European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and Stripe Sandrew j. Glass despite comeback Nixon must accept blame red Vujs a adorn k. J. After we boarded a nearly de scr cd jetliner for a family trip to new York on a quiet saturday afternoon a few years ago Richard Nixon sat Down across the aisle. Flashing a conspiratorial smile the flight attendant whispered sweetly to my son who was 10 at the time. Did he know who was also aboard the plane yes Sam said. Maybe if you asked him nicely he would give you an autograph the attendant ventured. A the lost his Good name a Sam responded. Now fit and Alert in his 78th year the former president seemingly has no higher calling than to try to restore his Good name. In his newly released autobiography a in the Arena a Nixon seeks to Advance his final Campaign by debunking several a a myths about watergate while portraying himself As a the victim of dirty  Nixon declines to judge whether the Price he paid for watergate a resignation from his High office a was a fair one. But he told time Magazine that a Many of my friends and my family think it was very unfair and  nothing could please Nixon More than to see such sentiments stretch Well beyond his family Circle. As a shrewd observer of Public opinion Nixon knows that political fashions change with the years. Thus Ronald Reagan a Stock has fallen. Jimmy Carter once belittled As a failure is widely lauded As a statesman. Is the Long depressed Nixon Market about to Issue a a buy signal one Way to test fairness is to imagine what would have happened had the president not departed for California on that sweltering summer Day nearly 16 years ago. The answer even today is Plain enough. On aug. 5, 1974, an embattled White House released the transcript of a tape made in the Oval office just six Days after the watergate break in. In it the president of the United states orders his Tom Wicker Tell flip out about the video royalties first shiite tomorrow Nancy 1 staff to try to thwart the Fri in Pum Tion of the 1972 burglary. 8a a alone that would probably not have been enough to bring Down my adn i traction Nixon asserts in his new Bonk but that would have been an Imp Rufi Call to make m 1974. It All residual political support for Nixon imploded with the discharge of that smoking  had Nixon still Clung to his office the House of Renne Senta Tives would have impeached him by a Large margin. Y by fall with the business of the country at a near standstill the Senate would have formed itself into a 100-person jury. For Only the second time in the nation s history the chief Justice of the United states would have mounted the Rostrum to administer to each senator an oath to a do impartial Justice according to the Constitution and the  the first such trial fostered by Radical republicans against Andrew Johnson in the aftermath of the civil War led to acquittal. Allegations of obstruction of Justice lodged against Nixon surely would have yielded a different outcome. Nor would that have been the end of it. After the Senate stripped him of his office Nixon could have had to face the same criminal conspiracy charges that subsequently dispatched so Many of his associates to jail cells. Indeed the Best value that Nixon received for the $1.8 million that he spent on watergate lawyers was their adroitness in swaying Gerald Ford into issuing the Pardon that circumvented such a trial. Next to resigning accepting the Ford Pardon a was the most painful decision of my political career a Nixon now reports his attorney held that he had taken As much punishment a physically mentally and emotionally As he could stand and there was no other Way a for my own Well being and my  perhaps. But neither a presidential Pardon nor a Book can change reality. Cox news service Andrus deserves Praise for abortion Bill veto three cheers for gov. Cecil Andrus who Rose above his personal predisposition and saw the Idaho abortion Bill for what it was a faulty in its origins Overly restrictive in its provisions thoroughly deserving of his veto. Undoubtedly lots of other americans who abhor abortion As Andrus does will agree with him that the Bill was not a proper vehicle upon which to rest their Case. Such americans More nearly represent the National ideals of fair play individual rights and respect for others opinions than did Brian Johnston an official of the National right to life committee. A governor Andrus a he said in a remark that will live in the annals of intolerance a has no right to Call himself pro life after his veto killed the Bill. There is he was saying Only one True Faith. It is not possible to be pro life except on Johnston a terms and those of his organization. No dissent no deviation no disagreement can be tolerated. Johnston a censure of a governor who followed his conscience despite his preference and in the Teeth of an opposition at least As powerful As those who supported the veto emphasizes the intolerance that has become the Central weakness of the pro life movement. That intolerance derives from the movements insistence that abortion is a moral Issue upon which All but one position will earn the stigma of mortal sin. But a growing preponderance of americans a and not just women a regard abortion As a rights Issue to be determined by the individual for him or herself. Its perhaps even More damaging politically that the pro life movement does not rely for vindication on the moral Force of its position but turns to government a the state of Idaho for example a to enforce what it sees As the one True Faith. The pro Choice movement on the other hand far More in keeping with the traditional american View of individual rights allows every citizen to make his or her own decision on this deeply personal question and holds that this Freedom of Choice is to be protected not invaded by a democratic government. To View abortion As a rights Issue moreover is essentially a Compromise position that comports More nearly than does Brian Johnston a absolutism with the democratic Ideal of respect for the rights and principles of others. No Law or constitutional amendment proposed or even contemplated would cause anyone to have effect or condone an abortion and no one would be compelled to change his or her own View or to submit to government compulsion against his or her wishes. The pro Choice position respects the rights of All rather than denying the rights of some by government Fiat that a Why in the Long run it will be More representative of the views of More americans a Many More a than the absolutism and intolerance associated with the pro life movement. The Idaho drama raised several interesting questions. Is a Boycott for instance a legitimate political tactic Andrus said the threat of a Boycott of Idaho potatoes if he signed the Bill did not affect his judgment. That a not Likely to prevent charges that he knuckled under to the threat rather than acting out of conscience. Even so there a no reason to fault the tactic. Idaho legislators or those of any state or members of Congress should not have to be told that they do not act in isolation on any Given Issue what they do about it can and often will provoke Public reaction. Besides Public officials Are As often and As properly motivated by the perceived consequences of their actions As by abstract judgment and a potato Boycott is available to pro life activists As it was to their opponents. Andrus is not Likely to be the Only one who opposes abortion while also recognizing that the Idaho Bill was too rigid and punitive. A woman who had been raped but had not reported the crime within seven Days As Many do not would have been liable to criminal penalties had she later discovered that she was pregnant and undergone an abortion. A pregnant 17-year-old victim of incest could have had a Legal abortion a pregnant 19-year-old victim would have had to Bear the child. Yet the National right to life committee rejected All efforts to soften such provisions. Andrus also rebelled against a Bill drawn outside Idaho less to embody that states demonstrated attitude than to enable Justice Sandra Day of Connor to Rule abortion unconstitutional in any state when the Idaho statute came before the supreme court. It May be doubted whether anyone knows enough about Justice of Connors views to predict her reaction but no wonder Andrus vetoed state legislation resigned to have a National effect that Congress i Seit a refused to approve. New York times the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in Way to be considered As representing the views of stars and stripes or the United states government