European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes monday january 26, 5907 columns George f. Will Haig handicapped As presidential candidate Alexander Haig is an aerobic instructor for the English language making it twist and stretch. He s the Only presiden tial candidate who could accuse the state department of thai enchanting participle suggests thai the department is receding smiling from the scene of president Reagan s distress. Haig certainly is not running As an uncritical read Antic. Most people with an Eye cocked toward he presidency try to be As agreeable As puppies. Haig is Bull ice Rich. Even As puppies Bull terriers Are not Puppy like sensible people think twice before petting hem. Haig says the Lack of discipline in foreign policy that produced the Iran de Bacle is becoming worse As the slate department pursues its own Agenda which includes any obtainable arms control agreement. Haig worries that a danger Ous agreement May be made 10 seem palatable by cosmetic soviet accommodation on Afghanistan and a trivial soviet Concession about ski testing. Reagan says Haig is a utopian but not foolish he listens la advisers. But Haig thinks George Shultz and Paul Nitze Etc dangerously ardent Tor an agreement. Haig describes As naive in the extreme Reagan s idea of eliminating no David Broder Clear weapons the discussion Al ice land of a world devoid of nuclear weapons and there was such a Dis Cussion despite the equivocation that Fol Lowed the postmortem May be the most serious misjudgment by a president since world War ii. We Are Only at the threshold of the consequences of some of the pie in the sky rhetoric that emerged in the dialogue of the his memoirs of his Stormy 18 month Sas Reagan s Secretary of stale caveat is he rays especially Good if you read he then characteristically goes too far "1 think you la see i predicted All however he did describe the while House us mysterious As a ghost ship you heard the creak of the rigging and the groan of the Limber and some time glimpsed the Crew on deck. But which of the Crew had the Helm today he recalls i d say Why did you Send me this memo?1 and he Reagan would look at it and say what memo i never saw it before " Haig said Reagan s optimism May be taking on surrealistic Haig sees fiscal Flabbi Nesi in Reagan s reluctance to use the veto. Be Ray Haig goes further than any prospective Republican presidential candidate in criticizing the president. His Confidence is grounded in experience Gen. Macathur s Headquarters in Tokyo nato s staff in the 1950s Pentagon and Vietnam combat in the 1960s Deputy to Henry Kissinger and then chief of staff in Nixon s while House five years As supreme Allied commander in Europe president of United technologies Secretary of state Haig is a serious Man with his mind on the most serious matters. However As he tries to become Only the fifth Manto make the presidency his first elected office the others Grant Tafi Hoover Eisenhower he faces among other prob Lem the feet that his expertise is in foreign policy. Elections almost never Lum on that and it is hard to imagine Haig waxing eloquent about soybeans. Furthermore after examining the Handiwork of adm. Poindexter and u. Col. North americans Are Apt to be even More eager than usual to keep politics and them Ilary in separate spheres. The last Mili tary Man to seek the presidency Eisen. Hower was disarmingly civilian in his Demeanour. Haig is say no More not. However As he prepares to run he is not As he might say and hoeing. His political action committee has disbursed1600,000 since july. His name recognition is High. He gives speeches that touch most Republican erogenous zones Al though he thinks conscription and higher taxes probably will be necessary he says a Republican candidate must win non Republican votes which is a banality. Then he says something startling the teamsters have told me they la Back me and won t Back any other he dismisses George Bush As a do Noth ing lacklustre wherever he he says of Bush supporters they say they re for him then apologize for he says ill take on any of them the other candidates in a debate then add now i Don t want to sound too Braggadocio although he is impeccably Tai lored he always seems to be wearing a suit a size too Small such is his intensity he seems to be bursting the seams. This Day he is wearing a Natty Neo Nathion Detroit suit boldly Chalk striped Damon run Cui does Wall Street. I breast pocket handkerchief is a reproach to the my stained wretch who marvels at the workout the English language is going to get in the candidacy of a Man who has said i do believe the held is wide open but i think it s premature now for such posturing in a definitive euphemisms now on the endangered speeds