European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 a the stars and stripes columns Kevin costello Eeast germans vote to share Western Prosperity fast Berlin a for East German voters its not just unification that lies Over the Rainbow. Its Western Prosperity As Well. That was the main message of sundays historic free elections which gave the conservatives a huge and unexpected Victory. Born in Church basements where Young activists once met to hide from the hated communist secret police the peaceful revolution quickly lost its innocence and idealism. After unleashing tens of thousands of people on the streets the new forum opposition movement found that the thirst for riches soon drowned out Calls to Reform socialism for the Good of the people. East germans Many with tears in their eyes asked Over and Over again a what have we been doing for 40 years a As they gazed in wonder at the glittering shops of West Berlin after the Berlin Wall was opened last november. Chancellor Helmut Kohl spotting the most Basic of All election issues ardently campaigned throughout East Germany with a message of a Prosperity for Many recalled that that was a favorite slogan of Chancellor Ludwig Erhard the late West German Leader who guided the Post War a economic sundays conservative Victory engineered in Large part by Kohl shows that East germans believe in a second economic Miracle. A the East germans have voted for the West German Mark and for unification a commented West Germany Sari television network. A it was important for them that Kohl was the one with the keys to the Cash and that said Ard set the Christian democratic Chancellor apart from West Germany a opposition social democrats who often lectured East German Vot ers to slow Down the Pace of unification and curb their expectations. While poles hungarians and czechoslovak now enjoy democracy it will take them years if not decades to Reform their own economies. The governments will have to attract and compete for Western investment at the same time they adjust to multiparty politics. For East germans though recovery seems within their grasp. A the decisive thought for East germans May have been if we vote for Kohl the Money will flow a a said Oskar Lafontaine the social Democrat state governor who will try to unseat Kohl in december. In fact East German leftists had joined the communists several times in recent weeks in virtually begging Kohl for billions of dollars in bailout Money to save the ravaged Economy. Each time Kohls heavily publicized answer was a no a until the East German voters showed they wanted True economic reforms. Even so there is a Long Way from voting for conservatives to accepting the bitter pills that Kohls economic advisers and West German investors Are Likely to be handing out. East germans some still covered with grease and dressed in work overalls had been seizing microphones at dozens of panel discussions to denounce any reforms that would Cost them their jobs. But last weeks announcement that West German led economic reforms will Cost 100,000 jobs in the East German automobile Industry and related sectors is believed to be just the tip of the iceberg. Another potentially destabilizing Factor is the continuing exodus of East germans relocating to West Germany Many of them trying to take a shortcut to Prosperity. A i done to think the results themselves will Stop the emigration a conceded East German Christian demo cratic Leader Lothar de Maiziere the top contender for Premier. A rather its a question of measures that now must be with the number of emigrants heading West at up t0 2,500 a Day those measures will have to be fast and persuasive. A Kohl himself used his first Post election statements to plead with East germans to stay put and help build up their a Beautiful there was no mention of the country a decaying Homes nor its Rivers and air choked with pollution from eyesore factories. Thrown Only a few crumbs of support by Loyal voters were new forum and other leftist groups that had preached the need for East germans to maintain their own identity and forge a a one a path Between capitalism and socialism. A a it a not the first time that a people has forgotten its own martyrs a commented Ard television noting that Many of the pioneers of the pro democracy movement had spent years in jail working for their cause. Said Stephan Bickhardt of the leftist democracy now party a the revolution has cast off its democracy now new forum and another leftist group had banded together in a much publicized coalition that failed to get even 3 percent of the vote. Other East germans also see the end of another failed Experiment in socialism. A a it a just proof that people really Are just looking for riches and a trip to Tenerife a complained government worker Elke Heise naming the Canary Island vacation spot favored by thousands of Sun hungry West germans each year. Kevin Costelloe reports on Europe Lor the associated press Andrew j. Glass survival is what matters most in Washington ii amp my is a amp Mawk m to Tang i a. And Hekr of Flendy voice. A mmtfwmwiu1 it tag you amp Massaker Mem funny a a orc Okay of tuts tika6 mar Wai it flu you to put your. Fh0n6,"makgar in Case you Haven to noticed Washington is suffering through a severe news drought. It seems the action has skilled elsewhere a maybe to Moscow or Mongolia. So How Are Washington a Media mavens coping with their data deficit simple. With a Stream of stories about Washington a newly discovered insignificance. That tack should keep us Bobbing along quite nicely until the next full blown crisis once More fills our journalistic sails. Some of my colleagues blame a lethargic presidency for their woes. Nor docs president Bush shirk responsibility in this matter. When the Issue is raised he Points out that he a not the sort of fellow who propels red White and Blue rockets from the South Lawn of the White House merely because a Wall came tumbling Down in Berlin. Network news surveys show that there were a third fewer stories about Bush aired during his first year in office than there were about Ronald Reagan when he moved into the White House. Perhaps one reason for this disparity is that Reagan had the bad Fortune of being shot Only 69 Days after being inaugurated. But Why raise that item if it detracts from the main Story line Newsweek a Eleanor Clift recently weighed in with her report on the significance of Washington a insignificance. She quotes former Georgia gov. Lester Maddox who observed that the Only Way to improve prisons is to get a better class of prisoners. But with the Bland leading the Bland around the Capitol Steps that a not Likely to happen Here anytime soon. Actually All the current keyboard carping about our relative irrelevance masks a real Story from Singapore to Spain the worlds Economy is thriving. Even if the United states continues to hold its own in this fiscal sweepstakes a an unproved presumption a the nations slice of the Overall pie will diminish. Still americans arc a resilient people who know How to Cope with adversity. Take the Case of a Washington based corporate lawyer whom i know. A decade ago he helped put together a successful takeover bid for hallmark greeting cards. It was widely viewed As the classic Deal which awakened Wall Street to the Joys of leveraged buyouts or los. As the decade progressed my lawyer Friend earned hundreds of thousands of dollars doing More los even As he defended them on the oped pages of several leading newspapers. Then the Campeau merchandising caper collapsed. Suddenly at least for lawyers lbs became synonymous with a Large bankruptcy now my lawyer Friend expects to earn a hefty salary in the 1990s picking up the pieces from the failed business deals he helped fashion in the 1980s. There is More of this kind of thing going around than you might imagine. The other Day for example i got a a dear Friend letter from Richard j. Whalen. Although Over the years in be been to dinner parties with Whalen he is not a Friend. After writing a the founding father a a highly successful biography of Joseph p. Kennedy Whelan has mainly earned his living advising conservative politicians and minding conservative causes. A is the cold War really Over or Are new Battle lines being drawn for Globa economic warfare a Whalene a letter asks. He promises to reveal All on april 4 at a $250-a-seat seminar in a Washington hotel. Judging How furiously world events Flash by us these Days shall we a Niri fresh set of guidelines by then. N something like a new angles Loi Golan. You never know. All that is cd to Lei that Washington folks will do an it la to survive. They will even if they. Lately have to stoop so Low As to no prophets of their own peripheral ism Cox news service
