European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 15, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes sunday. March 15,19b7 William Safire first lady s Gallant defenders miss the Point my criticism of Nancy Reagan s successful Media ambush or inc White House chief of staff before his outlet Jon Regan had the temerity to suggest that her husband hold a news Confer ence Drew some attention president Reagan denounced it As de  White House pollster Richard Wirthlin earned Brownie Points by Chim ing in Wilh vicious and the new York time s Hugh Sidey called it  William Buckley deplored such vituperation and George will pronounced it  i did l mind being portrayed As West Brook Pegler to mrs. Reagan s Eleanor Roosevelt though for s wife never phoned a coterie of Media celebrities to bring Down Harry Hopkins behind the president s Back. And when a columnist called to say look the East Wing is a Good source for me and i la have to pol ish an Apple by taking a pop at you i freely granted absolution. What got to me though was a Mes Sage from the editor of go a fashion Magazine remember that piece we wanted you to do an what to Wear to a White House dinner forget it the stimulus for Ali this goofy gallantry was not As a new York times editorial would have readers believe any suggestion of mine Hal a first lady could not have Strong opinions on any subject or thai the president could not gel his advice from any source. That argument knocks Down a Straw person my Point was and is that president Reagan is being made to look impish and helpless by a wife who has crossed the Tine from valuable confidante to be Hind i Back political manipulator. Why was the president the last id learn of this because in Washington the High est classification of secrecy far less printable than eyes Only sensitive compartmentalized is open  to trotting onto the playing Field of Power mrs Reagan exhibited a zest for George will speaking to Sixl Law str rom 1u� of com. Oppice. Combat. Speaking to a camping group she late hit her fallen foe. The first lady brought up the subject of bloodsucking leeches and pointedly boasted i know How to gel them off i m an expert at  after playing that rough with metaphors she should not seek Refuge in femininity at a linebacker s essay thai responds Welcome to inc  she chose her own teammates Loo if Whitney North Seymour or s staff fears to ask her  requests for appointments or favors that might have benefited clients of her Friend Michael deliver the Independent counsel should indict himself for malfeasance. Her switch from Hel meet to handler obscures inc Issue she chose As her Cen trial cause to protect the Raggin image by preventing him from having to and lib More than a few words in Public Reagan has not subjected himself to open questioning for 115 Days. Thai is a longer drought than any president since the practice began excepting Only Rich Ard Nixon during inc watergate uproar. Reagan s dodging of reporters during inc 1984 Campaign was Al least interrupted by the debates. The reason is no mystery. Mrs. Reagan docs not believe her husband has the mental acuity or physical stamina to spend inc necessary Days preparing for a wide ranging news conference. That s Why we see him looking vigor Ous Reading a set speech and looking full of Pep Al lightly controlled photo opportunities it is Why Howard Baker must testify dial he never saw a Man filled Wilh such vitality. I believe president Reagan s handlers underestimate the Man s resiliency and courage. I do not believe As do some of Nancy Reagan s defenders that the president is Lazy Slothful punch drunk de pressed or suddenly Loo old to Cut inc Mustard. All his life through All sorts of Public confrontations he has surprised those who sold him Short. Needed now is a series of unrehearsed meetings with questioners not just one All or nothing conference and Back to the Bunker till summer but regular sessions in varying formats thai Force him of be informed and will let him reassert his leadership. Sure hell Bumble a few he always has but hell be Back on the Bridge where a president properly be Longs if i m wrong if Nancy Reagan is right in her protective Ness it is urgent thai americans find out about it before her husband Steps into the room Wilh soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. We re the ones who need protecting. As for gentleman s quarterly Here is what to Wear to a White House dinner no Man s Collar and no woman s. Loony left May doom Britain. Is labor party Britain s loony left causes sensible people to Day dream about a surgical procedure known As a Asciclo my of the vocal cords. Labor party politicians who would like to win elections feel likewise. British newspapers Are full of stories about the activities of left Wing bureaucrats from what is being called inc race relations  the bureaucrats have become thought police telling primary schools for example not to use pictures of Teddy bears steam engines and elves because such images Are european and on he whole Middle class and therefore unfair to the children of immigrants. Such local governments Are As injurious to labor s image As the 1972 Mcgovern convention was to inc democratic party. This labor affliction is partly a result of one of prime minister Margaret Thatcher s successes. By democratizing unions she made them less hospitable to extremists with Eastern european mentalities and they fled to local governments. Labor s leaders in parliament arc reduced to arguing that it is unfair to infer from local Loon Ness the Proba ble behaviour of a labor government however be tween 2s percent and 35 percent of labor s parliamentary candidates Are of the hard rather than the cuddly left Wing. Roy hallers Lcy labor s Shadow Chancellor of the exchequer May be a sensible Man in a silly party. Or he May be a silly Man because he remains in a party so Many Are fleeing. Whatever he knows american poli tics and admits another parallel labor has Wilh the problems of the democratic party. He says Imra party democracy played into the hands of intense Minori ties leading to he colonization his word of the party by groups homosexuals feminists Etc that now have been institutionalized within in. Actually inc antics of Cost resists distract Atten Tion from labor s intellectual decay. The Core of the traditional socialist Canon is this capitalists cheat workers of their fair share so poll tics must be redistribution is. But capitalism tamed by the welfare slate no longer seems rapacious. And the pub Lic increasingly understands that government redistribution of wealth presupposes wealth creation that requires capitalism and  policies cripple capitalism. Socialism has become in the words of a critic a theory of distribution without a theory of production. In despises yet presupposes capitalism. Mall Ersley was an admiring observer Al die 1984 democratic National convention in san Francisco when Waller Mondale promised a tax increase. Mattenley believes that Mondale s trouncing which Hattersley endured bravely is not an ominous portent for the labor party Why not because of the Hattersley does not put it quite this Way incorrigible statism of inc British Public. Haller Alcy says that if you ask British voters if they would prefer an across the Board tax Cut of say 4 billion pounds or the retention of that sum by govern ment for social services and Job creation 70 percent will favor retention.  Tibbit the chairman of the conservative party says the answer depends on How the question is asked. Tebbit says that of course you get an Ami lax cd majority if you ask do you want a few pounds off your monthly tax Bill or an educational system so Fine you need not Send your children to expensive private schools Public transportation so Good you can leave your car at Home and so on. Bui the Price of the social services promised is always much More than the sum of the tax Cut. Hall Ersly acknowledges that if taxes Are first Cut and then the question is asked should lanes be put Back up?,1 voters say  and lanes probably will be Cut soon. The conservative government can Call the next election anytime Between now and june 1988, and can time budget decisions to coincide. According to Hattersley tha Cherite individualism is discordant with the British National character. He says the average employee does not feel committed to the Economy. Americans he says believe in the fact of social mobility they believe thai any child can grow up to be president of general motors the British have no such animating ideology of individualism. In Stead they must be motivated by a swedish ethic of collective provision through government. Halt Riley says the British Assumption must be we shall All do belter if we pull for one another through Public serv ices. Socialism has historically been a class based movement with a moral vision. But the class the Industrial working class has been transformed by inc change to a Post Industrial world. Parties of the left almost everywhere Are in decline among skilled work ers. The moral vision of traditional socialism was of an egalitarian society it has foundered on this fact the Public is not interested. As one Clear eyed analyst bus Nuich. Thatcher understands what left Wing ideologues refuse to recognize people do not want 10 be equal to their neighbors. They want to be Richer than their neighbors Washington Penl Willow croup