European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday november 20, 1987 columns John b. Oakes resigning could be High Point of Meese career Edwin my ask Sli Ould tuner have Hien named attorney general in the fir p�9?,--.now._w.ilh a. Record in that office of monumentally poor judgment and of ethical insensitivity the most dignified contribution Mccase could make id prop up this faltering presidency would be 10 resign. His nearly three years service As inc nation s Ion Legal officer has been continuously pockmarked by the same in ability to understand the special obligations of High office  marred his career before he been me attorney Gener Al. His role As presidential adviser is punctuated by a succession of egregious blunders the most spectacular of which exploded in his and the president s face with the forced withdrawal of their supreme court candidate. Judge Douglas h. Ginsburg. From inc very Start of his washing Ion career As Counselor to president Reagan. Mccase has shown disdain for questions of conflict of interest. In at least three Well documented instances. He has used his immense while House influence to obtain High ranking Federal jobs for individuals who had arranged substantial Loans for him fir his family. He has failed to role in his financial disclosure forms transactions thai clearly were required by Federal Law. His lapses of memory when he has undergone official inquiry into such mat ters arc notorious. Meef. Has been subject id at least three major investigations in the last three years. In the first of them concluded Jum before he became attorney general he was cleared of All criminal culpability bul la investigator Jacob a. Slain pointedly noted thai he had no mandate to pass judgment on a desc ethical standards. The other two inquiries arc still in Progress. One involving the Well known we Lech Case is being con ducted by a special prosecutor James c. Mckay to determine whether a Csc used his official position for Persona profit. Earlier this month. Mcnese isl Ifird for inc fifth Lime before a grand jury investigating he we Lech scandal. Wed tech is a now bankrupt South Bronx manufacturer with a shoddy reputation. It won a Majur military con miracl after me Csc who later became profitably associated with one of its directors he strongly interceded in its Carl Rowan behalf. In the other inquiry a special prosecutor Lawrence e. Walsh is trying to Fino of i Wiir Terr Mai Jan  in an illegal cover up of it. Col. Oliver l North s shredding of documents. Meese May again be found innocent As he claims to be of any criminal in tent or action. He is certainly innocent in one respect. He is innocent of any awareness that the chief Law enforce ment officer of the United Stales must scrupulously avoid even the appear Ance of conflict of interest evasion of the Law or lethargy in enforcing it. Just a Tew Days ago me Csc said with unwitting irony that he thought coins Burg had withdrawn his nomination be cause he did not wan to Embarrass the  As the unfortunate Gin burs should have known and of his Mentor me Csc knows better than anyone else there has never been an administration less easily embarrassed than this one by the Lack of Quality in so Many of its major appointees to judicial administrative and even diplomatic office. The most embarrassing aspect of the Gasburg Case however was not Ginsburg s failure. It was Mccase s fail ure. An elementary responsibility of an attorney general is to know everything there is to know about Federal judicial candidates especially for he supreme court before the president makes his decision. In he Ginsburg fiasco and not for inc first Lime Meuse proved that he was More interested in political and ideological considerations though he evidently misjudged his candidate even on those grounds than in the need for a thorough understanding of the Candi Date s Quality his history and his re Cord. This was something More than Mere sloppiness or inefficiency. It was a Typ ical reflection of attorney general a desc a and president Reagan a True priorities which place relatively Low value on ethical and intellectual Stan Dards when there is a political Point to be made or ideological Battles to be fought. Once the questions involving conflicts of interest and indifference to the usual judicial norms were raised about Gin Burg. There were plenty of Good reasons for him to Bow out though his smoking marijuana a few times a dec Ade or two ago was not one of them. Bui if it was appropriate for Ginsburg but seriously folks to withdraw How much More compel Ling arc inc reasons for Mccase id follow suit. Mccase has never been indicted much less convicted of any of the Many questionable transactions with which he has b. N connected. A Man of any sensitivity in his position would have voluntarily stepped Down Long ago at least until his name had been cleared. Reagan says even now thai Mcnese is no embarrassment to me that is hardly surprising at a time when Rea Gan s own judgment and capacity Are Corning More and More into question la is also a Lime when the president himself is becoming increasingly an embarrassment to the nation. 4jonn d Oake u Iott Toi kli1orl4 a Jan a Lorol to Fth of h Tinett Reagan deserves Praise for Powell appointment a Black Man As rational Security adviser to the president of the United slates that has been one of the Nihin Habtes of american life for As Long As i be been in this town. The Assumption was that he Pentagon Hierarchy and the military Industrial Complex would Noi Trust a Black Man to hold the nation s highest military secrets. Members of the key committees in Congress would be sceptical the Public would doubt thai a Black Man was smart enough to advise inc president about such delicate things As negotiations with inc soviet Union what to do in the persian Gulf How to Deal effectively with Bolh Israel and the Arab countries. Well president Reagan has named a Black Man. The son of jamaican immigrants As his new National Secu Rity adviser. The president deserves Praise for walking Over a number of foreign policy taboos to make this appointment of i. Gen. Colin l. Powell. To understand the significance of Powell s Elevation to this extremely difficult and demanding Post you must realize that Only a generation ago it was an unwritten Rule Hal in the foreign affairs Field Blacks could serve Only As ambassador to Liberia and min ister to the Canary islands. The View was Hal they were unwelcome in Europe latin America inc far East and Al the breakup of colonization nol particularly desirable in the new countries of Africa. Bul the Eisenhower administration broke the Barrier by naming Clifton Wharton As minister to Romania Ihnn under presidents Kennedy. Johnson and Onward Blacks were posted As ambassadors to Norway Fin land Spain Sweden Syria Trinidad and Tobago and Oiher countries oui Side Africa. In recent year Blacks in the foreign service have complained to inc Media and filed lawsuits contend ing thai the old Send pm to Africa syndrome was revived by the Reagan administration. In fact in areas other than foreign policy. Reagan has been assailed for appointing Only those Blacks who would broadcast an anti Black line or who would be silent. So along came Gen. Powell an unusual Man who is Good for inc president s reputation and Good for the country pow cell s record As lop military aide to de sense Secretary Caspar Weinberger As commander of the . Army s v corps in West Germany As  to National Security adviser Frank Carluci. Was such that Reagan did not have to worry about objections from Ine Pentagon defense contractors or key Mem Bers of Congress. This Vietnam Veteran s patriotism was beyond ques Tion. When Pentagon people described Powell As a Soldier s  they already had looked deeper than the color of his skin. Carlucci had id Powell Brief Reagan often enough for the latter to understand thai other White House people were night in describing Powell As having a keen  no Issue of reverie discrimination or a Black in Gap Here nations enhance their Security by deploying weapons making treaties forming alliances but also by doing Little things that earn them the Trust and re Spucci of other societies. In naming Powell As his National a curly adviser Reagan has enhanced american Security beyond any thing Powell May Ever do. Or urge inc president to do