European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 5, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes William f. Buckley  Hullabaloo Over Andy Rooney is mis focused the general fuss raised by the suspension of Andy Rooney by lbs has eliminated any mention that i have seen of a letter or. Rooney wrote to the advocate which is the Gay journal he claims misquoted him with reference to Blacks and the a watering Down of intelligence by excessive births among the least intelligent. Or. Rooney says he did no to say anything of the sort and if there has been an inquiry into the subject its results Are As yet unpublicized. What the storm has entered upon is the suspension of Rooney from �?o60 minutes because of something he did say in an interview with the advocate. Lots of editorials have been written about on the one hand the right of or. Rooney to express his a opinion a and on the other about the mandate recognized in civil communities to be sensible of and sensitive to the feelings of minorities. The two directives can co exist and should though there is obviously a Point at which one or the other has to yield. If i were a tobacco grower i would be sensitive to charges that i was a mass murderer but either id have become used to it by now or else id have to leave tobacco growing for another Trade. So far the Case against lbs is that it has interfered with Rooney a right to his once again in quotation Marks  but Here is what he indisputably said on television a there was some recognition in 1989 of the fact that Many of the ills which kill us Are self induced too much alcohol too much food drugs homosexual unions cigarettes. They re All known to Lead quite often to premature  now those two sentences Arentt opinions. They Are As factual As the axiom that Winter follows the fall. If it is merely an opinion which might be false that a too Many homosexual unions Lead quite often to premature death a then the medical scientific and sociological Community have engaged in the greatest deception in the history of pathology. Now this last is not the Point made by or. Rooney in his letter to the advocate. He begins by saying that it happens that he does a not consider homosexuality to be  he recognizes there Are different Points of View on the question but says his is one of the two Points of View and asks a is this evil of me a and then a i find the popular argument that it is the aids virus not homosexuality that kills to be spurious. Its the same argument the gun control lobby uses when it says it is criminals not guns that kill. The intelligent Gay Community has drastically reduced the incidence of his with what it Calls a Safe  a the letter continues a i have a Friend who for Many i Quot Rooney 5 first Day Back at work years was one of the principal apologists for the tobacco Industry. His logic was much the same too. He argued that it was lung cancer not tobacco that kills. It annoyed my Friend that anyone would infer a direct connection Between smoking and lung cancer just As it annoys homosexuals to have people like myself deduce that homosexuality often leads to death by aids. Homosexuals Point to Large numbers of non homosexual deaths from aids in Africa just As my Friend notes the number of non smokers who have acquired lung  and a few paragraphs later Rooney apologizes sort of. A a in a genuinely sorry that homosexuals found the broadcast offensive because it was not my intention to offend them. It was not my intention to make their already difficult Gay life any More difficult. Ill be More  no doubt he will be. When in 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was asked How traffic Down the to Chi Minh Trail might be interdicted he commented that one suggestion being considered by the Pentagon was defoliation of a Section of the Trail by nuclear artillery causing an impenetrable radioactive Wall. He added a i done to think id go for  the headlines the following Day referred to his advocacy of nuclear War in Vietnam. I wrote or. Goldwater on that occasion to say that it would probably be a Good idea for him never to utter the word a a nuclear except when preceded the words a i hate a or a a let a abolish a by the same Token anyone who works for lbs or for that matter a proliferating number of employers including the voters had better get used to refusing to use the word a a aids unless preceded by a innocent victims  or a we need More Public Money to  some Day perhaps a Century Down the line historians May reason that there was no More reason to suppose that Andy Rooney was making statements inherently More antagonistic to homosexuality than he was to alcohol food cigarettes or drugs. Unless a Century hence historians Are All working for lbs. Universal press Syndicate David s. Broder Jackson was wrong to reject . Mayoral bid the Rev. Jesse l. Jackson has made a serious mistake in declining to run for mayor of Washington. The District will survive the Field of candidates to succeed indicted mayor Marion Barry includes several men and women of real potential. But Jackson has missed a rare Opportunity to enlarge his experience and has handed his critics and rivals in another presidential race a legitimate reason to question his credentials. I think he knows this. In the interview he gave me after announcing his decision he seemed far More defensive and less self assured than usual. The reasons he offered rang hollow to me a and i suspect even to him. They Are essentially three first Barry though under indictment and receiving treatment for substance abuse has not formally taken himself out of the running others Are campaigning actively or looking at the race. Second the Powers of the districts mayor and the scope of his budget Are limited by the dependence on the White House and on Congress where the District has no voting representation. Third the responsibilities of a mayor would require Jackson to curtail if not abandon his National and International role. It might be harder for him to pop up and share the limelight when a Mandela is released from prison or an emergency food lift is organized. A a it a a question of service a he said. A the Bottom line for me a the question i really wrestled with a was How i can Render the highest and Best Public  if that was the question a and i take Jackson at his word a then his answer was wrong. Jackson says he will devote major time to the needs of Washington especially the drug problems of its youth and its quest for voting representation in Congress. But if he a serious about those needs he must know his capacity to act on them would be far greater As mayor than in private life. And for a Man who has twice demonstrated National ambitions nothing is More vital than learning the disciplines of holding Public office in a Job where real constituents can demand real accountability. Jackson has never known that. Ever since he left Martin Luther King  staff he has run organizations of his own creation staffed with people Loyal Only to him. Those organizations have operated to Advance Jackson a Agenda and have evaporated when he decided they had lost their Utility. There a no accountability in that kind of experience. Until now Jackson has had a plausible excuse for never seeking elective office at any level below the presidency. His native state of South Carolina and his adopted base of Chicago were for a variety of reasons inhospitable territory. But he won democratic presidential primaries in the District in 1984 and 1988 and clearly had a Good shot at winning the mayoralty. Polls showed some significant opposition to his candidacy but As Violeta Chamorro just triumphantly demonstrated in Nicaragua Gutsy candidates who really believe the voters Rule in a democracy Are not intimidated by polls. What is disturbing about Jackson a decision is his readiness to deny himself an important Challenge a from which he would have Learned much. Jackson is Only 48. He a achieved a great Deal since he emerged on the National scene in the late �?T60s and certainly has demonstrated a capacity for growth. Millions see him As a potential National Leader. That a Why its dismaying to see him stay in a rut that has become All too comfortable and cozy. Hell learn nothing from running one More registration Campaign followed by one More presidential Campaign. Nor will he improve his credentials by hosting a monthly to talk show. This is the great age of democracy a when playwrights and physicists in formerly enslaved lands step Forward to take the risks and responsibilities of Public office. This is no time for a serious aspirant for National leadership to remain on the sidelines. Serious politicians know this. And a Public which is hungry for leadership is thank goodness broadening its vision to include minorities in its search for leadership. Andrew Young after serving successfully As mayor of Atlanta is seeking the governorship of his state. L. Douglas Wilder after serving As a state legislate and lieutenant governor has won to governorship of Virginia. William a Gray Iii after serving As House Budge committee chairman now fills the no. Job in the House leadership. And on an on the list goes. Jackson had a Chance to join their ranks and said no. My guess is he never be taken As seriously again. Washington Post writers group