European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes a Myrun see Jimmy trip see top watch Jimmy wednesday september 13, 1978 James Reston the Summit beyond Camp David Parley see Coy Tep watch Jimmy trip see Ted run ? 1978 los Angeles times Syndicate it is customary for politicians to Pray for peace even when they Are preparing for War so nobody was surprised in this secular and cynical age when Carter begin and Sadat asked for divine guidance at the beginning of their meetings at Camp  yet it would probably be wrong to ignore the religious convictions of these three particular men. If they have any one thing in common it is their belief in some higher authority beyond the claims of National politics and some recognition of their own limitations and  Carter would never have invited prime minister begin and president Sadat to Camp David if he thought he could not Appeal to them on philosophical and even theological  the mundane level of practical poli tics Sadat and begin were too far apart. Carter s policy advisers thought it was unwise to expect that begin would agree to withdraw from Sinai the Golan Heights the West Bank of the Jordan the Gaza strip and East Jerusalem let alone to accept self determination for the palestini ans in the West Bank and Gaza. And equally unrealistic to think that Sadat would make Many modifications of these de mands. Also Carter s political advisers said at least to one another that the president was increasingly regarded As a Man of Good intentions who somehow could t make them come True so Why take on what might prove to be at Best a dubious procedural Compromise and at worst a spectacular Flop Carter took it on anyway and it was very much in character for him to do so. He William f. Buckley coyness on being a candidate it is one of the Many exaction of democratic practice that one must up to Point be Coy when asked whether one is running for president. The reason for this is on part practical but mostly psychological. As a practical matter a declared presidential candidate loses certain leverages. In television he cannot be invited to participate without a sense of obligation under the fairness doctrine to take time Avail Able to his opponent. People who run for of fice and also write newspaper column stand to lose their clients upon the Declara Tion of their candidacy. The psychological Point is however dominant in most cases. To declare Forth rightly that you desire to be president strikes Many audiences As either a venture in narcissism or in surrealism. The Young ish Man who has not figured in National discussions of presidential politics stands to lose an audience by forthrightly Declar ing himself to be a candidate. Some of the audience will put him Down for presumption some for romanticism. At the same time the same audience is quite Content to hear the Man engage in circumlocution when asked directly if he intends to run for president. His Lack of forthrightness Satis fies the audience that there is a certain modest indecisiveness there. Take Jack Kemp. He is the flashy Youn Republican congressman from upstate new York who has accomplished political prodigies by getting a higher and higher vote election after election in a working class District with heavy democratic and labor Union population. His National reputation rests to be sure in part on his personality on his exotic background As a professional football player on his Good looks his Success As an orator but he is Issue  Darling is a thing called the Laffer curve which tells you that the incremental tax on a steeply progressive curve diminishes rather than increases Federal revenues while simultaneously depressing the Economy. The Laffer curve is less Sci ence than economic Art and one would be unwise to use it As Ariadne s thread to be followed blindly in search of Light and Prosperity. But it is a sound and popular approach to the threat of omnipotent govern ment and the Kemp Roth Bill although it failed in the House of representatives go such substantial backing As to make it Alto Gether Likely that in the next Congress twill Rise again with its Heady Appeal to enhance Federal revenues and diminish unemployment by cutting All taxes 30 per cent. Speaking for myself i stay and Rais Kempy 30. Or. Kemp is it or in t it True that you Are running for president of the unite states Well these reports go out and therein t much you can do about them. I be been talking All Over the country that s True i Don t deny it i m travelling around telling people what High taxes Are doing to people. And i Don t mean just Rich people. Imean poor people. I mean workers and managers and milkmen and insurance salesmen and corporation presidents. Take California. Proposition 13 is Fine Justine. But what have you got in California you be got worse than new York be Lieve me the steepest progressive state income tax there  other Day in California the the. One of the major Industrial unions managed to get an 8 percent raise. You know what that meant what that meant when they got around to figuring out their income tax forms which Bytheway Are too complicated but that Zanoth or Story what they found out was that their taxes were increased by 11 percent How s that for a wage increase then throw in inflation and you see How bad the situation is. That in t just a problem for my District in the Buffalo area of Newyork. That s a problem for californians that s a problem for texans for Floridi ans for everybody. That s a problem for you that s the kind of thing that happen when you ask somebody whether he wants to be president. It is a rite of passage. The alternative Way is the dogged yes i a go ing to run history requires it. That was George Mcgovern s Way and he made it All the Way to the nomination and Jimm Carter s Way and he made it to the White House where suddenly his of flatus ran out. C Washington Star Syndicate bar gop  Pyk n xon fun Kaiser Cwm did t run for the presidency because it was a sure thing. He did t launch a Campaign for human rights or bring the Panama canal question to the floor of the sen ate or veto the by bomber and the nuclear Carrier or differ with the labor lobby or the israeli lobby because he thought these things would be easy. It is perhaps a fair criticism of Jimm Carter that he starts everything and finishes nothing does what he thinks is right even if he s wrong and unprepared. For example it is one of the generally accepted rules of diplomacy that you never commit government leaders to a Summit meeting j unless their advisers have agreed in and i Vance How it will turn out. There was no such agreement before Camp David. Carter not Only called it but wrote incessantly to Sadat and begin in his own hand to bring them together without any Assurance that it would succeed or even avoid an embarrassing failure an make things worse. Which brings us Back to the imponderables of Hope and Faith and the character of the Man in the White House. It should be remembered that Jimmy Carter was an admirer of Reinhold Niebuhr the Liberal theologian of new Deal Days. Nothing which is True or Beautiful or Good Niebuhr wrote in the irony of Amer ican history makes Complete sense inane immediate context of history r there fore we must be saved by Faith. Nothing Wedo however virtuous can be accomplished alone therefore we Are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite As virtuous from the standpoint of our Friend or foe As it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is  this is very much a part of Carter s philosophy. It is mocked by his political opponents and even by Many of his Liberal sup porters who regard these themes As ineffective hypocrisy but this sincere yearning on the part of Carter for agree ment beyond the arguments Over guns Money and territory in the Middle East does seem to have some influence on begin and Sadat and makes them pay at Leas some attention to their common concerns beyond their Domestic politics. Prime minister begin indicated this Inan interview with time Magazine just be fore he came to Camp David the whole free world is in danger he said. We Are an integral part of it and Weare interested in keeping Liberty alive. From this Point of View the prestige of the president of the United states is very important to us. Therefore we would like Tosee this present situation enhanced. This is one of the reasons Why Israel is vitally interested in the Success at Camp David. As far As i know president Sadat also is per Turbed by these events worried by them. Perhaps from this too we May find a com Mon  other words these three men seem to have a sense not Only of the historical importance of this meeting but also As a Summit beyond the political Summit at amp David. Another theologian Herbert Butterfield put the Point More clearly everything is going to depend in fac upon what we do Over and above the work of self defense. There can be no International system until somebody finds a Way of relieving the pressure and begins the task of creating Confidence. We can not begin to put the initial Check upon the evil we cannot begin to insert the first wedge unless we make a signal Call upon every human feeling we possess. We wait perhaps for some Abraham Lincoln who will make the mightiest kind of liberating  was the Challenge before the three men at Camp David. C new York times