European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 18 the stars and stripes wednesday february 26,1986 Washington s tree Story is plausible by Russell since this month is traditionally marked by George Washington s birthday i want of pay homage to the truth the telling or which was one or Gen. Washington s specialities. most 20th-Century children i was scarcely out of my crib when i realized that people who said George Washington never old a lie were highly uncomfortable with the idea. These people fell into two categories. One group did not believe what they were telling you. They believed it was human nature for everybody to lie that George Washington lied just like everybody else but thai Good child rearing technique required them to mislead kids about the pervasiveness of human mendacity. The other group was not so sure about George Washington. You could sense their unhappy suspicion that maybe they weren t misleading the kids that maybe the general really never had told a lie. They could t under stand a person who never lied. They regarded tirelessly telling i he truth As unnatural possibly even contemptible and most certainly dumb in the extreme. Since Washington was the father of our country they did t like wondering if maybe he d been a mite fetched about this truth telling business. They wanted to respect George Washington but it was hard giving All out respect to a fellow who never lied. I vividly recall a school Celebration of Washington s birthday at which we Sang about Young George chop Ping Down his father s Cherry tree then being interrogated and giving the following reply i did it with my Little Hatchet i did it with my Little Hatchet. I will not lie of no not i not even if i catch it. The Story of the Cherry tree has been thoroughly debunked As a piece of Mythi flying nonsense and i know few americans who will not laugh at you nowadays if you suggest the Story is perfectly plausible which it is in the rustic environment of colonial Virginia there was nothing remarkable about a child learning Young to swing an a. It is entirely plausible that tiring one Day of splitting kindling George had an itch to try his axe on something stouter. A Cherry tree would be idea whereas the size of an Oak or a loblolly Pine might discourage a boy. Surely his father would have been Cross. I d be Cross if i came Home to find my Cherry tree chopped Down. I d prob ably make a loud scene bemoaning the loss of Beautiful Spring blossoms and the Sweet fruit of summer. Gcorge would surely grasp the Point cutting Down a Cherry tree is not a trifling piece of mischief like taking a saw to the forsythia Bush or whacking the geraniums with a Broomstick. A Cherry tree is serious and a youngster who chops one Down has made one of life s More deplorable mistakes. Any Normal child would grasp the Gravity of the deed after seeing his Parent steam and if the Parent said son did you Cut Down that Cherry tree most Chil Dren i believe would confess without delay. Lying about serious matters is not the natural human instinct. The natural instinct is to Tell the truth and the Graver the offence the greater the urge to confess As Dostoevsky and every homicide Captain in the world will assure you. So i find the Story of George and the Cherry tree entirely credible. What is Odd is that so Many americans Are eager integrity Admire the masters of dishonesty and deceit politicians learn Young that election does not befall those who Tell truths the voters Don t want to hear. When a particularly devious political Campaign results in a Triumph the press plaque praises the Winner As a political wizard though lie May have done nothing but lie cheerfully and the crowd can be relied upon to applaud the ingenuity with which the wizard exploits its urge to be lied to. Still it is not natural to lie about important matters and most politicians must allow their natural characters to be deformed before they can do it successfully. George Washington does t seem to have done that. He makes us uneasy. La new York Tler they re free to vote for Marcos by Art Buchwald one of the most miraculous political victories in mod Ern times took place in san Nicolas the Hometown of philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos received 13.643 votes and his opponent co Razon Aquino got 0. There has never been an election consensus like it in the free world. 1 called Manila and congratulated one of Marcos Campaign managers for the outstanding Job his people did in san Nicolas. We were hoping to have a larger turnout to add to our How can you be sure if you d had a larger turnout the voters would have gone for Marcos no one can be sure of anything in a filipino elec Tion you just Hope for the weren t you surprised that not one voter in san Nicolas cast a ballot for mrs. Aquino we had a gut feeling it might happen. Marcos ran an awfully Good Campaign promising the people Rice and housing jobs and a discount on office space in any building mrs. Marcos owns in new York there Are some people in the United states and i m not one of them who insist there must have been at least Token opposition to the president. They can t be Lieve the shutout for there was opposition to the president. You can t have a democracy without opposition. Many people in san Nicolas wanted to vote for mrs. Aquino. Why did t they they could t get out of their Why not because the army had surrounded them to protect them from the supporters of Marcos. Our main abject Tive in the election was to save lives. I will Tell you about one Man in san Nicolas. His name is Juan and he was mad at Marcos because someone had put he father and Mother in jail. So he said he was going to go to the polls and cast a ballot for Aquino. We said very politely Juan Don t be a troublemaker. Mrs. Aquino has no experience. Only Marcos can get your Mother and father out of jail but he said he would still vote for Aquino. So when he dropped his ballot in the Box we fished it out and Tore it up and made him eat it then when Juan tried to vote again we arrested him for voting twice in a presidential election. Now Juan is with his Mother and father in jail. President Marcos believes in keeping the family it s fortunate you stopped Juan. Otherwise mrs. Aquino would have received one vote in san he would have never slipped by did you prevent Many people from voting by Force not Many. It was easier to buy their votes. We have a Hospital and orphans fund just for the elections. It the first lady s pet then i assume you Are satisfied with the results Insan Nicolas you arc never satisfied in an election. 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