similar in their liberal stands on domestic
issues. For that reason the character of
each candidate is thrown into high relief.
In this respect, McGovcrn has the distinct
advantage.
His character, as clear in his campaign
as in his record, makes him the
unquestionable choice for next President
of tlx United States.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 49, 1972
PAGE 4
THE DAILY NEBRASKA J
