European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 05, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Poge 22 the stars and stripes thursday May 5, 1977 Milia sahre broken promises deceptive explanations Jimmy Carter owes his election to narrow victories in two states Louisiana and Texas. He squeaked through in each of those states thanks to his often repeated Campaign pledge to remove government controls on newly discovered natural Gas. But when the moment came for him to deliver on his Promise his malthusian Energy program properly labelled a monstrosity by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman went in precisely the opposite direction. The Point of interest is not that presi Dent Carter broke a Campaign pledge which happens to every politician but that he resolutely refuses to face up to it. His explanation is that he never said when he would keep his Promise on decontrol. That is less than honest it is the Wrig gling off the Hook of the Sharp practitioner who says that you did t read the Fin print. That Fine print syndrome appears else where. For Over two years on the Campaign Trail. Carter railed at the swore size of the White House staff. In his feb. 2 fireside Chat he warmed our hearts with he report that i am reducing the size of the White House staff by nearly one White House staff he inherited consisted of 510 people. Since his nearly on third was translated into a directive or Dering a 30 per cent Cut the number by his own announcement should now be 3s7.don t hold your breath. According to the i d Fri Bably raw not be an . Agent Winot a tue honcrof1ue thins George f. Will court overstepped its License if the supreme court is not careful its carefulness will make it and the first amendment ridiculous. Consider its Dis covery that mottoes on License plates can be instruments of thought Hampshire plates Bear the Molto. Live free or die " but George Maynard is a Jehovah s witness and considers the slogan repugnant because life is More precious than Freedom " state Law forbids the defacement of plates but Maynar courted martyrdom by obliterating the the supreme court has declared 7-21 unconstitutional Laws that prevent citizens from. Well editing their decision demonstrates the court s ten Dency to be More reflexive than reflective about the first majority implicitly rejects the notion that Maynard s act of defacing the plates was symbolic but the majority says the Laws affecting new Hampshire s License motto violate May Nard s right to refrain from speaking at All which is part of the right of Freedom of thought " indeed the Law violates Maynard s right to decline to Foster religious and Politi Cal the majority says this right was illustrated by a recent ruling that declared unconstitutional a Law re Quiring newspapers to publish replies from politicians the newspapers criticized so according to the majority a Law that interferes with editing License plates is like Law that interferes with editing newspapers. Such a Law Dampens the vigor and emits the variety of Public Justice William Rehnquist. Dissenting. Argues that the logic of the majority s Posi Tion is that the motto in god we Trust on currency Bridges the first amendment rights of atheists. He thinks rightly that it is As sensible to say that the currency re quires users to affirm belief in god As it is to say that new Hampshire s License plate requires Drivers to affirm new Hampshire s to Rehnquist s bait the majority offers a footnote it would have done Well to forego. With awesome Gravity it notes that currency differs in significant respects from an so far so the majority detects a difference of constitutional significance an automobile is readily associated with its operator whereas currency is passed from hand to hand and is generally carried in a Purser pocket so people Are not required to display it. Thereby advertising the nation s motto. Thus for what it is Worth the majority has established that Constitution ally speaking License plates Are More like newspapers than automobiles Are like cur a final lunge toward abstraction the majority says new Hampshire s Law protecting License plates is comparable to the unconstitutional Laws which require schoolchildren regardless of religious convictions to Salute the nag and pledge Alle Giance to it compelling the affirmative act of a Flag Salute involves a More serious infringement upon personal liberties than the passive act of carrying a state motto Ona License plate but the difference is essentially one of the majority believe that differences Are not of constitutional significance if they Are merely differences of degree that is less a form of reasoning than a refusal to reason. In Law. As in other moral enterprises differences of degree become at some Point differences of kind. The majority s language distorts common usage because the majority s reasoning violates common sense. Reading the majority s predictable first Amend ment rhetoric about threats to Public debate and dangers of official control of the intellect it is hard to keep in min the fact that this Strong language refers to phrases on License plates. At one Point the majority implies that Only mottoes not ideologically Neutral Are unconstitutional. But even promotional mottoes violate the majority s doctrine of the right to refrain from speaking " Illinois motto land of Lincoln inaccurate but surely the majority s Prin Ciple is that illinoisans have a right to re Frain from speaking even accurate License plates. Idaho s famous potatoes is not obviously the thin end of tyranny wedge or the beginning of thought control. But one can t be too careful can one Well yes. One can be too careful. The court is too careful when it concludes that Drivers Are forced to affirm whatever ideology " is on their License plates and that this threatens to become official control of the spirit intoxicated by abstraction and indifferent to distinctions the court trivialized the first amendment by extending its sweep in ways that Bear no reasonable relation to it important purposes. White House press office the size of the White House staff As of test week was no the targeted 357, not the Ford level of s10, but 608.the revealing Point again is not the broken Promise but the deceptive explanation. At a recent press conference Carter told the nation that the reason for the extra staff was this enormous influx of he led trusting reporters to be Lieve that the staff increase was a Tempo Rary measure to handle the four times Normal flow of was doubly deceptive. The mail in crease was deliberately stimulated by the president when he urged his countrymen on television to get in touch with him directly. Many took him seriously. As a result the White House has never received so Many plaintive touch letters pile Ous appeals from children who have lost their dogs and want replacements or let tors saying. My wife is pregnant and i need $1,300 and i am desperate please help Ian Independent mail solicitation oper ated from a separate Post office Box was a direct mail advertising Effort in connection with the Energy hype. The White House is not willing to give out costs to the taxpayer of the preparation of the Exten Sive mailing list production of letters from the president stuffing and franked mail ing opening collating counting and Ana lying replies. The Cost could run the yacht Sequoia for quite a makes the president s explanation doubly deceptive is not Only that he reached out for the mail flow increase but that his stated reason is false. Mail hand Ling is not the reason for the difference be tween the promised 357 and the present608. Not even nearly. Follow the numbers in that 608, there Are 129 detail pcs people on the payroll of other agencies but working at the White House which is How Lyndon Johnson used i to conceal the growth of the White House staff. Of these detainees Only 31 now work inthe Mai room. Thus if Carter stops asking for the touch letters and the mail room comes Back Down to its pre Carter size the White House staff would still number 577. That s a Long Long Way from his announced goal which simple arithmetic puts at 357. What Are the rest of those White House staffers doing Well you see us they had to hire a whole Bunch of Guys to come up with an Energy program that broke our Promise to Texas and Louisiana. And us they still have to do a lot of screening for new appointees which May take a while As Everett Dirksen used to say. A billion Here a billion there after a while it begins to add up to real what can we expect after the Carter Mai room excuse loses its credibility thai s when the Fine print will make its appearance when Carter promised to Cut that bulging White House staff we will be told he Only meant Thi political appointees not permanent stat1 like the Whitehouse Barber. So 30 Pei cent of those Well say 20 per cent to it s pretty be in the Ballan. Would be 40 people leaving a White House staff of 470, plus a few dozen detainees for emergencies. Which would sort of keep the presi Dent s Promise. That sort of Flim Flam is far worse than the broken Promise itself. What if a president were to say this look i m sorry about breaking my word on deregulation it just was not politically expedient. And i was wrong about criticizing the sue of the White House staff need it to run the it won t happen. Presidents do not do that. On minor matters like breaking promises and even As we shall see on Graver matters like breaking Laws they to hang Tough and Brazen it through. C new Yak Timtim
