European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 18, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 1 columns the stars and stripes thursday. June 18,198v James Kilpatrick polishing the Constitution for the 21st Century most of the commemorative programs seem to be aimed blot Thurgood Fiu at a Rte Tolbirt him Flirl Prtrt Urt try a Ili Tinl Tajc if a. I  Vtumfflmii-f7fel�at generating he old girl and up to a Point this is Fine. As a product of Lime and circumstance the charter that emerged from the Miracle of Philadelphia deserves All the Praise that is being heaped upon in. But As Justice Thurgood Marshall reminded us Las month the Constitution great As it is remains in Many respects a product of the 8th Century. The want of its original provisions sanctioning slavery were wiped out by the reconstruction Amend ments of 1865-70. Other archaic provisions remain and Hough these arc largely of antiquarian interest thy have Little or no place in a contemporary charter. Suppose to be supposing that a new convention were to be ordained with instructions to tidy up the document. Mind you i am not proposing any such thing 1 would Fig fit like a Tiger against the actuality. The thought of 535 delegates Silling Down in the Dis trial of Columbia convention Center Wilh an unlimited Power to rewrite the cons dilution is enough lost Ike terror into inc hardest heart. Even so As a pleasant summer pastime speculation on constitutional revision is More rewarding than watching wheel of  the topic offers a re freshing escape from inc mazes of the Iran Centra affair what migh be suggested toward improving the House of our fathers like any remodel ing Job some of the work would be cosmetic some of it substantive. Our hypothetical convention might begin with paint and wallpaper. There no longer is reason 10 give Congress or the states he Power to Grant letters Otmaro be and reprisal. The provision should be eliminated. The Power so establish Post roads could Well be clarified. A clause relating to the erection of forts magazines arsenals dockyards and other needful buildings could use some attention. It seems most unlikely that any state would venture to Grant a title of nobility the prohibition is Surplusage. As a gesture toward those who find sexism abhor rent parti of articles i and ii should be polished up. The Constitution assumes that senators representatives and presidents will be men. Thus a representative must be an inhabitant of the stale in which he shall be  a Tetra or must be an inhabitant of the state for which he shall be  notice if you please the precise Choice of prepositions As for a president he shall tale the oath of office he shall be compensated for his serv ices he shall have Power to make treaties and he Mary Mcgrory May do All kinds of other things. When Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas becomes president these gender specific clauses would be an embarrassment. Under article 111, Congress is Given Power to declare the punishment for treason which is desirable but inc clause goes on to say that no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person  whatever that Means it has no place in a Constitution for the 21st Century. Much discussion is heard of More substantive Revi Sions. These go beyond cosmetic improvements and get into structural renovation. The committee on he constitutional sys Lent a private group of scholars and Public officials proposes major changes in the procedure by which we elect members of the House and Senate. In an Embret to strengthen party govern ment the committee would have us cast two ballots on for the individual candidate of our Choice and a second for the political party the voter chooses 10 have a majority of the House of representatives and the  that recommendation generally is linked to a compan Ion proposal by which the terms of representatives would be changed from two Yean to four years thus coinciding with the election of a president the idea is to achieve More efficient government and in is the land of idea that makes Meso Way of any tinkering with the Constitution. All this is summertime Reading mostly speculation in a slowly swaying Hammock. No such contemporary convention will be converted. We will muddle along Tor another 200 years with the same old House of our fathers and it will continue to House us Well. Unto anal Poi Syndicate . Ignores reality loses Opportunity in Seoul the scenes Are familiar women pressing roses on riot police peo ple taking food to demonstrators motorists blowing their horns office workers shouting support from office windows. It looks like the Philippines. But it s South Korea where the largest demonstrations of recent years Are taking place. The siege of the Myon Dong Cathedra where 300 students sought Sanctuary has been lined but no one thinks that s the end of korean rage and frustration Over a corrupt and repressive government. South Korea is not the pauper Zed Philippines it is enjoying an economic Miracle and is second Only to Japan in exports to the United states. President Chun Doo Hwan presides Over a military thai is larger More strictly controlled than Ferdinand Marcos army. And Al though the United states is behaving much the same toward Chun Assi did toward Marcos it has the excuse of a visible hostile communist threat in North Korea. The new demonstrations Are showing that Money May not be everything to koreans. The haves Are for the first time joining he protesting students. A successful Well educated energetic people do not care to be told that they Are not mature enough to choose How they will be governed. By pouring into the streets they Are saying hat the summer olym pics which Are scheduled for 1988 in Seoul Are not everything either. The games can hardly go on if he spectators can expect to be tear gassed. . Ambassador James Lilly at tended the convention in Seoul at which Chun s democratic Justice party nominated another general Roh Tae woo As Chun s successor. The Choice will be Rati fied by an electoral College vote next february. The slate department insists thai Lilly s attendance did no bespeak approval of the process which is an internal  a state department spokes Man said the ambassador is interested in All manner of political activity and would speak with the opposition. Bui he has never called on the most conspicuous democratic dissident Kim Dae Jung who has been under House arrest in Seoul since april 13 for insisting on popular elections after Chun had officially Cut off debate. While the demonstrations were at their height. President Reagan while in Berlin found another and distinctly Odd occasion o Praise president Chun. Sports said the president rep resents a source of enjoyment and in noblemen and you May Nave noted that the Republic of Korea South Korea has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 olympics to take place in the North the president usually hates cooperation with the communists. He rejects it in the persian Gulf but he apparently thought it was More important for Chun to join the reds in games than to let his own people assemble without being tear gassed. The opposition presidential candidate Kim Young Sam compared Chun s manipulation of the olympics to Hitler s use of them in nazi Germany in 1936. Lilly s appointment was ill received in Seoul. He was a longtime Cia agent a fact left out of his state department biography but included in the while House version. The koreans Loo Well acquainted with the vicious competence of their own intelligence Agency demonstrated vigorously against his coming. The is. Role is As important in Korea As it was in the Philippines. As usual our sympathies Are with the strongman. Chun craves legitimacy because he seized Power in a bloody coup in 1979, the Reagan administration has been glad to oblige. He was Reagan s first Post inaugural stale visitor. In was Reward for com muting Kim Dae Jung s death sentence. Chun was asked Back in 19s5. In March Secretary of state George Shutlz visited the olympic stadium As another sign of favor to the regime. Shin bom Lee of the International Center for development policy who was Kim Dae Jung s cellmate for six years says that faced with a Choice Between the olympics and democracy the koreans will choose  the electoral College ensures the elec Tion of Chun s Choice. Rural areas with Only 30 percent of the population will elect 60 percent of the electors. Farmers who Are totally dependent on the govern ment for pesticides and fertilizers will do what they arc told. The press is con trolled by the state. Edward j. Baker of Harvard a Mem Ber of Asia watch says thai the present crisis has shown a sad history of Tost . Opportunities. A june 10 statement deploring violence on both sides simply ignored the realities. The korean people cannot assemble freely. They can assemble Only if they Are ready to risk tear Gas and being taken in for questioning. It was a moment for us to repeat our commitment to free  Baker thinks he . Stance says Onty that we want the status quo to be continued without getting blamed for what is going on the koreans seem to be taking Mai lers into their own hands. The Philippines proved it s belter that Way. Guruva Iio Piess syn Etcitt