European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes thursday july 26,1990tomteepen he s a a a a cd. Richard Nixon is bringing the waiting Public still another new Nixon Richard the umpteenth. This one is the elder statesman. The occasion for this latest version of the Edsel was the opening of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda Calif. It occurs to me  that i have spent my whole adult life the entirety of my political sentience with Richard Nixon either hulking or lurking around the landscape depending on the season in his fortunes. A clip from his maudlin checkers speech was run on television As part of the reportage about the Library. Lucky visitors at the Library can Sec the thing in full if they have the stomach for watching Nixon pretend that the family a pet dog is at Issue Ana at risk Nixon then the vice presidential candidate had been caught with a private slush fund bankrolled by Oil Industry biggies. It looked As though Dwight Eisenhower might throw him off the ticket. The hopeful among us thought it would be the end of Nixon though we All know better now. Silver bullets have failed to keep him from returning from a series of political Graves. 1 Nixon scammed his Way out of the bind with a to speech that won the soft hearts of audiences accustomed at the time to weeping Oyer the misfortunes of women who paraded their personal tragedies in order to be crowned Queen for a Day. Of yes. You can look it up of course no one was trying to take checkers from the Nixon Hearth even though the dog had been  it was a typical Nixon performance bravely confronting a Straw Man Nixon would do it Over and Over in his career with poses along the lines of Quot i know Many will criticize me for it but i will oppose communism even so a Nixon came Back from the slush fund scandal. He came Back from defeat for the presidency in i960, from defeat for the California governorship in �?T62. Now he a coming Back sort of from watergate please remember that watergate was not Only or mainly a political misadventure. It was crime. Nixon got out of Washington just ahead of the sheriff. Uniquely Nixon a its All copies  new Richard non we. Peep six Pond 10m90fthe unknown toss Eblom Mew wet Femah  Goci Rose my Woods 5tatue / jueg4l emm he was facing certain conviction in a Senate impeach mint trial. The evidence a tons of it a had shown he personally participated in the cover up and misused such powerful Federal agencies As the Cia to backfill Richard Nixon had Talent though it has been exaggerated in retrospect certain foreign policy successes and the revised Canon notwithstanding. His career however has mostly been psychodrama in which he roped us All in. If Nixon had been a different character you could feel sad for his Twilight disgrace. But his career was marred from the Start. His successful red baiting campaigns for the House and Senate wrote the Book on checkers memorial Modem dirty politics. He never let up. He used race baiting to break the Quot solid democratic South even the presence at the Library opening of Billy Graham and three fellow presidents a one of whom had to Pardon Nixon to keep him out of night court a could t Wash his record. The Nixon Library is the Only presidential Library in which the papers Are copies. Congress had to seize and has had to keep the originals to prevent n Ixon from destroy in g in in Mina t i no Docu me its. The Library it turns out is an Apt memorial after All. Editor s note Tom to i it of Tyva Atlanta Constitution Batitto rial  Baker Concord . A David Hackett Souter nominated monday to the . Supreme court is known in his adopted Home state As a Brilliant Legal scholar a diligent judge a private Man. Never married he lives alone on the family farm near Weare ., where he moved from the Boston suburb of Melrose when he was 11. He is now 50. Like president Bush who appointed him Souter is an Episcopalian and a Republican. He has never served in the military. He belongs to the appalachian Mountain club and is in excellent health he told the Senate judiciary committee at the time he was nominated to the 1st circuit court of appeals this Spring. He had a net Worth of $621,252 at the end of 1989 a including $191,000 in a autos and other personal property a a $190,000 in securities and $150,000 in real estate a according to financial records released monday by the committee. He listed no liabilities. Bush said he wanted a Justice who would rely on the Constitution and not a legislate from the  and the president seemed to be getting what he wanted judging from the comments of lawyers who know Souter a As Well As from the few personal remarks of sout Eros that have made it into print. One of Souter a mentors sen. Warren Rudman r-., described him monday As a a classic conservative with great reverence for the Constitution and the  to greatly Revere Constitution Low a a the has a Small Circle of very Good friends and lives an almost monastic life a Rudman said. A if he has any fault i believe its that he a worked too hard ail his life. But that a the Way he  Stanley m. Brown a Manchester trial attorney described Souter As a cautious judge who ignores the political and emotional consequences of each Case when reaching a decision. A if there is any weakness in the Man it is that he does not pay any attention to the emotional political aspects Quot Brown said. A you Are not supposed to and he does no to. He is not going to create a  and rep. Charles g. Douglas r-., who served with Souter on the new Hampshire supreme court from 1983 to 1985, said a a there a nobody with a Keener mind a better ability to read and digest material and then write an opinion that will stick to the Law interpret the Law and not go rambling All Over the Countryside  Souter in self in an interview in 1976, let a Little of his own feelings out in remarks linking language and the Law. He said a the More we allow language to be debased the More free swinging we Are in our interpretation of Legal language the More arbitrary and personal not grounded in the constitutional  As attorney general of new Hampshire Souter told the Senate judiciary committee at the time he was nominated to the 1st circuit court of appeals this year he took Quot Active opposition to attempts to legalize Casino gambling in new Hampshire and to the prosecution of those who refused to end their occupation of the site of the Seabrook nuclear Plant in 1977.&Quot asked his View of a judicial activism Quot Souter wrote Quot the obligation of any judge is to decide the Case before the court and the nature of the Issue presented will largely determine the appropriate scope of the principle on which its decision should  Souter attended Harvard then Oxford University where he was a Rhodes scholar and Harvard Law school from which he was graduated in 1966. If confirmed he would be the first new englander to serve on the supreme court since the retirement of Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1962. He would be the court s second Rhodes scholar a the other is Justice Byron r while. After Law school Souter spent two years with a prestigious firm in Concord then became an assistant state attorney general in 1968, three years later he was appointed Deputy attorney general and in 1976, attorney Genera. Gov. Meldrim Thomson or. Appointed him a Superior court judge in 1978, and then gov. John Sinunu now White House chief of staff elevated him to the state supreme court in 1983, he was appointed to the 1st . Circuit court of appeals in Boston on april 30 and began that Job just last month. Boston area lawyers praised Souter a intellect and willingness to study a Case. David Berman an attorney from Medford argued a Case before Souter in june that involved questions about whether the town of Concord should pay for the education of a child suffering from multiple disorders. Questions he asked were highly intelligent questions both of me and my adversaries. I was very impressed by the time he had taken to study the Case a Berman said. On the judiciary committee questionnaire earlier this year Souter was asked the 10 most significant cases he personally litigated As Deputy attorney general. He included his first Case a simple automobile collision  a it was not significant for any Novelty except to me for it was the first Case i was allowed to try Solo in the Superior court Quot Souter wrote. A i had reason despite my Over preparation to be grateful for the court s patience and with equal thankfulness i remember the opposing counsel and even the opposing party for providing that first Chance for me to stand up in a courtroom All by  thu Assoc id Tad press the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government