European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 16, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday december 16. 1987 columns Mary Mcgrory Gorbachev needed to see democracy at work As we All know soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev was not allowed to address a joint session of Congress. Ii was proposed bul he wadis invited after several of our More hairy chested Patri ots promised to create a disturbance on the floor of the House of representatives if inc bolshevik were to mount the podium. You have Only to think what inc re action of these primitives would be if Ronald Reagan were to be slighted by the Kremlin. The soviets were miffed. A leading soviet political comic Laior. Tomas Kolesnichenko wrote in pravda that the inhospitable lawmakers were afraid to allow the soviet Leader to openly address inc american Public because he is a skillful  rut it is to be realistic about in no great loss. We have heard the general Secretary on an Abc interview and we have been exposed to his views on arms control communism and Afghanistan. We have seen his animated in slavic face his Lively eyes his untre Aluning smile. We know we won t gel him mixed up with Brezhnev even so he should have gone to con Gress while he was Here. Ideally he should have been taken to a new eng land town meeting to see How democracy functions bul he was on a Light schedule so the House of representatives would have had to do. The Senate takes itself More seriously bul in is hard to gel a quorum there and inc members Are so used to Reading speeches and hurrying out of the chamber they might no have been Able to stage a show debate. Gorbachev would not have had to go on the House floor. He could have watched the proceedings from the gallery. He seems to be genuinely inter ested in processes and he might have gotten an idea of Hov govern our selves. He might have been a Little be mused to see so Many men and women milling about in a Carefree fashion and shaking each other s hands so frequently and feelingly when they see each other every Day but the contrast with the politburo would have been instructive for him. He could have trouble hearing the conversational Buzz can be deafening and nobody pays any Alt nation to the presiding officer when he Bangs the Gavel and demands the House will be in  some people think that seeing the Liv ing results of free elections in full cry is Jim Fain no no not the missile categories we want to see who s cheap in the Pou Sand to ratings1 not something that we should invite strangers to witness. If Gorbachev was there during a morning hour when inc right wingers were talking about the red menace he might think he would have no Choice but to declare War. But democracy is a Gamble and we should risk it. It s too bad he could t have been Here for the votes on the continuing Resolution dec s. Maybe he would have found it shocking thai so Many laughing Chat Ting strolling people were passing a Bill that contained $500 billion affected Mil Lions of lives and authorized everything from new freeways 10 troop strength. That s How we do things Here. It s Cas Ual even Messy. If he wanted to see How tedious in could All be. He should have gone to a committee hearing say a markup of the product liability Bill Al the Subco Milice on Commerce consumer Protection and competitiveness. He would have heard rep. Don tilt or r pa., Impo tuning rep. Henry , d-calif., to drop the word pure from an amendment. The Issue pitted rep. John Dingol. D mich., inc formidable chairman of the House Commerce committee against Ralph Nader the consumer advocate whose likes would not be tolerated for 10 seconds in new glasnost. No on second thought explaining in All would Hiiva been Loo much for the interpreter. Gorbachev Shoum  been there when the House passed along Wilh cd cry Lhing else an amendment from rep. Edward Roybal d-calif., who wants to treat immigrant decently. Roybal sett thai illegal aliens were not applying for the amnesty program for fear of losing family members who were not Here Al the designated deadline. He proposed to have the legality extended to the imme Diate family. Our dilemma is that we can t keep people out. Gorbachev s is thai he can l keep them in. An embarrassing number of russians wish to leave most conspicuously some 380.000 jews. Then there arc the left behind spouses who offended the Kremlin by marrying foreigners and relatives of those who have been permitted logo. Gorbachev understands thai life is hard in the work ers Paradise and is pushing perestroika restructuring so things will be Dif Ferent. Meanwhile inc exits Are locked. It is soviet Dogma that these people who Are guaranteed jobs four Walls and pensions Are simply trashing socialism. Besides if they let the jews out others would clamor to follow. Nobody is trying to get in. People risk their lives to get Here and go underground to stay. The cuban prisoners in two . Jails said they would rather stay Here behind bars than go Home to Casino. Gorbachev is too smart not to know All this. Star wars vision Clouds disarmament future beneath the glitzy atmospherics not much happened. Reagan and Gorbachev remain gridlocked Over Star wars. Because both desperately need a Success for political purposes they papered Over the impasse with a last minute fudge agreeing to observe the abm treaty As signed and not to withdraw for a period to lie negotiated tier. To Reagan this Means he can test component systems of his beloved strategic defense Initialise and is free to deploy later on. To Gorby in Means Lite opposite for going component tests and agreement not to deploy for a stated period. Since Reagan is in Concrete on the pain Gorbachev May have decided to pin his Faith on Congress stalling Star wars Asil gives every indication of doing and sign a strategic arms reduction talks Start treaty cutting offensive missiles by 50 percent anyway. If so we May get a treaty next year. Otherwise inc Summit was pure i healer the euro missile treaty contrary to while House boast ing and right Wing moaning is Sirate Icay almost meaningless. All the Tarcis covered by intermediate mis Siles can be hit by the two sides huge inventories of Long Range nukes. The trealy is significant however for its on site Insp a lion breakthrough. Like everything else about inc giant photo Opportunity last week that fact is Rich in irony. It is a Triumph for which the Gipper claims full credit bul had 10 be dragged into fingernails scraping the floor when Reagan look office the soviets were deploying ss-20s against nato targe is. Carter had decided to put Pershing and cruises in Europe As a counter and in a to track strategy to negotiate for reductions. The great communicator asked for something easier to explain. His head Hawk Ekhard perk had the  reductions he advised. Insist on withdrawal of All Iii ills. The Zero option he called it certain Moscow would never agree. When Gorbachev intern on bailing out his econ omy by culling arms spending said i. The White House was confounded. An embarrassed Keagan finally decided he could t walk away from his own proposal. That s now we got inf and is Why the far right is contemplating cyanide. They Don l believe in taking is for an answer. On site inspection was precisely the same i Eric Drew up a sweeping plan for Challenge inspections anywhere in soviet territory. He was confident the .s.r would never agree and saw propaganda advantage in having them hold Back. Earlier this year when Gorby said on site inspections were Fine with him the Pentagon National Security Agency and Cia went into panic. We can l have those rus sians poking around into our secrets they said. Cap Weinberger persuaded Reagan to Buck off. The restrictions on snap inspections arc there primarily because we not the soviets insisted on hem. Now Wilh Gorbachev pressing for More arms cuts the administration is Hack peddling toward tighter linkage with regional conflicts human right and Protection of sd1. If continued inc trend will give Gorbachev a major Public relations Victor in the end. Instead we should be probing Tor across the Board cuts in strategic arms and conventional forces with additional on sight verification. Russia s economic pain offers us a historic Opportunity. Unfortunately Reagan s impossible dream of a Star wars Astrodome Over Mankind May yet wreck that Chance