European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Paga 10 the stars and stripes columns James Kilpatrick another such Victory May destroy free press in my ., As Pitarch tells the Laic King Pyrrhus of pims set col to conquer the romans. He had 25.000 infantry. 3.000 horses and 20 elephants. In 279  The opposing forces met at As Culum. Pair hut won but at terrible cast. An aide complimented him on the Victory. One More such Victory said the weary Monarch. And we Are  it is a Long Way from the glory thai was Greece Anil the grandeur thai was Rome to the pornographic paces of Hustler Manzin make the leap. We of the press won a Victory so p speak in the supreme court. Under the repulsive a gis of Larry of Tyne publisher or Hustler Magazine w won a Victory Over the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Lynchburg. A. One More such Victory and we May be lost. The fuels or the Case Are Well known. La ill Issue of november 1983, Hustler carried on its inside from cover what appeared to be a full color and for Campari Jim cur. The company had been running a series of and in which prominent people recalled the first time hey had lasted Campari. Hustler s version was a Paio by and a vicious parody at that. The mock advertise mind purported to quote fahd cell on the first time he had sexual Intercourse. This was during a Drunken incestuous rendezvous with his Mother in in  at the Bottom of the and in the tiny Type known As surgeon general Light appeared a notice fiction and and personality  three grounds invasion of privacy malicious and wilful libel and intentional infliction of pm Lional distress. The presiding judge Dismie find the count on privacy the trial jury strangely concluded that Falwel had not been lib eled because the parody could rial reasonably be understood As describing actual facts or actual  but the jury then awarded Falwell 1200.000 in damages Tor Llie emotional distress he had suffered. Last month the High court overturned the judgment. In a unanimous opinion written by chief Justice Wil Liam Rehnquist the j court held that Public figures May no recover damages for the distress that results from speech that is partly offensive and is intended to inflict emotional  Rehnquist reasoned that the sort of robust political debate encouraged by the first amendment is bound 10 produce speech that is critical of Public figures inevitably such speech will not always be reasoned or  it May be motivated by hatred or ill will. It May be slashing and one sided. Since the Dawn of William 5afire the Republic political cartoonists have attacked with drawings beyond the Bounds of Good taste and conventional  Falwell had argued thai Husler s parody went beyond the  of Thomas wait a Century ago. The fake Campari and hit a new depth of Outra  Rochn quiz was not impressed. There must be some principled Standard for determining what speech is beyond constitutional Protection but we arc quite sure that the pejorative description outrageous does not Supply one. If judgments could be awarded far outrageous speech jurors would be free to impose liability on the Basi on Cir own tastes or views. In any event said the court the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of Public interest and concern Mil be protected. Public figures retain a right to sue for libel based upon false statements of fact made with reckless disregard for truth they cannot recover for a caricature such As the and parody involved  very Well. It was a Victory for Freedom of the press. I Fth court had upheld the verdict in Falwell t favor a floodgate might have opened for lawsuits based on emotional  cartoonists and editorial writers would have been rendered impotent and much of the remaining vigor of our press would have drained away. So we rejoice. R All the same the decision is worrisome. Hunter s degrading parody had nothing to do with ideas and opinions on matters of Public interest and concern ii was Miles removed from the sort of robust political debate encouraged by the first amendment this was not political and social  this was a brutal Savage personal attack. Those of us in the Pron whose Stock in Trade often is to Hurt the feelings of Public figure ought to remember King Pyrrhus. One More such Victory and the people who gave i the tint amendment May Rise in irresistible Wrath and take it away. Falwell was grievously wronged. Our precious right of a free press should not obscure that undeniable fact. Cia estimates of soviet Economy off the Mark on april is 1986, the late Cia director Bill Casey brought a group of non Cia economists in to give president Rea Gan statistics about the soviet Economy. What docs All this mean the presi Dent asked As the a Sarong presentation ended. It meant the outside consultants explained that the conventional Wisdom about the soviet Union s size and strength was wrong instead of steadily growing. Soviet production had been stagnant for years. This meant further that the Kremlin s new Leader Mikhail Gorbachev would soon be faced with an internal crisis he would have to shake up the economic system radically to Force new growth or accept a reduction in what was becoming an unsustainable level of military spend ing soviet economic weakness could profoundly affect Arron talks and the maintenance of the Empire from Afghanistan Rocuba. The president wanted to know what the effect of this new interpretation would be on his policy planners. They la say help this Nice Man " replied one of he economists. Reagan nodded "1 know the Kertscher  he was referring to the Ost poli Lik urging of West German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Gene Char who is eager to finance the revival of Moscow s Trade. That was just two years ago when Reagan presided Over an administration split Between defence Cia Csc hard liners and the accommodation its a state. Then a year ago an iconoclast among soviet  Grigoriy Khanin was permitted to publish a refutation of All pail soviet figures exposing the use of hidden inflation figure padding and Price manipulation in estimating growth Rales. Cia analysts gulped their own Esti mates Lor 1986 were closely in line with the earlier officially Rosy soviet figures which acc in the process of being Dis credited. A couple of weeks ago Mikhail Gorbachev put his stamp on the gloomy a Jianmin account in a speech to the Cen trial committee. If the russian Leader can be believed the soviet Economy it about one fourth smaller today than so Viet statisticians and our own Intelli gence analysts have led our defense planners to believe. Last week at the Hoover institution in Palo Alto. Calif., the beit of the wat analysts of the soviet Economy held a Friendly intellectual shoot out. Henry Rowen a Stanford University professor and former Rand corp. Presi Dent who ran studies for the Cia a few Yean ago was the organizer. Charles Wolf or Rand co editor with Rowan of the future of the soviet Empire com ing out neat month presented a paper that shows among other stunners How China is Likely to out produce the soviet Union soon after 2000. Professor Richard cries of Colum Bia University Harriman Institute was. I m told a Star performer along Wilb a swedish economist i want to take to lunch. To its credit the Agency had ill team headed by the economist dark Swain in the thick of the argument. Team Bas the new estimate types will inevitably be called holds that soviet income is the equivalent of $3,000 per capita that Means inc soviet Union would be producing roughly one fourth As much As the United slates produces. But the old Cia academic consensus is Aid to Pul soviet output at on half that of the United Sialei. That about u much As economists can disagree about anything another schism the old consensus says the proportion of Gnu that the russians spend on defense plus underground facilities and the Cost of Empire is still less than 10 percent the team b estimate of the same items ranges from 15 percent up to 35 percent of All production. Our spending on the same breadth of items is Only 7 percent the tint estimate would put Gorba Chev in some difficulty at the Summit meeting the last estimate would Lake him to the Brink of desperation for a Deal. As Reagan would esk what does Iii mean it Means that we should not be in Euch a hurry to help this Nice Man. Unfortunately the Genscher line he taken hold in the Reagan administration All the Hird liners have been routed. Secretary shun has just agreed to link strategic Arm reduction talks to Star wars a huge Conception. Although Tali superpowers have told the world s my j on the seeming impossibility of a Start treaty at he Summit the fit is in for a Ruth to sign in Moscow. The russians arc exploiting Reagan s yearning for a Blaze of glory we Are fail ing 10 exploit the urgency of the rus sians need to catch their breath. The opinion i primed in the Minim and Earl oui on Iii Page repro Oil bom of the it hours and ire in an my to the muttered to  tic item of the Stan and Stripo or the United Sute government