European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes Walter r. Mears president s 1 30-Day report coming up soon president Bush never cared much for the 100-Day test even though he look it. Now he s closing in on 130 Days which May prove a better grading period. That will come the Day Bush confronts a troublesome West German ally at a nato Summit in Brussels. And that s Only one of the first semester exams coming due soon. Among the others the cracks in his bipartisan courtship of the democratic Congress which passed a $4.55 hourly minimum wage Bush promises to veto As too High. Congressional approval came by margins Short of the two thirds needed to Over ride a veto. Democrats said Bush was using the veto threat to try to prove him self Lough. The crisis Over Panama where Mil itary Boss Manuel Antonio Noriega so far is resisting Domestic opposition pres sure from the organization of american slates and . Demands that he quit or be kicked out after invalidating an elec Tion observers said he rigged in the first place. The Wrangle Over Bush s proposals to Rescue the tottering savings and loan system with a Federal subsidy a Bill he wanted passed on a crisis timetable. Some democrats have demanded the Cost be part of the Federal budget and therefore the deficit instead of being handled separately. That also could be come a veto Issue. The revival so far Low key of the Iran Contra questions Bush shoved aside during the 1988 Campaign. Some democrats want to reopen the congressional investigation of the Case to explore Dis closures the government made at the trial of Oliver North. Bush s nomination of a former top aide to be ambassador to South Korea is being held up by democrats who say they want answers on his role in the affair. Passing his own judgment on his first 100 Days because everybody else was anyhow Bush pronounced himself off to a Good Start and there s More to Carl Rowan Home to it s coming fast. The president leaves on Friday for a week Long trip to Western Europe with the nato Summit meeting the major and most challenging event. Mis foreign policy review is done now and there arc issues that will not wait. At the nato Summit that will be West Germany s insistence on prompt negotiations with the soviet Union on Short Range nuclear weapons. The Bush administration is deter mined to keep those weapons in place which Means in Germany As a shield against the overwhelming soviet advantage in conventional arms and manpower. That s proving a difficult line to hold with Continental allies who Sec a less ening of the soviet threat. Bush s spokesman Marlin Fitzwater has called the soviet peace initiative a series of Public relations the president and his men have said repeatedly they Are not going to yield on the nuclear weapons question until the soviet Union agrees to major verified cuts in its conventional forces. Nevertheless Bush has said that West Ern differences can be worked out and that he looks for a smooth Summit in Brussels. Some conservatives read into that a possibility that Bush May waver for the Sake of Harmony. Leadership is not the same As consensus building said Bur ton Pines senior vice president of the heritage foundation a conservative think tank. Pines said that unless Bush Sticks to his Short Range weapons in the Nat dispute the germans will figure that they hold the cards because they can fracture the Harmony and consensus of the Alliance. Even when they like his policies As in the nato situation conservatives tend to worry about Bush because they Sec him As a Leader sometimes too Given to Compromise too Bent on bipartisanship. His leadership Over 100 Days or 130, and probably Over four or eight years will not satisfy their yearning for the certainties of Ronald Reagan s conservatism. But the More important and general judgment will come on results. At the 100-Day checkpoint there weren t any there had t been time so when Bush summarized what he d done it was Long on prospects. He told of his proposals and his agreements with Congress deals that avoided head on lights on such issues As a budget Resolution and non military supplies for the nicaraguan Contra re now the compelling issues arc com ing up for action and some of them will not yield to Compromise or fit bipartisanship. Editor s note Waller r. Wears he president and columnist Tor the associated press has reported on Washington and National Politica Lor More than 25 years. Associated Pross the single life even Tempo rare a Nof Good one Boca Raton Fla. A week of self imposed Bachelor Hood while work ing on a manuscript has raised a Trou bling question mow do people who live alone find serenity or even keep their sanity i Hope living Solo is easier than i imagine because if there Aren t some redeeming features that 1 Haven t Dis covered this society is in for deeper troubles As the total of divorces desertions and people who choose never to marry plus the High number of widows and widowers in America grows. My few periods of being alone have convinced me that marriage is the Nat ural state of Man and woman and that anything else is a painful aberration. Five years ago in Washington i la Down one noon with the misery of what turned out to be a bad Case of the flu. As my sickness worsened 1 tried to leave the bed to vomit in the bathroom but i was so wiped out i could t get up. My wife could t bring towels fast enough. Dear god what would 1 do if she were not Here 1 thought. A year later Here in Boca wife Vivien got hit with a terrible Bug. I found her lying on the bathroom floor too sick Roget up or cry out. 1 nursed her Back to a noun i health after Telephone Calls to Washington for prescriptions to get her on a plane for Home. What do people who live alone do in such times of need rely on a Friend or relative i suppose. But no outsider can Ever meet half the needs of someone who feels desperately ill and needs Lender Loving care by inc minute. Each Day presents us Wilh a myriad of nol so serious things that Call for a wife husband Housemate to Case pains anxieties or give Comfort Hope and ambition. A lol of the Joy goes out of a Tele phone Call saying that you be won a big promotion a great prize or even the lottery if you have no one with whom to share and discuss it. The Juiciest gossip about senator x. Or a close neighbor loses its flavor if there is no one close who can help you laugh or be shocked about in. Those of us who have enjoyed Long marriages Lake so much for granted. My wife is waiting for me to come Home so 1 can evict the Damn Birds Hal already have made nests in our Chimney. She is probably waiting for me to be the Tough Guy who Calls a contractor who has not lived up to a Deal. Merc in Boca i am missing the wife who knows thai when i sit at the computer at 5 . I want to write without interruption until some thoughtful soul drops the morning newspapers near me. Chauvinistic As it May sound to some i look at a pile of dirty underwear shirts towels by the Washer and dryer a Moun Tain of dirty dishes in inc Kitchen and five pair of my pants hanging on dining room chairs and i know that i am living alone and not Loving in. I am truly not a Slob. It is just thai no writer can produce mind warping prose under a deadline while also shopping cooking laundering feeding a dishwasher and of craving a vacuum cleaner. After seven Days i Haven t even Man aged to Lake the pretty Rcd and White spread off our bed and fold it. I sleep in a very unobtrusive Corner of the bed. Which i suppose is what most people do who live alone. Watching a movie or Tennis match on to sipping a gift bottle of Champagne laughing at one of those increasingly dirty birthday cards these and most things arc better when you have someone with whom to share them. I know. The letters will come from wives and husbands who will say my life became truly Happy when i got that Jerk or shrew put of this but those who write such stuff will most often reveal by the traumas of loneliness. They will prove that living alone is a Bummer. I just Don t think there is a healthy desirable substitute for the companionship and partnership the shared Joys and pains or a marital commit ment. A spousal argument every week or Day May not be something made in Hea Ven Bui it beats the hell out of living by yourself. Doubters Trust me. North America Syndicate the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the news of the stars and stripes or the United states government
