European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 30, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 Colin Tiris the stars and stripes tuesday Juno 30,1987 William Buckley Why would president lie about Contra Aid they keep asking is president Reagan lying and indeed the polls continue to document a substantial majority of americans who believe thai he is lying specifically that he is lying with respect to the single Point about which he has spoken adamantly namely that he did nol know at any Point that the profits being realized from the Sale of arms id Iran were being used of Tunnel arms to the contras. The question is Reagan lying is approached in various ways one of them obviously available Only to those who have known him and have had an Opportunity personally to estimate his character. There Are hundreds of these who have known him for 10, 20 years or More. I am one of them and Long ago i formed a conclusion namely hat he is not the Lype of person and they Are legion who simply lies routinely. This Breed is not by the Way distinctively iniquitous. Lying for Many people is simply a Way of life in mailers Small i called you three times yesterday and then was no answer and urge did t you get my letter 1 mailed it a week ago a Iscla Bat in her renowned Book on lying acknowledges the existence of the Breed and of course the temptations to lie by politicians Are enormous for the simple reason that they sometimes Dis cover on tuesday that what they said on monday was politically inept and Here fore they find themselves saving that on monday they did nol Ray that. Or that they were quoted out of Content. Or that they really intended to say some thing different. Now Reagan is indeed a Man of dramatic imagination and As has frequently been pointed out he is Given to making a Good Story even better on Tell ing it the first time and better even than that on retelling it the second or the Ift time. This lends to be True of most peo ple who seek to be Lively and entertain ing and in is by no Means characteristic Only of Good storyteller seated at your left Al yesterday s dinner parly who kept in table in an uproar of amusement is that James Reston kind. The Butcher who delivered the 5 Pound Steak to the front door instead of to the Kitchen door becomes the Butcher who delivered it instead of to the Kitchen door to the Kennel that kind of thing. But the two inclinations lying i.e., exaggerating dressing up a Story for amusement and lying i.e., letting a straight out lie in order directly to obscure the truth Are separable. For get any personal knowledge of Reagan a behaviour and ask Only the question what Point was there in his having de Nied so emphatically that he knew any thing about the financial Malversa Tion let us for the Sake of argument As sume that he did in fact know that the Money had gone to the contras. Here is How he might have answered the ques Tion did you know 1. Yes i did Knovs about it 1 was advised by Legal counsel that the profits from the Sale to the iranians were funds hat did t in any strict sense of the word belong to the . Treasury. Since the profits were unforeseen and since the government is not in the business of sell ing arms for a profit i saw an Opportunity to allocate those profits to the Freedom fighters in Nicaragua. In doing so i was furthering a cause the Congress originally favored and a cause i was confident the Congress aftera hiatus would again further i have no apologies to make on the matter. 2. My responsibilities As commander in chief require me to do whatever i Canto abort the Salel Bizalion of another country in this hemisphere by the soviet Union. Congress imposed certain specific limitations on How this might be clone and neither i nor Many distinguished constitutional lawyers Are convinced that in limitations imposed by Congress Are in fact constitutional. But Here was hardly an Opportunity during 198s and 1986, to enter a constitutional Challenge. Accordingly i directed the use of excess funds to serve a purpose that in my opinion i am constitutionally charged to discharge. If in turns out thai i am wrong in the understanding of my duties i shall in the future abide by any determination it map Peep but i Pipit know i Mtsat Haven fort but i Poat i just remembers i knew but that is what the president might have said and although there would have been the expected criticism there would not have been any hint of his hav ing committed an impeachable offence. By flatly denying As he has several times done any knowledge of the event he has invented a hypothetical smoking gun. If there is somewhere in it. Cot Olive North s hidden briefcase an order by president Reagan to divert those funds then he has Flat out lied to the american people. But for reasons Given one rules out that possibility in Luj it Reagan s court legacy will last into next Century if you re wondering about Ronald Reagan legacy As president of the United states look to the courts. His Domestic policies have sunk in a sea of red Ink. His foreign policy is ending in scandal but his thumb print will be on the judiciary into the 21 is Cen Tury. With the retirement of Lewis f. Powell or. Of Virginia Reagan Wilt be Able to appoint his third supreme court Justice. In addition he has already appointed a chief Justice of the United states and 290, or almost 40 percent of the 741 lifetime judges in Federal courts. In Short he s running out of everything but Luck. The chances Are thai More than half of All the Federal District judges and appeals court judges in the country will be of his choosing before the end of his second term or to put it More accurately of attorney Gen eral Edwin Mcneic s choosing which is not a particularly comforting thought. Meuse will put somebody in Justice Powell s place but replacing him is nol the same thing. He was one of the most judicial and civil gentlemen who Ever sat on the court faithful Only to his own character and the Constitution. When Washington observers say his was often the decisive vote in s-Lo-4 decisions what they mean is thai neither the conservatives nor the liberals knew How he d come out on Reagan s social Agenda and Hud to do their Best to persuade him. Me Csc May be glad 10 see him go but not the other court members. In is True however that in the supreme court s firs full term under chief Justice Rehnquist and with the addition of the new conservative Justice Antonin Scalia the liberals and moderates usually with the Vole of Powell managed to prevail. This coalition Ted by associate Justice William Brennan rejected a Challenge to the death penalty and even a Case involving the use of income lax returns in deals penalty cases with the retirement of Powell however this coalition May not prevail particularly on the controversial Issue of abortion which he supported. Nothing is riskier in Washington however than predicting How the court will Rule no matter How vigilant Meuse is in recommending judges he thinks will vote the Reagan All you can do is look at the record and Here the tendencies of this administration particularly under the guidance of Meuse arc fairly Clear. For one thing Meese gets these lifetime appointees when they re comparatively Young. The average age of the second term Reagan appointees was 48,2 years younger than the appointees of the previous four administrations. Even so while the Reagan appointees voted More conservatively than their predecessors and while Meese has presided Over the most systematic ideological screening system since Franklin Roosevelt s first term Sheldon Goldman in a careful analysis for the american judicature society concludes that there Isno objective evidence that a litmus lest in terms of specific policy views has been employed to accept or reject Powell did l give the president Advance notice that he was retiring. He apparently considered that the age of 79 was an appropriate time to go Home. So the president will now look around and he s getting plenty of advice. President Nikon once asked sen. Howard Baker if he was interested but withdrew the suggestion after Baker said he was. Now after a spell in the White House Baker might think the court looks pretty Good. Then there Are at least two conservative and distinguished Reagan appointees on the appeals court Robert Bork and Richard Fosner and if the presi Dent is in a fighting mood he could turn to his favorit cheerleader in the sen Orrin Hatch of Utah. Hatch aside any respectable conservative on Cese s Short list will undoubtedly be confirmed and the president can go Home feeling that the courts if nothing else Are in fairly so and conservative if he can strike a Deal with the evil Empire on arms control he will leave something behind. As Casey Stengel said in retirement you can t lose them
