European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes thursday november 1,1990 . Rosentha gearing policy toward soviet Balkans nation the soviet ship sinks rapidly now. The world knows that the soviet Union is in deep trouble but the depth of the disaster approaching has not taken hold. Nor has any thought been Given to what might be done if anything to help save the passengers trapped  crisis at a time that is what most of us seem Able to handle. The iraqi threat has moved the soviet Union from the prime time and front Page of the worlds consciousness. That is Only one reason that the full extent of the soviet collapse has not quite penetrated our minds. Mikhail Gorbachev is another. He appears so often and so prominently in foreign capitals that it is hard to understand that whenever he lands at Home he must won Der whether he still has a Job a and if so How Long it will have any meaning. And of course from the time of the bolshevik revolution in 1917 right through last year we were told by academics economists journalists diplomats and other soviet experts of one kind or another that the communist ship was unsinkable. Of maybe there were cracks Here and there but on two critical aspects of soviet life the Economy and handling of its nationalities it was sailing right along. Sometimes we were even told that we would be Lucky to do As Well. In 1984, John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that the soviet Economy had made a great material Progress and went on a partly the russian system succeeds because in contrast to Western Industrial economies it makes full use of its  it is not fair to single out Galbraith since Many of his colleagues wrote much the same thing. But a a commentary Magazine nailed him on that in its August 1990 Issue and i just  get it out of my head. For decades we were also fed the Story that the soviet Union had pulled off the great task of melding the enormous variety of nationalities into one functioning system with Opportunity and Equality for All. So two soviet worlds existed. One was created by the leaders of the communist system. It was real and had Power. The other was by not All Western intellectuals journalists politicians and diplomats. It it had  not real but in the minds of millions of westerners p1 who believed in its existence. Now both worlds have fallen apart. Of the 15 soviet a republics a 13 have declared sovereignty. Inside those 13, scores of other minorities regions and ethnic groups shave announced their own Legal separateness. Moscow a writ extends Only where local groups decide to accept it time to time and Law by Law. Civil uprising Breaks out from one end of the country to another. More and More Moscow will rely on Force to Rule. But thousands of draftees refuse to serve an Walter Mears thousands of serving soldiers in Germany sell their uniforms and rifles for Marks. We hear of consumer  but what has not really sunk in is that the food situation May become a matter of hunger not shortage because of the breakdown of harvesting and distribution. Before Long the world May have to Deal with a wave of economic refugees from the soviet Union a delegation of the russian republics parliament toured this country recently crying sos. But it did not know the ways of american press and politics its message reached few americans. All the talk of All the Summit conferences about How the West would help the soviet Economy was a charade As is Gorbachev a agreement signing in Madrid and Paris. The soviet system cannot be saved a nor should it be. A new system will succeed communism. Whether separate nations or a Community of them whether in peace or civil War Freedom or repression is unknowable. Prepare food lifts soviet visitors plead. But As the russians said food shipped through the remnants of the collapsing Central system will be lost in the corruption of the apparatus or May go to feed the military. For decades the West refused to talk about the imprisonment of the soviet nationalities for fear of angering Moscow or causing trouble within the Empire. Eve last year the United states broke its half Century old Promise to support Baltic Independence. Now it is clearly in our interest political and moral to search out Peoples and organizations in Russia the Ukraine the Baltic Georgia and Armenia and make judgments about which Are working for a democratic future. We cannot do much now but at least we can Channel Aid to the passengers not the failed Captain and his frightened officers. C new York time Quayle still plugging to turn things around cruising toward town on a Highway cleared for his motorcade vice president Dan Quayle broadcast a Rush hour traffic report Quot my lanes  it was of course but there Are potholes along his political route to rival the traffic jams that piled up at All the Turnpike entrances. Quayle is trying to steer around them As he campaigns for republicans in the off year elections a week away. He did his Tongue in Cheek traffic item on a radio Call in show in Boston using his Limo a sine Telephone to keep campaigning be tween stops. When he goes Home to Indiana to vote Quayle will have covered at least 44 of the 50 states. He will have appeared at about 120 fund raising affairs that Drew More than 16 million Campaign dollars. Hell have an address Book full of gop contacts and some political chits that May be important to him in 1992. And hell still be Labouring to dispel the negative image and Adverse poll ratings that have plagued him since president Bush put him on the 1988 ticket and the National stage. A the Only thing i can Tell you. Is that we re doing the Job a the vice president said when the image Issue was raised. A a in be been campaigning now in this elec Tion Cycle in 44 different states and i feel that in be been very Well received been very Well  Bush already has said that Quayle will be his running mate again in 1992. But there will inevitably be pressure for a ticket change especially if Bush and his ticket look vulnerable heading into the next presidential Campaign. That a a Republican habit in varied circumstances. There was mid administration pressure against Bush a own vice presidential renomination and against Spiro t. Agnews in 1972 and Richard m. Nixon a in 1956. Gerald r. Ford switched running mates from Nelson a. Rockefeller to sen. Robert Dole in his losing 1976 bid to win the White House he held by appointment. The Long intensive Campaign Quayle has waged fits the personal political Agenda cementing his party ties with republicans seeking everything from Senate seats to Low profile state offices. It puts him on Campaign display without the gaffes that made him the butt of late night television comedy. The slips have been few none of them major. His Campaign delivery is smoother More relaxed than two years ago. It is the predictable set speech of a vice president hailing the chief denouncing the democrats for tax increases even though Bush endorsed them. The crowds react just As predictably applauding at appropriate Points. A a but the Volu me goes up when Quayle tackles Congress. T a the House of representatives has been controlled by the democrats since i was 7 years old a Stys Quayle 43. Pause for effect. Murmurs then laughter rippled through the crowd at the courthouse in suburban Philadelphia. A i Tell you there san idea that is sweeping this country. And that is the idea that it is time to limit the terms a he says voice rising Over the cheers. It plays As Well at every top. And it certainly plays better than his repeated defense of White House acquiescence to tax increases Quayle is said to have urged privately that budget negotiations be scrape Ujj earlier this month in favor of a head in Challenge to Congress. He wont disc amp his advice to Bush. He says the decision wis a close Call politically but without a budget Deal there could have been chaos. Now he tells the Campaign crowds that the democrats Are responsible for tax in creases assures voters that the Rich will.  of the. Bijl insists that million will be taxed a More efficiently and surely thah would leave been the Case with a simple surtax Quot Quot a we have seen people say that its going to be disastrous for the Republican party but i done to believe that a Quayle said on the Boston talk show. He said voters should take but their frustration on incumbents meaning democrats Giying them a the Hook Ana the heave to from the Congress and  i a a it a time for a change. The american people want a change a he said. I but when Quayle made a final Campaign swing to the Northeast the candidate Competition to stay at his Side was less than intense. That led to a suggestion that appearing with him might not be helpful just now Given a Public perception that republicans Are protecting the Rich. A if that a the perception its an erroneous perception he said. J a i can do three things for candidates a raise Money raise the profile of individuals and i can energize the troops. But As far As getting people to vote for or against candidates they have to present themselves to the voters a i Quot of Assoc Iliad press