European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes columns George will bor/c-t6vver-a1eese lynchings haunt democrats speaker Jim Wrights personal ethics Are now the focus of attention in this Continental superpower. Many people including Wright say thai whatever is to be done there Well it were done quickly. Nonsense let s All Wallow in ii Tor weeks months if possible tis said if Erc should be no Clement of Republican re Vengco in this. Why Ever not it is said we must avoid an orgy of recrimination and a i Nous escalation Ona Stiriss on he ethics front. 1 say let the ruination begin let there be scorched Earth Salt sown in the soil not a Stone left land i no on another Slonic on Capitol h ill. I do not know if Wright is guilty of anything but i Hope Hal if he is innocent he is ruined and if he is guilty he goos unpunished. Let there be no nonsense about Justice at this Luie Date from the Fine folks who brought us the bark Lynch ing the Tower the Misc Loren rings and much else in the name of High mindedness. What part of the destruction of Floc Bork Nomi nation did you find most admirable if Only for its imaginative Ness was in Anli Bork advertising campaigns that the sponsors admitted were lies was it anti boric groups snooping around to learn what mov ies Bert had rented hoping to find something naughty they found Fred Astaire then there were All Hose fraudulent reports by free Lance ethics Sis who said they saw John Tower Misbe have on occasions when not have seen Tower. A Buchal was Ihnn this is now. And two wrongs do not make a right right right. But a i4lh or i8lh or 13rd wrong if he 14th or 18th or 23rd victim is a prominent Democrat May make a 1hmhb cease fire on the personal ethics front and perhaps we. Mieriel even be a redefinition of ethics to include behaviour red fail with an important effect on the Public weal. Suddenly a lot of democrats arc not having any fun anymore. Won t some referees blow the whistle Call a timeout reset the clock do something the Best thing about Wright s Travail is hat in May cause a few Hundred democrats to decide thai ethics is not such a Good Dodge after All. It is Lovely that Wright s Case is Corning to n boil As inc latest bipartisan budget fraud is being perfected at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. And As in a court House at inc fool of Capitol Hill the rial of Oliver North is com ing to a close. Did North lie to Congress yes the lying was extraordinary and the Quantity was Small Beer compared with the Moun Tain of mendacity routinely shovelled out to the Ameri can people by the hush administration and both Par lies in Congress concerning la Cha annual evasions of the Cramm Ruemah deficit reduction in inc jail two years under that Law the deficit has actually increased Congress and the executive Branch Steven Komarow have conspired for i hair Mutual convenience that is what bipartisanship so much celebrated just now really Means to fudge the assumptions and Cook the books in ways which if practice in the private sector might got the practitioner sent o prison. This is the time of year for senior class trips to washing Ion by High school stud Ink they come in brightly coloured buses that sometimes Park by Imper to bumper like benign pretty snakes Capitol Hill. criminal sanctions attached to Gramm Rudman there would be a to bumper lined up to cart Congress and Sonie of the executive Branch to Jinil. Wright and Northi May have misbehaved Wilh sums involving single commas but ethics Pardon me. 1 mean Persona ethics stops Wilh. The., second. Comma budgetary Shell games involving three com Mas billions do not count when the subject in Washington is the adjective personal gives the game away. The subject of personal ethics is a device for Chang ing the subject from the ethics free Lone of matters Central 10 the nation s welfare in that zone the stakes Are High and the choices arc hard so there is tacit bipartisan agreement that ethics have nothing to do with it. Actually personal ethics if understood in terms of financial fastidiousness is probably better than Ever in american politics. However today s relatively Pris Tine ruling class will rial mile i honest Lei alone a responsible personal ethics and worse government thai is the result of deciding that ethical rules arc about relatively Little things. Ethics committee report not fatal for Wright Public airing of inc House report on speaker Jim Wright provides his opponents with reams of political ammunition but does not in itself strike a fatal blow us morals must move to quickly Mold Public opinion if the going to keep his leadership Post and Wright s allies say having the facts on the table can help. The committee on standards of of Lucia conduct released a voluminous report by its special counsel and charged the speaker with 6 Insana 5 Ovio Lavinghouse Rutes. The report provides sometimes pm Barrasi ing details of the financial Berie pus he received from friendships with two fort Worth Texas businessmen. One Carlos Moore gave Wright unusually High royalties when he published the speaker s Book reflections of a 1 Public with 55 cents of every Dol Lar going to Wright the committee said it appeared that the speaker was using bulk sales of the paperback to evade mouse limits on outside income from second Friend George Mallick had a business partnership Wilh the speaker. Wright and his wife Betty benefited from the fret use of a condominium and a car and an si8,000 annual salary to mrs. Wright. House members arc looking at the com Mittee report on two political to acis within the i is dilution and i n Inci r Home districts within the House release of inc re port m onday caused members to begin focusing on their own situations. We have to Deal with it on a very specific level said rep. Martin Frost a twas. A Wright ally who contends lawmakers will make Independent judgments despite pressure at Home. I think members Don t want to be slam pc ded on this one Way or another Frost said members confronted Wilh the committee s findings will find them troubling because of their Broad implications for a ample in decided lick had an interest in legislation using a Standard so Broad thai anyone with wealth would full in the same category he contended a situation that could snare Many lawmakers. "1 i la Ink members Wil look at this in a serious Way and say is this fair " he said. Outside of the House democrats must convince the Public that the violations Wright is accused of Are mostly technical and not really unethical. They can l afford 10 Wail for the committee to Render a whether Wright should be found guilty and punished. The initial Rush of scan by virtually everyone As negative for Wright but democratic leaders argued tha As they Rebul the specific charges the. Public will come to believe that Wright is being held to an unjust Standard. Rep. Beryl Anthony of Arkansas chair mar of inc democratic congressional Campaign committee said that once iwo pc clearly understand. Hen of get an entirely different feel and Wright himself must also be convincing la the speaker is Well received in the country1, and what he says is resonant with the american Public he improves his chances said rep. John Sprail , further he report itself is not a conviction. That could Only be done by the full House and even if that were 10 occur it would be up to the democrats who Elc cled him w decide who incr Wright has become an unsupportable with few exceptions republicans greeted the release with sounds of defer ence and respect to the process set up to investigate a . Despite the fact that the Campaign to investigate Wright s finances was kicked off by one of their own rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia the republicans tried to portray themselves As above the fray. A key element in their strategy to wrest control of the House away from the democrats is to portray the democrats As the party of corruption and hem selves As its enemy the Best politics for republicans is no evidence of politics at All said rep Jerry Lewis of California chairman of the House Republican conference. Some democrats scoffed at the top tactic. Rep. James Traficant of Ohio said ocl there be no mistake today in Washington d.c., the party lines Are being drawn in indelible Ink the verdict on Wright from the ethics committee May be technical and not so Clear As the party lines. But when that comes some weeks Down the Road the Public verdict May have already come in. Simon Knurow hat in a Malm
