GulCOflQ pififi pg J
1 KWk
B 13
Pardon
evaders,
not Nixon
President Ford set forih aii ihe proper reasons
for granting amnesty. Unfortunately, he seems to
have granted it to the wrong person.
The draft evader, who left the United States
rather than serve in a war he considered immoral,
is the person deserving unconditional pardon. He,
at least, followed his conscience and often
sacrificed comfort and family to be at peace with
himself.
Nixon, at best, merely evidenced his venality
throughout the Watergate affair.
According to Ford, the reasons he pardoned
Nixon included the belief that Nixon could not
have obtained a fair trial for several months or
years.
If the former president were tried, "ugly
passions would again be aroused, our people
would again be polarized in their opinions and the
credibility of our free institutions would again be
challenged at home and abroad," Ford said.
But what if the nation's estimated 50,000 draft
dodgers and deserters were to return for trial?
Surely those "ugly passions" would erupt again
among the public (Note the war veterans' reaction
when Ford announced he was considering earned
re-entry for draft evaders.)
The President did not want Nixon to have to wait
to obtain'a fair trial. Yet many draft evaders have
been waiting to return to American society since
the 1960s or before.
Defending his Nixon decision, Ford said his
conscience forbade him to "prolong the bad
dreams that continue to reopen a chapter that is
closed." .
The United Sates, ; at least technically, has
closed the chapter of the Vietnam War as well.
Why, then, doesn't the federal government
obscure that "bad dream" by forgiving those who
realized our Asian involvement was a mistake lony
before the government did?
Ford also said he believed that any delay in
pardoning Nixon would damage the former
president's emotional state. " X
At least Nixon will not face the trauma of having
to leave his "family and his country an emotional
drain on many war resisters who sought refuge in
Sweden, Canada and elsewhere.
Despite the, haste, he exercised in pardoning
Nixon, Ford evidently cannot find tinteto consider
amnesty for-draft resisters. The President has
"postponed indefinitely" that decision; because it
is a "complex problem."
Until that problem is resolved, however, the
nation must live under a perplexing double
standard of justice a standard that sometimes
seems to confuse the bad guys with the good.
Jane Owens
) fly ''I
i 4 . '..
V-H- Li I
l h.: ... . f
' ii ii ii i H hi i'iiiWriwi mrtfimii1 '' i 'rirMITl'V?li1iTrtiiiii i ,,iwWK'w.iawsJ H f"S I i I '
"These things always work out'
m fj r I f
conducts a tour
change the face of American politics. Gablev
It's already changed my congressman uaoiey
Boodle, whom we voters get to see on even-numbered
years between Labor Day and the first Tuesday m
NTwasbetherefore, not surprised when he grabbed me
by the lapels yesterday. What surprised me was the
determination with which he dragged me up the front
steps of his modest $200,000 house.
"Tell me, dear friend," he said, openly and cand dly,
"would you like my new three-hour tour which allows
you to examine my check stubs for the past 16 years and
my shirt drawer for rlng-around-the-collar? Or would
you prefer the abbreviated 10-minute tour during which
you may put intimate questions to the immediate
members ot my family and ask me if I am a crook?
"The brief one," I said, "as I am in a hurry to go buy
a lamb chop before the hourly price increase. Are you a
crook?" , llD , , om
:"Yes," he said, openly and candidly. But I am
dedicated, hardworking and experienced. Please notice
on the left-hand wall the framed copies of my income
.tax returns since 1938."
"And what's on the right-hand wall?' I said.
'"The framed copies of my revised returns since
1938," he said. "We all make mistakes in judgment,
don't we? And this is my son, Sam, whose hobby is
making cigarettes for fun and profit."
orthur hoppe
"rm70urdatrgtitGro,reopsis('' the you nc vc'"
said.'Andj'tiou thjpjjjrjee are&iarttes, you'-c-p;,,
out, man."
"And this is my daughter, Bouga Invillea." Bccd
said. "Isn't that a pretty frock she's wearing?
hobby is collecting things."
"I'm your son, Sam," the young man said. "But it is
a pretty frock, and I do collect things. Would you like to
buy a hubcap?"
"No, thank you," I said. "I still have two."
"Come into the bathroom," Boodle said, throwing
open a door. "I want you to meet my wife."
"Good God, your wife!" cried the attractive young
lad" in the tub. "You told me she was visiting her
motiier in Schenectady."
"So she is; I clean forgot," Boodle said. "This is,
instead, my devoted secretary, Miss Delores de Light,
to whom I dedicate night and day. Please consider her,
as I do, a member of the family. Would you like to ask
her an intimate question?"
"Yes," I said. "What is your hobby?"
"Blackmail," she said cheerfully.
"Now once you have given me a thorough body ,
search and examined the contents of my wallet, "
Boodle said, "we can conclude, the tour with your
making a contribution to my campaign preferably in
used dollar bilis."
I am sorry," I said, "but I am voting for
opponent,"
"But he's neither open nor candid," Boodle said,
surprised. "What do you know about him."
"Nothing," I said, "And he has several other assets
aswell."
' "How odd," Boodle said sadly. "If it works for Mr.
Ford, why dotsn't it work for every politician?"
Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co. 1974
your
to bto
Dear Editor,
1 have a green parking
sticker which was pur
chased for $25 and many
hours of waiting in line.
It's supposed to be good
for Area 20, but it has
become quite apparent
that this expensive green
sticker is good for nothing.
By 8:20 each morning.
Area 20 parking places are
but faintest prehistory.
Meanwhile, Area 14 is as
vacant and airy as must be
the head of The Proper
Authority who perpetrated
the Great Parking Hoax.
Ahh...thc Big Red Area
14, wide and empty ex
panse of white gravel with
horizons broken only by
the occasional gleam of a
Mercedes in the sun.
The microcosm called
Area 20 is an illusion.
Beyond a doubt, there is
something rather foul
about sellinq nothina'for
A Little Cog Just Look
ing for a Piace To Park
My Wheels
page
4
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, September 11, 1974
J t
.... jj, .
