European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 9, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes Tom Wicker primaries like playoffs seem to last forever while i fled from the news for a Tew weeks Jim Mckinley my Able assistant compiled a scrapbook of the period s notable events documenting the usual human record of no change puzzling change and change for the worse. The Reagan Gorbachev Summit meet ing has come and gone for example and so has the evil Empire hut no the arms race. The inf treaty has been ratified de spite Jesse Helms but Star wars still Sty Mies a Start treaty. General Noriega remains Al his Post despite Elliott Abrams. Michael Dukakis is ahead of George Bush in inc polls the Bland leading the Blan while Jesse Jackson tights on and on and on. De Mcneic naturally has dismissed his spokesman instead of him self most of inc above received saturation coverage and needs no further comment from me if anything docs. But a few other items in the Mckinley report caught my Eye California new Jersey new Mexico and Montana voters chose on tuesday Between Dukakis and Jackson. Thus the primaries which were going on when i left were still going on now that i m Back so arc the National basketball association playoffs the second or third round was under Way when 1 departed and the final is just now gelling t we somehow limit these National sports enough so hat Al the end people Al least can remember who was playing in the beginning governors Dukakis of Massachusetts and Duck Majian of California suddenly Are having to confront big budget deficits confirmation if any were needed that life is unfair. His deficit leaves Cali fornia s Duke no Chance to be George Bush s running mate Bui Boston s Duke will be a presidential nominee not least because his deficit was disclosed too late to confound his Carly primary claim i know How to balance a the so called War on drugs often declared Seldom fought never financed has become a major Issue in Anthony Lewis the presidential Campaign but it was a one Day Story when surgeon general Kop denounced tobacco smoking As an addiction responsible for 320,000 deaths a year in the . Alone that s right 320,000 a year. Whal politician wants to Call inc armed forces to clean up Virginia North and South Carolina Georgia Florida and Kentucky George Bush told reporters at Kennebunkport Maine that he was not concerned because his wife and others close to him believed hat even in eight years As vice president he had not been Able to convey the real George Bush to the Public. Wait till we gel our big and pro Gram going he said. Then Well see Bush As he really is you Belcha As usual Billy Martin has been behaving disgracefully and As usual no one stems to care hut the umpires. The Man Ager of the new York Yankees first got himself thrown bodily Oul of a Texas to Pless joint after a Boozy Brawl in a Man t room then lied to he police about in then in a Tantrum you d Seldom see in a playground Sandbox kicked and threw dirt on an Umpire in a game at Oakland. These repeat offences evoked Only is in acc from the Yankees owner and a three Day suspension plus a $1,000 Fine from inc american league compare Hal with the 30 Days and $10,000 Wilh which inc National league recently socked the usually Well behaved Pete Rose. The umpires went too far in threatening to throw Manin out of the game every time he leaves the dugout but at least they exe res cd appropriate outrage Al the be Savior of this Miner of pitchers and de spoiler of a great sport. A supreme court decision allow ing police to Rifle through anyone s Gar Bage without a warrant also seems not to have aroused the concern it deserves. That bitterest legacy of the Kennedy administration. Justice Byron White wrote for the court that none of us had a right to inc privacy of our garbage because plastic garbage bags left on or at the Side of a Public Street Are readily accessible to animals children scavengers oops and other members of the but big brother is not a bag lady. White tried to support this irrelevance Ina footnote citing a reporter who once ransacked Henry Kissinger s on Earth can that justify giving policemen the constitutional right to War ran less searches of the wastage and Rem Nants of private effects As Justice Brennan wrote in dissent such rummaging like a search of in bedroom can relate intimate details about sexual practices health and per Sonal Hygiene and other private matters to which the police should have no right of Access even if Alley cats do. Taw Vort Yinet now san Bra the opinions expressed in the column Sand cartoons on his Page represent Hose of the authors and ire in no Way to be considered us representing the vines of the stars and stripes or the United Stales government. Frk legacy every person can make a difference is history the product of Imper Sonal social and economic forces or can individuals change its course that old question comes to mind As we recall the anniversary of the death of Robert Ken Nedy. In has been 20 years now since his assassination. Would he have made a Dif Ference of course there Are no certain ties in politics or life but i am convinced thai this would be a different country if he had lived. Within months of his death the United Stales had moved into a conservative phase that culminated in inc Reagan Admi Nistra lion. There was a National Wea riness with social Reform a scepticism about the promised results of govern ment action. That was no doubt inevitable. After Vietnam americans would have been fools not to be wary of official promises. Social turmoil a Home understandably made people value repose Over change. But inc country pays a Price when we close our eyes to social evils when reelect to be comfortable. The evils fester and eventually they afflict even the comfortable. We see that now As we confront the reality of a huge underclass in his country and a culture dependent on drugs. Robert Kennedy was never Comfort Able in politics or in himself. He was restless driven Moody. He rejected inc politics of grins and blandness. He was an individual reaching out to individuals As they reached out to touch him. They Felt in him a personal concern. Thai ability to communicate was strange in a Man Given to Long awkward silences. He could lose himself in rapport with children when words matter less. 1 saw him once in Japan playing a Ball game with Little children then turning away in irritation when an american television Crew tried to film the private moment he never would have let us go untroubled into he nigh of private would have reminded us of our humanity our responsibility. And he have been afraid to Challenge the new political orthodoxy of unconcern. His reputation was to be Tough and he could be. He did nol like to look sentimental. But when he saw injustice he challenged it even if that required breaking with political orthodoxy. In 1966 the Pentagon refused to Bury Robert Thompson an american communist Leader in Arlington cemetery though he had been decorated for heroism in world War ii. Others in con Gress were silent but Kennedy Lold inc Senate it was wrong to hate and Harry the sinner to his grave he said i Don think anyone now buried in Arlington would object to having Thompson buried there so i Don t see Why All these living people Are objecting. He was passionate. He was also vulnerable a human being who Hurt like the Rusl of us he grew and changed As politician More than any other i know. He deepened in his understanding of weakness which is to say his humanity. Those Are some of the qualities thai enabled him to break through Public in difference Bui there was another special in its Lime and virtually unknown among National politicians since then. Somehow he bridged the antagonisms of race and class. He could talk to both Blacks and Blue Collar whiles and listen to them. People Felt he heard and under stood their disparate grievances to speak of Robert Kennedy now and list his winning qualities risks making him sound holy. He was far from got angry and he aroused plenty of hostility. He was also funnier than most politicians about himself especially. A thur sch Csinger in Robert Kennedy and his times told How Kennedy sent a Book of his to the segregationist missis Sippi senator James Easland inscribed "11 is not too late. Repent now in 1938 Robert Kennedy is on people s minds again. Americans too Young to have known him sense some attraction in this Youthful figure forever Youthful from another age. Why we arc Wiser now Aboul the Lim its of government intervention but we Are not satisfied with private affluence and social squalor. We want to look for new ways to make american society whole in Musl also be the person. After year of Contentment with the Bolero Fig ure of Ronald Reagan americans Are ready for someone who often More than reassuring generalities. There is no on exactly like Robert Kennedy and there need not be. But we Are ready again for leadership thai tries to grapple Wilh the realities of our life bitter at Well Shappy. We Are ready for his message every person can make a difference. Now of k time
