European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Paga 10 columns the stars and stripes William Safire polygraph Bill deserves president s signature the most abusive intrusion on the privacy of americans the polygraph falsely claiming to be a lie Del color is on the verge of receiving a setback. Bold houses of Congress have passed Bills to Stop the spree of polygraph testing by private employers and last week lawmakers protecting our civil Liberty reconciled the differences. The House s Williams Bill was much stronger but the senic s Kennedy Hatch version accommodating the desire of some businessmen to coerce workers Susic Cid oath Cal prevailed even so the joint legis lation would reduce by 80 percent the More than 2 million mental rapes that now take place each year. Soon after president Reagan returns from Moscow the employee polygraph Protection Art of i�b8 will be on his desk for signature. His labor department recognizing this As a significant work Force Issue ii urging him to gel on the right Side of workers legitimate rights and approve the measure. The Justice department still officially opposes the restriction of what has become the preferred instrument of torture in third degree interrogation but i am assured that the attorney general has not made this a Persona cause. His objection was on federalist rather than Law enforcement ground that the Stales rather than the Federal government should Lake the Lead and his decision not to carry the polygraph lobby s Banner makes the president s approval More Likely. By the Way do not be misled by reporting that morale at Justice is Low in Light of the a desc insula William f. Buckley Lions thai is not How Washington works. Morale at the ninth Street Bunker bus never been higher because the professional have never been so unencumbered by supervision from political appointees Many of whom have left or Are otherwise engaged the animals Are running the zoo and they love it the human Clement is always with us. It could be that the enthusiasm for the polygraph a device Lor measuring nervousness which techno Diarl tans then presume to equate with untruthful Ness has been tempered in both Reagan and Mccase by the experience of Ihnn National Security adviser Robert Mcfarlane. Faithful readers will recall thai episode years ago the new York times ran a Story that triggered an investigation into leaks in the while House. Bud Mcfarlane dunked two polygraph tests in that probe and was about to be fired As the leaker. He knew he was not the source but could not prove himself inno cent with hts whole career in jeopardy Mcfarlane pleaded with the times to Lell the president if he had been the source. The publisher of the times when he found Oul from his editors thai the source was someone else cleared the National Security adviser with the under standing thai no precedent on such negative sour Dine would be set. President Reagan thus Learned firsthand that the Best Fri poly Raphers could be egregiously wrong and that Reliance on the polygraph could do a Gross injustice to a Loyal employee. Did the Fri re examine its polygraph procedures in Light of dial demonstrated High level failure thai s for the Senate intelligence committee it examine if truth Teller could be flunked in follows that a real leak or or a spy _ could be As easily passed. Reliance on the Inara irate polygraph is to source of internal Security weakness Rill Casey told me in Rould be beaten with valium and a few tricks by any Well trained spy which is Why he fell free to Challenge Jim Baker to a lie Detector shootout in the affair. Treasury Secretary Baker who was the one telling the truth wisely declined to be hooked up the Compromise coming before inc president offend some employers who like to a the dreaded device As a threat to extort confessions from potential employees. No random testing or quickie tests Are permitted and none of the common abuses so helpful in intimidating workers Are allowed. And no worker can be dismissed for the sole reason of refusing to take such a test. On the other Side libertarians arc worried about the Bill s shortcomings Only private nol government employees arc protected and Loo Many private employers arc exempted Flimsy evidence plus dunking May be enough for dismissal and stale licensing of poly Gra Phars gives the coloration of official Sanction to a totalitarian investigation technique. Let s Lake the half loaf and let the states and collective bar gainers improve on in. Commit yourself now to signing this legislation. Or. President it strikes a blow for personal Freedom in whal should be the Citadel of the mind. Tough to Tell the democrats from the democrats Jesse Jackson has absorbed so much of the attention in inc democratic primaries not much time has been Given to Michael Dukakis views and from this inattention he his profited. Anyone running alongside Jesse Jackson will be thought a moderate. Mayor Edward Koch of new York last month i Ghoul saying so in exactly As Many words made it sound As if of course he could vote enthusiastically for Dukakis because he is a moderate. But moderates do not do very Well in democratic primaries. Al Gore flirted with moderation at one Point and met with a very bad reception at a debate. From thai Point on he was on the prowl for in Modura n. It did t pay off perhaps because nobody could out immoderate Jesse Jackson. Democratic primaries lion arc vehicles for the expression of the very dissatisfied with . Domestic policy . Foreign policy and yes with the United Stales. And this recalls the Situa Tion in 1984, Likely to be repeated in 1988. The most revealing Story about the san Francisco convention was filed for the Washington past by Barry Sussman and Kenneth e. John on july 15.1984. In was a Story that talked about the difference Balw can demo cratic delegates and democratic voters. Jeane Kirkpa trick at the Dalias convention got on to the Point when she insisted on referring to inc san Francisco democrats by which she Means that they were not to be confused with just Plain democrats. For one thing the Post said the delegates were Rich or than other democrats and More extensively educated. More than 70 percent of the delegates were College graduates and so percent had at least some postgraduate work. Among democrats nationally 12 percent Are College graduates 4 percent have done postgraduate study the poll went on to reveal divisions Between Delegate sentiment on major Public issues and just Plain democrats Here Are a few abortion ten percent of the delegates wanted a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion. Almost one half of democrats wanted such an amendment. Containment to wanly percent of the delegates agreed with the statement the United states should Lake All Steps including the use offered to prevent inc spread of among democrats at Large More than fio percent agreed with the statement. Cia fourteen percent of delegates favored the use of the Cia to support Friendly governments and undermine hostile governments. Among democrats in general. 37 percent adored such actions. The draft one Quarter of inc delegates favored reviving the draft. One Hal of democrats did. Era ninety percent of delegates were in favor of the equal rights amendment compared with 60 per cent of democrats at Large ii should to in other words have surprised the demo Ralie party that the Campaign subsequent to san Francisco waged by Walter Mondale was pitched very directly to the conservative moderate vote. He came Oul for insula acc for a 4 per cell net Post inflation raise in military spending Ronald Reagan favored 6 percent. In his foreign policy debate with president Keagan Mondale sounded like Gen. Curtis bomb hem Back to the Stone age Lemay. The strategy of democratic candidates is to sound like Trotsky during the primaries and like Doug Las Macarthur during the general election. So far experience seems to Adfus. It has not proved a successful mix. It is too easy for the Republican candidate publicly to recall preceding positions. In is going to be difficult for Dukakis to shake inc reputation he has carefully cultivated of being a pea Cenik. To be a peace Nik is very different from being in favor of peace. To be a pea Cenik history confirms is to lose one s Gnu on reality and before you know it the apparition stand ing at the door is a great Bio. Russian Bear. 1 f it goes As it went in 1084. The democrats arc going to have o do some hard rethinking. Their immediate problem is. Of course the role of Jesse Jackson. The first Choice of the san Francisco delegates for vice president was Gary Hart whose qualifications included that he had inc next highest number of delegates after Mondale. Mandate went instead to Geraldine Ferraro As Dukakis May teach Over pcs Jackson s head to name Sim Nunn or for thai matter Al Gore. But a democratic convention com posed of Delegate one third of whom Are pledged to mad Man Jackson and two thirds of whom Are pledged to the Man who refused to criticize mad Man Jack son in l going to prove that easy. Only local Immer Sion will bring that off and that s pm a s
