European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes tuesday january 7, 1986 columns James Kilpatrick proposed ban on cigarette ads should be rejected a measure proposed by the Ameri can medical association 10 prohibit the advertising or tobacco products if it is Ever introduced in Congress should be Defeated. Thai s my own View based upon u life Long conviction that in u free society government has no business trying to make people be let it be conceded Ihal cigarette smoking is bad for us. All kinds of things arc bad for us gambling drinking overeating never exercising too much Sun but until the habits of a cause significant damage to b. My thought is that government should leave a alone. In recent years the Campaign against cigarettes has taken on a More passionate intensity. Responding to these pressures Congress a year ago required manufacturers to print horrendous warnings on every pack smoking causes lung cancer heart disease emphysema and May complicate it is conceivable that the Voles could be mustered to defeat a filibuster in the Senate. The Ama s Bill could pass. The question immediately would arise May Congress constitutionally prohibit the advertising of a lawful commodity in newspapers and magazines under title 15, Section 1335 of the . Code con Gress 15 years ago prohibited the Adver Tising of cigarettes on the air. That Law based upon inc Power to regulate Broad casting under the Commerce clause was affirmed by the supreme court in 1972. The proposed ban on All forms of advertising would raise a different constitutional Issue. Here we would be directly concerned with the commandment that Congress shall make no Law abridging Freedom of the press. How would the courts decide inc question the answer depends upon the de Gree of Protection that the court wishes to Accord commercial beyond argument cigarette ads Are classic exam Ples of commercial speech. They have nothing to do with political or social Opin Ion they carry no messages of Public importance their sole purpose is to promote the Sale of a lawful product. That will be one of the key elements in a potential suit to nullify the act sought by the Ama cigarettes arc lawful. On that Point we May recall the supreme court s 1973 decision in a Case involving inc Pittsburgh press. The City of Pitts Burgh had adopted an ordinance making it unlawful for an employer to publish any ads indicating discrimination because of sex. The newspaper was carrying classified ads under headings of jobs of in Terest to males and jobs of interest to the City s commission on human relations won an injunction against the paper to halt the practice. The supreme court upheld that in Junction. Speaking through Justice Lewis p. Powell the court held 5-4 thai discrimination in employment is not Only commercial activity it is illegal Commer Cial activity and Powell put that word illegal in italics for emphasis. We have no doubt he continued that a newspaper constitutionally could be for Bidden to publish a want and proposing a Sale of narcotics or soliciting the Point is that narcotics and prostitutes arc unlawful. The Sale of cigarettes is not unlawful. Cigarettes arc As Legal As eyeglasses As Legal As pharmaceuticals As Legal As abortion services As Legal As the practice of Law and dentistry and in each of these instances the High court has refused to approve an absolute ban on All forms of advertising. It is hard to guess How the court would Rule on the Ama s Bill. Back in 1943, in what is known As the Chris Tunsen Case inc court ruled unanimously that commercial speech has no Protection whatever under the first amendment. Step by step the court moved away from that position and in the Virginia pharmacy Case of 1976, Chr Stinsen was effectively abandoned. Commercial speech now enjoys some Protection. The degree seems to depend in part upon the Public interest to be served such As the interest of old folks in the advertised prices of prescription drugs. My own View is that newspapers and magazines must be left free to accept or reject any lawful advertising thai is offered to them. Editors and publishers not legislators or judges should make these determinations. Reader s digest refuses cigarette ads time Magazine accepts them. In a free country that s the Way to go. C Universal pre Syndicate King ii Lurtis syndic i stick a Pinch of that Between your Cheeks and 60, less warning the Ama determined thai the pin amendment is Only applicable to those who Don t advert lie cigarette. Jim Fain will we have Richard Nixon to kick around again get Tell Al 5p 1qka or i ,.i.,t a. U/.11 _1 . Forget All those 1986 predictions about Wall Street politics and the sex lives of Princess i and Madonna. Here s one you can take to the Bank Rich Ard m. Nixon will run against Mario Cuomo for Gover nor of new York and lose by a whisker. No no you say. Nol another you won t have Nixon to kick around anymore press but there will be. Any Nixon watcher Worth his expletives deleted knows Ihal durability is the Man s Lone virtue. Like the round bottomed doll no matter How Many limes he is knocked Over he keeps bouncing up with i sesame vacuous Grin. Ready for the really horrible part in 1988, Nixon will win the Republican presidential nomination and in another Squeaker return to inc White House. Too bad of course and not just because Nixon was As unfortunate a malfunction As democratic government Ever suffered. The fact is in 1985, after nearly 40 years of mis casting we found him a Job for which he Quali fied. Not elder statesman though god knows he tried. Nixon always tries. He set about his rehabilitation with the Zeal of his four years on the Bench Al Hillier College. He whole a piece for foreign affairs Magazine revisited China propped Percsi Donl Reagan Over inc phone held cozy dinners for the haled press and Ven tured Back onto the lecture circuit. The nation s news paper editors gave him a standing ovation Al their convention last Spring. But he remains a pardoned Felon spared impeachment by reluctant resignation and prison by his shrewdness in awarding the vice presidency to a Gener Ous Jerry Ford who placed gratitude above Politica Fortune. Nixon s history and gut spilling tapes prove him a mean opportunist an insecure fear driven Man who lies routinely even when the truth will serve his purposes equally Well. His career was As scheming and Calcut As a professional Bank heist with no mercy for such decent As Jerry Voorhis and Helen Gahagan ".i135 win Al an co. Including Alliance with Joe Mccarthy and Jimmy Hoffa. Pcs still we Are a forgiving people who have Learned not to expect much from politicians. As Long As they Don go around torturing puppies or sodomizing children we tend to tolerate their evil once out of office after m Nixon had the sense to overturn pm of l. 7-"ipfr Chang Kai Shek and eco red he of Mainland China. It did t Cost him anything he d made a repeat As a red Basher and in he could get away with it. Nevertheless it was Brilliant an overdue As a person there s Lillic to commend him hard on his wife letting a daughter make speeches he knew i. wrong in his wat Eaic defense using people the Best to say about him is that he sent Back his bodyguards. True he d made millions exploiting his celebrity but so have other sex presidents who still enjoy secret service nurturing. So live and ice live but what a pity to have him Back in politics after he finally had found a useful role in society. In 1985, baseball moguls chose him to arbitrate a salary dispute Between umpires and inc major leagues he split the difference acceptably and even managed a joke baseball can survive c Wilu. Clean honest Well paid umpires he deadpanned. N,.h- a Sirc a � morally handicapped the perfect Job for a Man with smarts and no soul
