European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes columns . Rosentha democratic opposition holds key to soviet Rescue and now the great delusion is being played out the soviet and american actors walking about and reciting their lines hoping that the world believes the play is reality. That is what the Summ Mil meeting is becoming a stage where a fantasy is being acted out a somehow the United states if Only it wished could save Mikhail Gorbachev and the soviet Union from the consequences of 70 years of soviet communist economic corruption political despotism imperialism abroad and colonialism at Home. We Are All entitled to fantasies but not when others suffer from them. The victims this time will be the soviet people if they take fantasy for truth. The fantasy obscures the fact that Only the soviet people can save their country and so it delays their self Rescue. It is not just a delusion that is being acted out but a cruel one. At a Washington news conference held by soviet economists journalists and propagandists an american woman listens to an hour of talk about nuclear arms control Germany the shape of the new Europe and then gets up to say that is All very Well but what plans do the soviet leadership have to get food on Moscow a empty shelves for an answer she gets a sneer from Corgi Arbatova. Who has sneered for All soviet governments for decades a what answers does the lady have herself in Moscow a shopper is asked by american to what she Hopes will come out of the Summit meeting from America. The United states should Send some fruit she says. Not All the oranges in Florida and All the wheat in Kansas will fill soviet shelves for More than a few Days. It is not food that the soviet Union needs but a system that would encourage Farmers to grow it teach Consumers to expect to pay reasonably for it and help shoppers conquer their entirely reasonable fear that anything on the shelves will be gone tomorrow so Hoard today for survival a Sake. Gorbachev comes to Washington at a time when perestroika a failure has not Only slashed his personal stature but deprived his government of writ or mandate a which Means Power to govern a in Many parts of the soviet Union. The United states cannot Patch up the soviet Economy because it is not a leaking tire it is a Blowout. Anyway our current and past administrations have left us at the Point where we cannot even Rescue Panama. President Gorbachev might have saved the soviet Union from economic disaster. His first step had to be scrapping the communist political and economic system altogether. The confusion he has created in his country a one step Forward by encouraging talk about a free Economy two Steps Back by insisting he is a communist and showing it with economic half measures a has made it too late for the soviet Union to avoid the Avalanche. In Washington soviet economists play their part in the cruel delusion by asking for Long term american credits to help the Kremlin. At the same time they barely conceal their contempt for Gorbachev and his ideological hesitations. They do not seem to see the contradiction Between saying the past five years have been a failure and asking for Long term credits for the same management. Or maybe they figure this country is Dotty about Gorbachev so they might As Well take advantage of it while they can for the soviet government. Which government and what kind Boris Yeltsin a Victory shows that in the russian heartland As in the colonized republics there is an unstoppable drive for Freedom from Moscow a domination. Gorbachev is not the first soviet president but he could be the last. One fear keeps alive in the West the desire to save the Moscow regime after Gorbachev fascism. Soviet hate paddlers Are crawling from under the rocks where soviet governments allowed them to Breed. Gorbachev appointed one Valentin Rasputin to his presidential Council. But More leaders of an anti fascist anti communist pro democracy movement Are emerging. They Are More Likely to follow Gorbachev than some of the rightist zealots with whom he likes to flirt. In any Case the soviet people will determine whether their future leads to More tyranny or Liberty. But to commit american strength to Gorbachev could foreclose the future on his democratic opponents the legitimate inheritors of the new soviet revolution. In them rests the Hope that the chaos created by communism will not Lead to another tyranny but to full Liberty at last. C new York times Tom Wicker even a lion won t Wake up California voters san Francisco a should the California Mountain lion be protected from hound dogs and Hunters should the state spend $30 million a year to buy and preserve habitat for Lions Deer and other wildlife yes say those who la vote for proposition 117 on tuesdays crowded primary ballot. No reply others who think the a Mountain lion initiative is unnecessary even fraudulent. In referendum land things arc not always what they seem. With 15 propositions a most ill explained and some poorly drafted a on the ballot not enough californians have a Clear idea of what they la be voting on. If that is they vote at All. In a poll taken Early in May the Field Institute found that Only 30 percent of respondents had even heard of proposition 111, which would raise gasoline taxes and relax state spending limits. Only 23 percent knew anything about proposition 118, to Reform procedures for drawing new election districts after the 1990 census and even fewer 11 percent had heard of proposition 119, a More Complex redistricting plan. Political soothsayers moreover predict a Low turnout despite a hard fought race for the democratic gubernatorial nomination Between attorney general John Van de Kamp and Dianne Frinstein the former mayor of san Francisco. . Sen. Pete Wilson is the gop nominee. Since Wilson leads both democrats in trial heat polls of the Field Institute most interest seems to be entered on the  a particularly on the two that would affect redistricting and on the proposal to increase the Gas tax and allow More spending. The Prospect seems to be however that these initiatives important As they undoubtedly Are will be voted up or Down by comparatively few of californians millions and even fewer will fully understand what they re doing. That should be kept in mind As various spin doctors try to extract National significance from whatever happens to proposition 111. It would add 5 cents per gallon to the states gasoline tax in 1990, and 1 cent annually in each of the next four years with the $15.5 billion proceeds earmarked for californians extensive transportation needs. It also would circumvent some tight restraints imposed on state spending by a proposition enacted several years ago. Since California sentiment often runs ahead of National Public opinion approval of proposition 111 might be taken to signal an end to the anti spending attitudes ushered in by proposition 13, approved in 1978. That could have an effect on president Bush and the congressional delegates now trying to negotiate a reduction in the Federal deficit and contemplating major spending reductions. But in a Low turnout approval of proposition 111 might have no such cosmic meaning a particularly when so few voters seem to be Well acquainted with the Issue. Defeat on the other hand might More nearly be caused by opposition to the higher Gas tax than to greater spending. So the a message a if any will not necessarily be loud or Clear. One of the redistricting proposals proposition 118, would require that new election districts be approved by a two thirds vote of the legislature and would establish new legislative ethics regulations. The other proposition 119, would require reapportionment by a special supposedly non political commission. Both Are in reaction to the partisan redistrict ing by the democrats after the last Cen sus and both anticipate the addition this time of six or seven new members to the California congressional delegation the nations largest. Both initiatives come in the Guise of Good gov emment Reform. In fact the democrats oppose and the republicans support them because the real question is which party will control the redrawing of the states election districts a hence to a great extent the makeup of its legislature and congressional delegation. Either proposition if approved would make it More difficult for a democratic legislature to enact another heavily partisan redistricting scheme and easier for a Republican governor to impose his party a interests on the new political map. All Crocodile tears aside the Issue is control though its being touted As fairness and Reform. As for the Mountain lion a a it a not endangered its not threatened a a wildlife biologist assured the los Angeles times. Other opponents of proposition 117 claim the $30 million habitat fund is a Boondoggle siphoning off Money from More important wildlife programs. In referendum land the real question is Why such matters Arentt left to the lawmakers elected to wrestle with them. C new York times