European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday september 4,1986 Jim Fain Reagan giving . Government by Flacker every August when the Gipner retreats to the ranch his staff fides off in All directions. This year hit Stampede was spooked by a Reagan favorite Moa mar Qadhafi. It All began when the National Security Council updated its plan for getting rid of Qadhafi through economic pres sures Covert Aid to hit Domestic enemies and bombing if his fingerprints show on tic terror attack. President Reagan suggested the libyan Flake he warned we knew terrorist acts were cooking and would counter. Hem Wati Force. Then he look of for the ranch and his top sergeant chief of staff Don Regan went on vacation. Such minor head bashing As goes on within the staff is Regan s work. Some eager aide at Csc Glommen onto the notion of sending Qadhafi a message by planning a news Story. Last week the Wall sited journal rang an alarm and detailed plans for . Retalia Tion through bombing missions Covert activity sanctions and joint efforts with the French to loss libyan forces out of Chad. At that moment . Ambassador to the United nations Vernon wallers was packing for a grind tour to persuade America s european allies in tighten measures against Libya and toughen ii Boycott of libyan Oil. Meanwhile a Long planned joint exercise of . And egyptian air units began in Llic Mediterranean. Both nato and Egypt were frantic. They figured a new raid was imminent. So some mid level stale department types Secretary Shulti also was vacationing tried to reassure them by flys necking the journal Story. There was no hard evidence of new plots they told the new York times. The whole thing was a scheme to push Qadhafi into irrational acts that would cause his Down fall they explained to the Washington Post. Tut. Ill. Huffed spokesman Larry up cakes at the Western White House. Staff people there knew More than staff James Kilpatrick did Tut outdoor slab we   people in Washington. And so it to coed from coast to coast. Staff discipline Al ways lax under Reagan disappears Dur ing the dog Days ranch trip. Qadhafi is so isolated and unimportant that this Teapot Tizzy was relatively harmless bul ii offered a Case study in How Reagan s people function. The first thing to note is How totally the Boss s obsessions dominate the Agenda. Qadhafi is barely a speck on the foreign policy horizon bul he is Reagan s moby Dick so the underlings rank him somewhere Between Tamerlane and Atli a the Hun. Syria and Iran arc far More effective sources of error but Reagan is reluctant to mess with them. He sees the world through a Tunnel vision illumined by irrelevant anecdotes. He is so mesmerized by Nicaragua for example that he barely notices the real problems of South and Central America. He tikes military solutions to minor problems and hates to discipline Frac. Titus subordinates. More distressingly there s a delusion All through the administration that pub tic relations is action. Preoccupied with Domestic politics the ruling sentiment holds that any problem can be fixed with just the right spin on the 6 o clock Newt. This gives us government by Flacker a fixation on conveying images that mistakes form for substance and words Tor deeds. Weve gotten away with this recently because our chief rival the soviet Union has been preoccupied with internal politics and its Economy bul there Are signs the respite May be ending. When it does we in need sharper Hub minding the store. It s time to restore the faded glories of Bridge the newspapers and wire services have been having an intoxicating Lime lately with the chess championship matches Between Gary Kasparov and Anai oly Karpov. Every Day we have been treated Loac counts of furious play thai shocks the up creators. In one match the embattled contestants slugged it  it s red blooded Reading. And i m downright envious. How come the ancient and honorable game of Bridge does t get the same blow by blow coverage. A recent Survey by the american contract Bridge league Acyl found an estimated 10 million to 12 million Bridge players in the United states most of them play Only social Bridge As Dyslin Juishen from duplicate or tournament Bridge but that s quite an army. Yet the wire services rarely move More than a few paragraphs on Bridge Battles that Are every bit As gripping As "rnf4 24. Next Ficini hxg6," whatever All that Means. The lamentable truth is that Bridge which once was inc nation most popular indoor game has been in a Long decline. More than so years have passed since Ely and Josephine Culbertson look on Sidney Lenz and Oswald Jacoby in what was called the Bridge Battle of the Century. The competing teams with several substitutions played 150 rubbers. The wire services covered every hand play by play and radio stations carried bulletins As the match progressed. Cal Betson was a pent showman a linguist a Gambler a skilled promoter. He picked up where millionaire Harold s. Vanderbilt fell off and throughout the 1930s end into the postwar years the Culbertson system gained International Fame. In those Days Bridge was the rage at most colleges and universities. Some games would Start after classes on a Friday afternoon and go on groggily until Early monday morn ing. But when Culbertson lost interest and no equally colourful champions appeared Young people turned to other diversions. 1 Don t know what games College Stu dents play today but they re missing some Joys of intellectual combat when they pass up Bridge for loss ing Frisbee. The Acyl is out to change Alt that. The league is test marketing a program of Bridge instruction in Omaha Phoenix and Albany this fall. A vigorous Campaign of Public relations Wilf seek to attract High school Ana College students to the game. The average Bridge player according to the Acyl s Survey is s2 years old. Only 17 percent of the frequent players arc younger than 34. As a Breed Bridge enthusiasts Are getting a Lilc Long in the tooth. This is a pity. I Don t mean to take anything away from chess. There must be real excitement when Kasparov punches Back with 32 ,. Chs Forcina Karpov into a sacrificial  for chess players fireworks begin with a variation on the Gruen fell Indian de sense. Chess players seem to be forever attacking threatening forcing and slaughtering. After a bruising Exchange smoke  All this is True of Bridge. The subtleties of bidding and play offer All kinds of opportunists for attacking defending and old fashioned . The verbs Are As vigorous As the verbs of chess a Declarer squeezes his opponents pulls a coup forces a discard throws West into a suicidal Lead. The game ii enlivened by false cards and deceptive Overall in social Bridge the Clement of Chance plays a big Rote but in duplicate play when All the tables sequentially play tic same hands it becomes Battle of pure skill. Unfortunately As the Acyl itself acknowledges Bridge suffers from too Many players who take the game too seriously. When one thinks of the temper tantrums of top chess players maybe the condition exists in the world of chess As Well. In any event the pleasure of a duplicate tournament often it diminished by the rudeness of semiprofessional who Are out for blood. The most disliked thing about duplicate play ers says the league is their perceived personality duplicate nuts Are widely perceived As user on the prowl none of this should detract from an evening of Par Lor Bridge. Unlike Gin Rummy or poker it s nol Nec Esary to play Bridge for Money though a modest Luke tends to sober the most impulsive Bidden. For the bit 20 years of her life my sainted Mother played Forone in icon of a cent a Point. Sometimes she won or lost 30 cents in a big evening. This is link old lady Bridge and is nol o be disdained. As an avid but awful player i have an evangelical feeling about the game. Share the fun with some Lively promotion maybe we can get the wire service to cover the North american championships in Atlanta with at least As much verve a they give to "16. Ne7en,. Karaam