European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 17, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Friday june 17, 1977 Anthony Lewis the Miami vote and the rights of minorities in voting to repeal a local Law that protected homosexuals from discrimination in jobs and Public accommodations the people of Miami fla., sent an Unin tended message. They reminded us that the rights of minorities Are too important to be trusted to the passions of passing majorities. That message has a transatlantic Reso Nance. For Many voices in Britain these Days Are questioning the idea of unlimited majoritarian democracy the political theory that has prevailed Here for a Long time. There is More talk than Ever before of protecting individual Liberty by setting limits constitutional limits and forced by the courts on what parliaments and governments May do in the name of the popular will. The United states was founded on the belief that even representative govern ment and regular elections Are not enough to guarantee Liberty. The framers of the Constitution feared not Only the tyranny of George Iii but the tyranny of the  therefore divided governmental Power and restrained it by checks and bal ances. And they looked to judges As Ham Ilton said in the federalist to assure adherence to the rights of the Constitution and of  has turned out to be an essential stabilizing influence in the unruly and George  envoy Young s act is vaudeville in 163s, Lope de Vega the Spanish dramatist earnestly asked those clustered at his bedside am i really dying when they assured him that he was slipping away fast he exclaimed All right then ill say it. Dante makes me  a death bed can be a liberating podium its occupant can throw caution to the winds. An occupant of a Public office an especially an ambassador can not feel so free. At least that seemed to be True unt Landrew Young burst upon the scene. Now the . Ambassador has struck again this time in Playboy Magazine. Playboy is becoming the preferred place for a Peculiar kind of political  Jimmy Carter explained the ethics of lust. His was a Tough act to follow but his most theatrical Follower has risen tothe Challenge. Young has Given Playboy s readers a glimpse of his distinctive thought  optimism is a parody of Liberal inno Cence As they Advance economically and culturally the soviet Union is going Mohave a human rights explosion that will be not unlike our civil rights movement. That totalitarian Way of nipping it in the Bud Only makes it grow."11 has been said Well that the shallow Ness of a child s mind is agreeable until the child becomes didactic. Young s talk is laced with this sort of intellectualism i demoralize sic racism and Call it eth no  i d been programmed by society to respond in a racist Way to  and most of us have rebelled in one Way or another against our Neo Puritan in  is extravagant silliness once the Xerox copier was invented private diplomacy died. There s no such thing Asse  and there is locker room perhaps it is congressional cloakroom vulgarity regarding Idi Amin. Throughout there is the reckless name calling. Presidents Nixon and Ford were  Young s explanation is a Sham Bles they were racists not in the aggressive sense but in that they had no understanding of the problems of coloured Peoples  someone who does not understand the problems jews have experienced is there fore an anti semite it is abundantly Clear that Young has neither the temperament or the clarity of mind necessary for the responsibilities he has assumed. Napoleon at St. Helena said that he had fought 60 Bat Les and had Learned nothing he did no know at the first Battle. But Napoleon was a Genius with Little to learn. Young is  has had it seems go times 60 indiscretions and has Learned  air around Young is scented not Dis agreeably with the heavy fragrance of earnestness. But the cloying aspect of his act and by now it is diplomatic Vaude Ville is its preciousness. It suggests a child s eagerness to size the spotlight the determination to be cute by being naughty. Carter says serenely that Young will become a hero to the third  it is. To say no More a novel thought that an ambassador s duty is to be a hero to any for eign Public least of All to the  the worst temptation is for Young to become a hero to the democratic party s intense liberals those activists who do so much to elect presidents and who have received so Little satisfaction from this one. In fact. Young is becoming Carter Sag new an Agnew of the left rather than the right but recognizably an Agnew. Like Agnew. Young occupies an office of Small significance the United nations is to foreign policy what the vice presidency is to government not much. Like Agnew Young regards his office As an Opportunity for making up with rhetoric what he lacks in responsibility. Like Agnew Young has appointed him self a roving social critic a scold without portfolio. Luce Agnew he has one idea an accusation and it is As Subtle As a Brick. Agnew s accusation was permissiveness Young s accusation is racism. It is about As rigorously defined and related to real government responsibilities a Agnew s was. Unlike Agnew Young is a Man of Essen tial Goodwill even sweetness. And As a civil rights Leader he was a genuine hero. But Good deeds depend for their goodness on the right time place manner and sub stance. So far Young As ambassador has t got anything right. Often emotional politics of America. Judges enforcing the Constitution  presidents and congresses Jutte Al Isla Tures and sheriffs from abusing their Power. 333r the courts have hardly been consistent defenders of individual Liberty but the United states would surely have by much less free without them. Judges have been especially important in protecting the rights of what chief Justice Harlan stonewalled discrete and insular  Blacks and Jehovah s witnesses radicals and indians would All have suffered a goo Deal More than they have if they had had to rely entirely on the Good will of the majority for their rights. The american Constitution protects individuals and minority groups Only against mistreatment by official bodies. Ending discrimination by private employers or hotels or restaurants requires civil rights legislation of the kind Miami s voters vetoed for homosexuals. But constitutional Protection albeit univ item. Can still be extremely significant. Tithe intolerant religiosity of miss Anita Bryant persuaded the Florida legislature to pass a Law requiring All homosexuals Tower a yellow Star even toe present supreme court would probably find the Lawso invidious As to be unconstitutional. In Britain there Are no Legal limit whatever on political Power. There is no written Constitution and judges must enforce As Law whatever parliament enacts. If a Bill were passed tomorrow that said notch must be Cut in the left ear of every left handed person in England and Wales nothing in British Law could prevent its enforcement. Britain has in effect relied on the Wisdom and tolerance of its governing elite to prevent abuse of Power. And for most of the last 200 years that system of self re Strain of recognizing that some things Are simply not done has worked. Karl Marx wrote happily away in the British museum protected in his revolutionary theorizing not by a Constitution but by the self Confidence of Victor Tan Britain. But the conditions that once maintained British Freedom have changed. This coun try is no longer governed by a Small elite Plantagenet Palliser and us friend�,.bis no longer so homogeneous it has diverse immigrant and racial groups. And it is no longer such a self confident country. Accordingly it is in greater danger flt Over reaching Public emotion of dem Gog cry of abuse of Power by poli dui and bureaucrats. " in recent years there have been Trou bling examples of official intrusion on individual rights actions that would have run into constitutional barriers in a United states. One was the Law. Rushed through parliament by Harold Wilson labor government that excluded from Britain East african asians who held Brit ish passports and had no place Ebe  year another labor government pulled two americans Philip Agee add Mark Hosenball. The Home Secretary Merlyn Rees said he was acting on Securi i to grounds but he would not Tell the two men the particular reasons for thinking them Security risks or give them a Chance to contest any evidence Hosenball tried to Lake his Case to the courts. But one of thu country s More activist judges lord Den Ning said that when National Security and individual Freedom conflict in such a Case the balance Between the two was not for court of Law but for the Home  in Short this country reposes enormous a reviewable discretion in those who ten to rarely hold political Power. It is system As has been said of alternating aus toc Racies of men not Laws. Confidence in the fairness of that system has been shaken. Many Are no longer willing to Trust fundamental freedoms to transitory Majo rules in the House of commons anymore than americans would want to leave their fundamental freedoms to the voters of Miami.