list in a fashion As casual As it was reckless the House of representatives has taken an action which threatens to destroy the american Way of life. The House has amended its rules to permit ils members to refer to the Senate of the United Stales As the Senate instead of the other body As has been the custom forthe past two centuries. In taking this Radical step the House has set the dangerous precedent Tor an All out attack on the glue that has held this Republic together the Art of euphemism the habit of never calling a Spade a Spade historians of the future will look Back on Jan. 6, 1987, As the Day the destruction of America began. Here is the background from the earliest years of the Republic when members of the House wanted to allude to the second chamber of our bicameral legis lature they called it the other Thomas Jeffer son s manual which he wrote in 1797 and which was incorporated into the House rules in 1837, forbids direct reference to the Senate during House debate or. Jefferson s Rule stood throughout history and then was overthrown with barely a word of explanation and no debate on the opening Day of this Loolah Congress. Rep. Martin Frost a Texas who embarrassingly was once a journalist uttered the Rule change on the floor with this lame excuse we live in a modern world where immediacy of information compels us to take note of the actions of our colleagues on the other Side of the Capitol. This amendment will allow members the Freedom to make necessary reference to the Senate but will not allow for name calling which would Lessen the dignity of the neither Frost nor the Man who had the presumption la rewrite or. Jefferson rep. Steny Hoyer did. Professed to see anything dangerous or controversial about what they had done when i phoned them to protest. Their action is All too reflective of this Liber line age when All discretion seems to have vanished and every part of the body and its biological function is discussed in Public. Rep. Barney Frank d-mass., who acknowledged that he urged this subversive Rule change on his col leagues is typical of the impatience of today s youth. Last year he was trying to explain to his colleagues that a housing Bill that had been passed by the House had been pigeonholed by a Senate committee. I was on my feet in debate Frank recalled say ing. Yes we passed it but something has to happen someplace Cist j was getting blink stares so 1 started to sing somewhere Over the Rotunda it was ridiculous. We were the Only people in the world who were Noi allowed to Tell the truth about the United states Senate that in had scuttled the housing Bill recent dirt interns. Moderate ah8 traffic control i asked Frank if he did not recognize the danger implicit in his destruction of the other body euphemism. Of you mean that we would have to Start calling a tax hike a tax hike or that Reagan would have to Call hostage Deal a hostage Deal he replied. Don t worry. Logic is not binding on a legislative that is easy for him to say. But when a 200-year-oldeuphemism is swept aside As casually As a cobweb i m ready to shout from the rooftops that no euphemism is Safe. And without euphemism neither America nor ils government con survive. What happens to preparedness if we go Bock to calling the defense department the War department will the peacekeeper missile be launched under the name super Dller what happens to free Enterprise a Nice euphemism itself when restructuring the corporation is redefine accurately As Selling off our assets what happens to unions when Job Security is labelled what happens to diplomacy when Frank discussions become the shouting matches they Are what happens to journalism when reliable sources arc reduced to the reality of gossip cars Dialler what happens to social policy when entitlements recalled handouts or environmental legislation when the solid waste disposal act has to be a dieted. Whatever no the House will Rue the Day it s Only a matter of time until its District work periods Are called vacations Over seas trips become junkets and honorariums for speeches to lobbying groups Are labelled As payoffs. Every euphemism in America is now on the endangered species list. To preserve a record of these cherished names and phrases i have volunteered to serve As acting president of a non profit group called Safe guard America s vital euphemisms save you May submit the euphemisms you cherish to me care of this newspaper. Only one entry per postcard of in judges Are final the list of America s most vital euphemisms will be published in this space payoffs Are not permitted. All Cash contributions will be forwarded to the Good Guy goons or As we used to Call them in the Days before euphemism was banned the Freedom fighters or contras
