European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes Page 9 Fortas debate revives bitter memories count this 01 Brltz Orrt into american judicial i Way of the four or Fly in rinse Lenore cent Muttee a i to him to Ami court App Lafr Lionti the to ree dramatic ones have been to nose of Louii a Brand Eli Felix prank Furter and new Abe Portal. In Clde tally and for what it May be Worth. All three have Boon jew. In Nono of the three eases however hat Ihire explicit attack in the jewish is of except by who usual racist crackpots who attach themselves like Bama Clet to every such discussion. The fight Over Brandely who had been appointed by Wood Row Wilson was the most protracted and emotional. It dragged along for months and piled up thousands of pages of testimony. The fight Over Frank Furter appointed by Franklin Roosevelt was Shorter and Sharp a. Tho porters hassle to very much like frankfurters with the added wrinkle of sen. Robert Griffin a r-mlch., Phalanx presumably Rody for High both or Low Fili Buster on the Senate floor. If Brandeis was a Radical m was tit the tame sense that Jef Ferson was. He wanted to restore the reality and credibility of the american dream As against the Power of a Small obstructing financial group which decided what would happen to other people s inevitably he made enemies cutting a wide Swath of pain and outrage in a lories of and monopoly cases Asho mowed Down the big fancy High priced corporation lawyers who were luckless enough to be in his Pom. Of course they struck Back. Brandeis had fought hard on every economic and political Battlefront. He had been one of Wilton s closest advisers and. Was an intellectual godfather of Wilson s new in detente threatened new York the communist bloc crisis Over Czechoslovakia is reaching the Point where it could endanger easier soviet american relations and prolong the cold War. It could also affect chances for Progress toward peace in Viet Nam. There is reason to think president John son is getting ready to end All bombing of North Vietnam Hanoi s main condition for a Flora Lewis real Start on negotiations. This would be much harder for the White House to do if there is armed soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia because it would stiffen popular american resistance to any concessions to communist states. So far the . Has kept officially mute on the crisis the most serious in the communist world since the Moscow peking break. Washington wisely realized that any open sympathy for Prague would Only be used As ammunition in the Hartline communist Campaign that charges the czechs with preparing a breakaway to the West. But there is risk that this silence has been misread in mos cow As tacit american endorse ment of a free soviet hand in its own sphere. It is True that the . Did nothing to help Hun Garian rebels in 1956, and it is probably True that nothing official would be done to help the czechoslovak if they Are driven to open resistance against some of their communist allies. It is equally True that the use of soviet Force in Hungary provoked outrage throughout the old. It set the chances of de Tente Back several years. Any repetition in Czechoslovakia would certainly strengthen Antl communist feeling in the ., and quite possibly help Richard Nixon win the presidency on the much tougher foreign policy line that he has taken recently. In Prague earlier this month i fund a careful optimism that Czechoslovakia would manage of push through its far reaching program. But the pressure on the czechs has suddenly in creased very drastically. East Germany which has perhaps he most to lose if czech liberalization succeeds has been demand ing Tough soviet action. So has Poland and Moscow has grown More harshly menacing toward Prague. Czechoslovakia is the focal Point of this serious crisis but the real dilemma is Moscow a if the russians insist on breaking the czech Reform movement they face an even greater setback now than they did when they crushed the hungarian revolt. They risk an open split of what is left of the Moscow oriented world communist movement. Yugoslavia and Romania among communist countries and the important French and italian communist parties Are backing Prague. Hungary is cautious afraid of breaking with Moscow but its leaders have shown sym Pathy for the czechs. What cohesion remains in the Eastern european bloc As Well As the detente in East West relations Are at stake As Moscow ponders whether to really crack Down. If Moscow lets Prague alone it risks gradual erosion in both communist ideology and control of its sphere of influence. The West will watch closely Moscow s decision in this dilemma. It will show whether rus Sia is really becoming interested in finding a peaceful settlement for Europe or has Only been sweetening relations with the . In Hopes of persuading America to abandon Europe. It will show whether the hard liners or the conciliators Are in control in the internal Moscow dispute. Tje russians have already gone 10 far that h will be hard now for them to take their troops out of Czechoslovakia without seeming to accept a defeat. But if they go further the Battle they win will Cost them much More even than their Victory in Hun Gary 12 years ago. 0 196ft, now Lay inc. The opinions Preed in the column and cartoon on Mil pm represent those o the author and Are in no Way to to considered representing the View of the Star and Stripe itself or of the United states government. Judicial Only if the judiciary is Toon As a Shangrila removed from the life and struggle which is the Only life and struggle we know. The assault