European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns Jim Fain the stars and stripes wednesday september 16.1987 to blurring Border Between bizarre bonkers presidential politics in the pitiless Thrall or television has gone so Hollywood it s beginning to blur inc Bor Der Between by arc and bonkers. Al inc Southern governors Jaohn rcom Louisville by. In Laic August we were nut one night at Churchill Downs drinking syrupy mint Julum Schilc they ran a special Norse race far us. Juliusc Aesir no Matiur How Many slaves he brought Home never rated a Triumph As . With characteristic humility the gov. Lynors invited he entire Pride of presidential candidates to pay them homage but Only gov. Michael Dukakis came the George Bushes and Jesse Jack sans understanding thai when it comes to re in in politics pitching governors is like shilling ice cubes to a refrigerator. Better to talk soybean prices with the gang at Mabel s diner cameras perched i goes without saying at inc far end of the counter. The implacably Earnest Dukakis arrived on the second Day standing nose to Mac wih Kentucky gov. Martha Laynce Collins if neither is in High heels. 1 playgirl Marine rates him one of America s 10 sexiest males an Honor he lays sent his daughter into uncontrollable laughter whatever urns a Magazine on of course but in person this somber Short person docs not look presidential. On to it s different. His vividly nuanced face dominates inc screen. Bespeaks emphatically in the 20-Sccond Biles to demands. No cars has or roughs. He looks a Leader. Appearance we Tell ourselves does matter Ronald Reagan notwithstanding. Remember Lincoln it s what s inside the head that counts. Except Lincoln could t be nominated now. Not even pcs would run those interminable de Bates with Douglas. Wisely Dukakis makes no speech. If there Are speeches and there arc dozens the governors will make them. But he mixes at a gala where Flor ence Henderson and the Louisville sym phony perform before the dessert and Tom Wicker Champagne what Dukakis does is what candidates have to do. He dashes in from the Airport for a photo  gov. Colli shas ordered up a disc world set to Dis play what sponsors Hope will be the High tech world of the future. One of its store fronts is a school where ism displays ways in which gizmos will redeem lit failure of human teachers. Inside is assembled what Hollywood Calls " he bomber Crew a Smail cadre selected among other things for racial and gender mix. These arc Bright kids ii to 14, who have competed for inc Honor of representing their Middle school. They Are drawn up in a Semi Cir Cle on the floor teachers forming their backdrop Dukakis and Collins Chat wit them briefly after the photos have been opportune cd. Then ii s out Tor a fast run at the voice ohm with questions from the local Media and Dukakis explaining in Lime for the 11 o clock news Why his eco nomic Miracle in Massachusetts willbe the salvation of Dixie if Only we can gel a president who understands. A meeting with local supporters. Inc imperative of fund raising never being far from Center court some camaraderie with inc junk eting governors wide smiles for inc party mingling then backlog the Airport and on to Kane Krok us or wherever. Not to put any rap on Dukakis. He s a Good Man doing whal he has to do. We re Lucky people like him will put up with the humiliation Derby we Force our candidates through. It s Jusi thai the apparatus is beginning not merely to oversimplify but actual Lylo distort the process. We need to be thinking of better ways. Difference Between Bork sessions nominations As the Senate judiciary committee continues hearings on judge Robert h. Bork what s to be made of the ease with which another Reagan nominee. Judge William s. Sessions sailed through his confirmation hearings before that same committee democrats and republicans conservatives and lib craps All fell All Over themselves la Praise him. Both the committee and the Senate clearly will approve him As the new director of the Fri although sessions is unquestionably a conservative and has earned a reputation As a Tough Law and order Man. But colleagues in the Western District of Texas consider him eminently fair and reasonable. To some extent of course democrats and liberals on the committee anticipating the criticism they la receive during hearings on the bitterly contested Bork nomination were trying to show they could be non partisan toward a conservative and a Reagan nominee. The head of the Fri moreover while always in a sensitive position is not so controversial a nominee As one who could change the character of the supreme court. Sen. Edward Kennedy d-mass., had a Point though when he said thai in nominating sessions the Reagan administration has shown thai h knows How to those a conservative for High office who has Broad respect and support in  suppose As Kennedy wistfully suggested Reagan had nominated sessions instead of bark for he supreme court. That plus silting justices Rehnquist White o Connor and Scalia still would have provided reasonably Clear conserve alive majority on the court would a sessions nomination for the supreme court have been welcomed As heartily by judiciary committee democrats As one for the feb directorship of course not because most of them would have been opposed to the rightward swing of the court that his confirmation or thai of any other conservative Wouldhave precipitated. On the other hand it s Likely that sessions would have been confirmed for the supreme court fairly easily As Antonin Scalia was last year be cause there would have been Little reason beyond straight out partisanship for anyone to Vole against him. Al least on important nominations senators like to appear above that kind of thing. Some actually Are. Bork on the other hand first before the commit tee later on the Senate floor faces a severe Tysl the most hostile since two of Richard Nixon s supreme court nominees were Defeated. Bork might conceivably be Defeated too because unlike sessions he has Given repeated indications Over years of teaching writ ing and ruling thai whatever his own and the administration s insistence he is neither a conventional conservative nor a conventional Jurist. These indication were reflected in the unusual split Vole by which an american bar association panel gave Bork its approval and in his rejection by the executive trom Millee of the association of the bar of the City of Newyork. The questions about him Center on judicial philosophy rather than on specific issues or even on conservatism in general. He is opposed to abortion for in stance but that would not be sufficient to defeat him even in company with other matters in which he Dif fers  As did Scalia with inc present and past supreme courts. One problem is that sort s record suggests that he often has been indifferent toward individual rights when hey conflict with government or powerful institutions. Another is his disdainful opinions about How Ata on what grounds decisions like Roc is. Wade were readied and whether his constitutional views arc so fined that he would neither have an open mind nor show inc respect due the ideas of colleagues of differ ent views. What consideration would he show for precedents with which he profoundly disagrees As he has made Plain in writings and rulings with his apparent talents would he try to Lead the court toward reversal of what Many equally Able jurists consider willed Law these Are the kinds of questions that threaten the Bork nomination not just his conservatism or his views on particular issues or even the swing of the coun his confirmation might bring about. And in s these questions thai provide respectable ground even for evident partisans to stand upon in questioning Robert Bork s fundamental qualifications for the supreme court. Niv Yox  news Salt Vic