European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Columns Anthony Lewis its time we stood up to the ignorant zealots m a Small band of religious zealots and right Wing political opportunists is trying to show the world that America is an intolerant Puritan country contemptuous of artists. Are the rest of us going to Lake that in silence wringing our hands or Are we going to stand up and fight that is the real Issue posed by the assault on the National endowment for the arts. It is not a narrow question of language in an appropriation or authorization Bill. What happens to the Nea will significantly define our National attitude toward the arts define culturally what kind of country we Are. One of the leaders of the War on the Nea is the Rev. Donald Wildmon founder and director of the american family association of Tupelo miss. He said in april a a we re spending $175 million in this area that benefits primarily the Rich and the  in fact the endowments tiny budget $171 million this year goes almost entirely to mainstream activities More musical than anything else. Over the 25 years of the near a existence millions of americans have listened to music watched plays and seen Art supported by its Grants. To Wildmon All or much of that is  the scope of his attack could hardly be wider or More menacing to the climate of Freedom required for the arts to thrive. Wildmon would no doubt prefer to live in the Spain of Torquemada the Massachusetts of Colton Mather or the soviet Union of Stalin. The pictures would All be approved realism and there would be no dancing around the maypole. The censor in chief Wildmon would make the rules. Sen. Jesse Helms is Wildmone a powerful ally in Congress. Last year he aroused an uproar Over the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition that included a few homosexual photographs and he succeeded in attaching to the Nea appropriation language forbidding Grants for things he regarded As obscene. This is an election year for Helms and he will surely be beating up on the Nea again. What could be an easier Way to politick and incidentally to Embarrass All the congressional colleagues who despise his bullying than to denounce Federal spending on depraved artists the critics of the Nea when they want to sound reasonable say that after All it is Only a question of making sure that government Money does not go for objectionable Art. But that argument begs the real question who decides when politicians get into the business of deciding what is legitimate Art the game is up. That is Why the Nea was originally set up in a Way that insulated Grant decisions from political pressure with peer review committees playing a crucial role. Wildmon and his allies like to make it seem that Grants have gone to  stars and All kinds of other improper purposes. The truth is Tamer. Over 25 years Only a handful of Grants have raised any eyebrows. The most depressing thing about the assault on the Nea has been the Craven response. The endowment itself has Bent Over backward. It decided to enforce the Helms amendment by making artists swear that they would not produce obscene works a humiliating piece of nonsense that rightly led Joseph Papp of the new York Public theater to turn Down a Grant. Then there has been the reaction of some conservatives. Rather than get caught up in the question of defining what is proper Art they say we should abandon the whole idea of Grants for the arts abolish the Nea. That action would be a confession that the United states is a less civilized country a less grown up country than Germany or France or Italy or Britain or All the others that subsidize the arts. They can handle the problem of political Bluenose but we cannot. The . Government spends a pathetically Small amount on the arts compared with european countries. They believe that the Richness and variety of theater and dance and music Are an important measure of a society a Quality. There is a particular irony in the attempt to arouse a repressive american attitude to the arts at this time. We Are cheering Eastern Europe a liberation from communism a a liberation marked by Freedom for literature and the arts. There is no reason for grown  to be cowed by Wildmon Helms and their like. It is time for the administration Congress and the rest of us to fight Back against the know nothings. C the new Yorr times Andrew j. Glass 2 Bush conservatives who act o lot like liberals promptly at 9 . On a recent Crystal Clear Friday evening a sleek government Jet began rolling toward the Active runway at new Yorkus la Guardia Airport. Looking out the window a frustrated passenger eager to get Home counted 19 planes in the line. An air traffic controller confirmed the bad news it would take at least 45 More minutes to get airborne. The controller works for the Federal aviation administration. Thais a Branch of the . Department of transportation. Aboard the delayed Jet sat transportation Secretary Samuel k. Skinner. Skinner could have pulled rank and demanded a priority departure. Instead he characteristically waited his turn. Then Back in his office he ordered an investigation into Why the Northeast air corridor remained jammed up in perfect weather hours after the usual Peak travel period had nominally ended. A we never did get a straight answer a Skinner an experienced Pilot said. Skinner confided that he sometimes rides planes and trains incognito. When he finds something amiss he writes a note to someone who can fix it. New York times pundit William Safire Calls Skinner a a player a the highest accolade one can bestow on a Washington personage. Safire and others suggest that he is in line for a promotion maybe to attorney general and maybe to run George Bush s re election drive in 1992. A a there a been no discussion of that a Skinner responds. Asked Why the president invited him As a House guest to his vacation Home in Kennebunkport Maine Skinner smiles and takes a Long sip of coca cola. A maybe he needed some Money off the Golf course a he finally says. A the beat me three out of four  Skinner wins High Marks in the critical environment of Washington because of his penchant for problem solving a from the Valdez Oil spill to Hurricane Hugo. A president Bush likes people who get things done a a White House adviser explains. A people who get out see what a happening Tell him about it and propose solutions. Skinner does that. So does Jack Kemp. Jack and the Boss were political rivals. But he puts Jack in the same class As  As Secretary of housing and Urban development Kemp describes himself As a a bleeding heart  unlike his one time Mentor Ronald Reagan Kemp believes government must help the helpless. Despite tight budgets Kemp seeks innovative ways to makes Homes available to first time and Low income buyers. If he had his Way the nations 13,000 Public housing projects would be turned Over to resident manager owners. He pledges to carve a million new homeowners from the ranks of the poor by 1992. A i am of the school that Good policies Lead to Good results a Kemp says. He Sheds his coat. He chops the breakfast table with his right hand to emphasize his Points. A polished Gold american football league championship ring the vestige of his quarterbacking years on the Buffalo Bills glistens in an interviewers face. A Jack Kemp has talked face to face with More poor people in the last four years than most of the civil rights leaders have in the last 20,�?� Robert l. Woodson of the Center for neighbourhood Enterprise told the Washington posts William Raspberry. Kemp and Skinner stand out in the Bush Cabinet because they Are hands on activists who nevertheless manage to retain their conservative credentials. Observes Skinner a people have a Basic distrust of the Way government spends its Money. They Are reluctant to raise any taxes. We be got to restore credibility with the voters on How they Are  Cox news service the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page f resent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As reps ing the views or the stars and stripes or the United states government