on Brandeis was id by William Howard Toft who lined up seven sex presidents of the american bar Assn. In accusing Brandeis of unethical practices As a lawyer. In the end Brandeis squeezed past the committee and was confirmed by the Senate. The irony was that Trie Man accused of being unethical turned out to be a figure of Granite like integrity standing massively and command ugly in the court s history. There is a delightful account of the Frankfurter Mdse in Dean Acheson s autobiographical vol ume morning and he describes the scene of committee questioning to the crowded sen ate caucus room with sen. Pat Mccarran of Nevada in the role of grand inquisitor. There was an episode of High comedy involving Frankfurter Friendship with Harold Lasky the British political thinker when Mccarran tried to get Frankfurter to reject his Friend s views out of hand for their doctrine and Frankfurter trying to get Mccar ran who had t read Lasky to state what the doctrine was. The comic fencing led however to a moment of High seriousness when Frankfurter prodded about his stand on marxism shot Back at Mccarran senator i do not believe you have Ever taken an oath to support the Constitution with fewer reservations than i have or would if it had not already been used it is an answer that Justice for tas might Well have directed to any senator implying some kind of leftism in his decisions. It is interesting that All three men Brandeis Frankfurter and Fortas were close to the presidents who appointed them and served the nation in non Judida roles. If this be cronyism then Lincoln s answer about Grant s drinking is in orders where can future presidents find More cronies of the same stature Frankfurter unanimously approved after his ordeal went on to become one of the great conservatives on the court in the Best sense of conservatism and the Champion of the doctrine of judicial restraint that sen. Sam Ervin , regards As the Only possible doctrine. What Justice Fortas doctrinal future May be we cannot know nor is it the Senate committee s business to inquire. I Only know that Fortas As chief Justice will be his own Man with his own mind As he has been thus far on the court. I know also that the supreme court under Earl Warren so suspected by Many today has anticipated the great social Strug Gles of our time and in moving out to meet them has made credible once More what Justice Brandeis called in a famous essay the living c 1968. Lot Angele times Welcome aboard flight 417, new York to Miami our armed forces a 51st state Washington in the Long View of history a new Community has come into existence with in the american Republic. It is the standing armed forces of the United states. As of this writing some 3.5 million men and women Are under arms who with their dependents total Over 7 /2 million people. Of they were congregated in one place they would add up to one of the largest states in the Union. They and their dependents constitute a population approximately As Large it that of Michi Gan. Only those Ernest Cuneo of California new York Illinois Ohio Texas and Pennsylvania Are larger. As Washington politics go the military Are classified at the the Pentagon in clude the generals and the Admiral. In one of the most laugh Able misconceptions in recent american popular mythology they Are pictured As a group of colonel blimps Moron Cally Monolith de virtually uneducated and trigger Happy to Boot. Actually they Are among the keenest intellects in the land utterly dedicated superbly efficient As in the recent riots which they quelled without gunshot let alone bloodshed and possess an absolute integrity All but unknown on the Hill. Notwithstanding this they Are held Forth As in a virtual conspiracy with the Industrial com plex As absurd As accusing the postmaster general of being in cahoots with the automotive Industry because his department needs trucks. Actually the Pentagon is not the political representative of the Large population in the armed forces. The professional american military Man u enrolled As a civilian voter. He is provided with an Absentee ballot in the Vitato which he Calls Home which is usually the one from which he entered the armed services. If a professional military Man he May never even enter that state again. His whole life and interests Are within the armed services yet he casts hit vote As if to were a civilian in a civilian to Clety. Thus the armed services popu lation is automatically dispersed into the various states on elec Tion Day though for example the military men serving in Viet Nam May have More immediate interest As a body in foreign policy at the moment than in the politics of their respective states. Up until recently the voice of the Serviceman was that of the veterans organizations notably the american legion and the veterans of foreign wars. From 1918 to 1945, indeed the Amer ican legion was a mighty Factor in National politics its Hierarchy was called the the National commander of the american legion was As Well known or better than that of the chief of staff. Now one May scan a dozen newspapers for a week without meeting an Amer ican legion notice for whatever reasons it is not the political voice of the millions in military service. Neither is the Pentagon nor can it be. But the silent 51st state is there and it is a mighty state indeed. The grand army of the Republic was its voice from 1865 to 1900. The american legion was its voice from 1919 to 1945. The 51st state has been without an authoritative voice since 1950, but when it Speaks up it doubtless will have Many inter Esting things to american newspaper Alliance
