European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 10 columns William f. Buckley will rest of soviets follow Gorbachev s Lead As everyone knows there arc Many reasons to doubt the Good intentions of Mikhail Gorbachev he was elected Boss by the same people who served Stalin und were elevated by him and his successor. Hut let us hypo Hesi a that Gorbachev is in fact a genuine reformer a Man disillusioned with inc economic Stric Tures of socialism sceptical of the Schal logical vision of Mara and offended by the brutalizing face of the soviet Union he grew up in. Ocl us go so far Aslo suppose hat Given his Way every year the soviet people would be of 10 percent Freer than they were the year before. That every year the soviet Union would diminish its aggressions by 10 percent. Let us treat ourselves to the belief that by the year 1998. The soviet Union will have granted its Citi icons human rights will have disassembled us aggressive Arsenal retaining Only a defense Arsenal Hal its satellites will be free and running i hair own affairs with Only a Loose defensive Alliance with the Mother country the end of inc great plague that was begun in 1917, a Friend of mine a scientist with an elegant mind once proposed to me that 1 Wiric a novel Hal begins As follows the president of inc uni cd slates and the general Secretary of the soviet Union Are ending a Summit conference in Moscow and the moment has come for inc final handclaps. The president stretches oui his hand As inc ambient fanfare the bands and the Cannon and inc air planes overhead distracts he attention of inc great crowd in red Square. The soviet Leader s hand meets inc president s. And the president feels in his Palm the slip of paper thai has Slid from the Vej. Dionne general Secretary s hand into his own. Discreetly he Deposit the link paper into the pocket or i coat. Eight minutes inter he is seated in air Force one in his private Cabin. He taken the note from his pocket unfolds it and reads in Block letters in English "1 want to help you. Help me it is signed by the Gen Sec the some signature the president has seen an a number of slate papers. What happens then is inc responsibility of the novelist who accepts my Friend s opening gambit. It is in any event a deeply interesting artistic political idea because it supposes a situation in which by Accident the presidium that elected the new soviet Leader made a most awful mistake elevating someone who had deep and conclusive reservations about the Clire soviet idea. Ii is As if the College of cardinals had cd cycled As Pope a Man who had privately concluded idl in fact cod did not exist and that therefore the entire Catholic establishment was an expensive time consuming opiate. The fictitious soviet Leader has asked far Trie Clandestine help of the president of the United states the fictitious Pope would have few alternatives than to Pray to god for help. But what exactly would the president do to help now suppose an impending and Mosi awful disappointment. The conservatives in the Kremlin yes. Under Regnant terminology s Ajin was Russia s Burka Adam Smith meet one Day in the Corner of the Krem Lin and resolve that enough is quite enough thai the historical mandate of the soviet Union is being tra diced by Mikhail Gorbachev already he has Cal cd Home the troops from Afghanistan he has been going around trumpeting Pyrc Stroika and glasnost the re sults of which have been an irruption of capitalist and iconoclastic thought and behaviour. The Eastern euro Pean slain arc in continuing turmoil. The time has come they conclude to act As once some of them and some of i hair predecessors acted against Khrushchev in id&4. They proceed to consummate their coup. The neat Day. Gorbachev Dies an untimely death and is Given a huge stale funeral. Then the slow purges. It lakes a while to throttle Freedom Down to look Fidel Castro two years before he got around to socializing the kiosks. But the direction in which the new leadership moves a quite Clear but the West is no moving Pari pass with the  of soviet policy. Fresh commercial barriers against the Export of . Technology were not raised when the soviet Union abandoned its tentative approach to the free Market. The United nations commission on human rights never could summon a majority la condemn the growing Stream of dissidents sent to Siberia. And the increase in ss-24sand 2i�and in nuclear submarines did t get a compensating in crease in defensive weapons from the new american president. And then the Day comes when on ss-24, from just outside Berlin symbolized the thrust of the new soviet message sent to the capital cities of Europe disband nato. A Nightmare of course. But it woke me up. And should Wake Ronald Reagan up c unto Roll a lilt a Vojta How committed is White House to helping Bush Ronald Reagan has bequeathed to his vice preside no iwo Large gifts for this election year peace and Prosperity. Bui George Bush s presidential Candi Dacy is being Hurt by smaller stickier things the administration is involved in. And some of his supporters Are starting to ask How much does the White House really care about electing Bush in the fall the Bush Campaign has some specific gripes and has made them Public. For one Reagan s objection to inc popular Plant closing provision of inc Trade Bill. Reagan tried Loback off a bit in the Mes Sage accompanying his veto of inc Bill Bui Only after dozens of Republican politicians had complained about his stance. Then there is the continuing tenure of attorney Gen. Edwin a Csc Iii. Bush s backers understand that Rea Gan is deeply Loyal to Mccase and docs not so out these and Quirt Ewe fibr we Peee l want him pushed out of office on the basis of unproven charges. But they think Reagan might match that loyalty with at least a touch of concern for his vice president s Politi Cal prospects republicans with close tics to the while House say that electing Bush has not been a preoccupation of the administration which is far More concerned at present with Reagan s Moscow Summit talks with policy toward Panama and More broadly with the Way Reagan handles the final months of an increasingly troubled administration. The criticism of the administration has come inclusively from Bush backers and not from Bush himself. One Bush supporter who asked not to be identified said Hal Bush was in fact reluctant to ask More of the while House. By temp Era Mcnol and nature this supporter said he is peculiarly reserved and More unwilling to ask favors than any political person in a comparable position that i can think  the Public position of the Bush Camp is that All this will work itself out in the end. I think inc president is committed to helping George Bush and at the appropriate time he will give the vice president All the help he can give  said nov. John h. Sununu of new Hampshire a co chairman of the Bush Campaign. Still some of the Bush forces worry that the administration is neither so United As it could be behind Bush nor so aware As it should be that in on election year anything the Whit House does Hasa political Impact whether the motives arc political or not. I Don t think it s political 1 think it s human nature said rep. Lynn Martin an Illinois Republican who is a longtime Bush supporter i think it s very hard for people to give up the White House it s still the Busl address in  James Cannon the former aide to White House chief of aft Howard Baker said i can t remember anything thai Trie Eisenhower administration did to help Richard Ninon and 1 can Uhink of anything the Johnson administration did to help Hubert  the comparison is of Little Comfort to the Bush forces Nison lost the i960 election and Humphrey lost in 196b. For the Republican party the most alarming thought of All is that the White House s inability to take Bush s political needs More carefully into account May reflect a broader failure within the administration itself. David a conc a consultant to sen. Bob Dole s Republican presidential Campaign this year said the Bush Anjam Zinion it self had nol been much concerned about what effect White House actions would have on Bush s candidacy unlit recent polls showed him trailing Michael Duka Kis the Likely democratic nominee. Keen said the Bush Campaign s cur a Cal difficulties with the White House were a combination of the White House s own problems and the fact that during most of this period the Bush peo ple were in their own euphoria resulting from their Success in the primaries. The Bush Camp is nol without important allies in the administration notably Treasury Secretary James a. Baker who May eventually join the Bush Campaign and Marlin Fitzwater the White House spokesman who used to be a spokesman for Bush. Fitzwater in fact did Bush a Good turn last week when he said emphatically thai la administration fully accepted the idea that Bush had to stake out his own Independent stands. But what of Howard h. Baker who ran against Bush for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination and is regarded by the Bush Camp As having been Friendly to Dole s presidential aspirations this year Cannon who has spoken with Baker on he subject said of course he would like to help George Bush. But Ronald Reagan is Howard Baker s first  which leads to the question How High a priority is George Bush for Ronald Reagan