European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 7, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday september 7, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary William Safir soviet reformers have Only begun their task a wan Csc a some of us remember the imperious Way Mikhail Gorbachev Cut off the microphone of Andrei Sakharov when that saintly dissenter tried to protest against impending dictatorship just Days before he died. For that reason we find it hard to join editorialists who Tut Tut at the a a bullying Way Boris Yeltsin told the chastened Gorbachev to read out the truth from a similar Rostrum. The crowd that used to say the Peoples of the soviet Empire really were born to authoritarianism and that we should not encourage the Pushy Landsbergis of Lithuania because disunion would surely Lead to anarchy followed by dictatorship now pushes this line lets not be beastly to the former despots in the communist party the red army or the Kab. A no Witch Hunt is their phrase of Choice. It also comes from such overnight civil libertarians As Gus Hall Here and the hard liners in Havana Beijing and North Korea. Translated from the hypocritical that Means shoot if you must the 13 arrested coup plotters but do not harass the millions of Petty tyrants informers and social parasites who profited from the predation of communism at the expense of their neighbors. Unfortunately real civil libertarians Are picking up that line arguing that the Yeltsin suspension of pravda seizure of party assets and reign by decree defeat the democratic purposes of the second revolution. A principled stand that a but Only if the communists were a political party and not a conspiracy to control society and stamp out Freedom. In a pro Witch Hunt. That is i would release most of the totalitarian 13 and let them Lead police to the assets hastily transferred abroad. But i would fire from the Public payroll every non elected official who was a member of the party at the time of the coup. Let them go free and go into private Enterprise or sponge off the families they corruptly enriched. What standing do Well wishing outsiders have they also serve those who simply stand and Root. We should let our newly freed friends know what longtime anticommunist abroad Hope to see. We Are rooting for the thorough removal of communists now former communists pretending they were Good republicans All along from appointed positions of Power. They Are still entrenched. They Are changing their spots to meet the fashion and claiming to be bureaucratically indispensable but they Are a Burden to recovery and a danger to democracy. We Are rooting for the demobilization of the armed services the Cost of which is an economic Millstone. A forty acres and a mule was a great 19th-Centuiy idea. Millions of soldiers should be mustered out and Given a As their private property a land and a piece of Machin Ery to farm it. We Are rooting for the total dissolution of the Kab. The former communist politician he ran sixth in a Field of six for president of Russia appointed by Gorbachev to a a purge it is Vadim Baratin who is showing a skill for Media manipulation. He ostentatiously fires his son showing purity from nepotism a but retains tens of thousands of secret police who should be learning what life is like on a bread line. He terminates the Kab Board of directors a but keeps most of its members in their mid level jobs awaiting the moment of restoration. He transfers troops to the army a from which they can be swiftly recalled a rather than disbanding them. He is Bamboo Ling the reformers and the Western press by using All the ringing words we like to hear safely denouncing his predecessor a while quietly continuing to maintain the centers coercive weapon against the republics aggressively to Sunborn foreign officials steal . Secrets and protect its web of Well paid traitors around the world. Like Gorbachev the handsome new Kab chief wants to fix the old Central system make it less political and More efficient a rather than do away with an Imperial Structure inimical to Freedom. In Kaliningrad reports the new York times a Henry Kamm a construction worker collecting signatures for an anti communist petition had a fist shaken in his face by a naval officer who barked a a we la get Yeltsin and  to which Aleksandras Kovets Kas replied a we Reed and clothe the military so shut your  the stunned officer fled. Kovets Kas the world is rooting for you. C the new York time Donald m. Rothberg Bush sitting pretty avoids overconfidence president Bush tried to set the tone for his re election Campaign with a pledge to avoid overconfidence. That might not be easy for a Campaign that will have More Money than it needs and All the Power and Perks of a president enjoying record popularity ratings. A no political strategist in the country can see any Way George Bush is not going to win and win big a said Edward Rollins manager of Ronald Reagan a 1984 reelection Victory. But Bush advisers a and the president himself a avoid such talk. A no overconfidence a said Bush. A a they la get their act together a Bush said of the democrats who Nave yet to assemble a Field willing to compete for the right to Challenge his re election. A fall this euphoria by some republicans is not very Good politics a Saia Pete Teeley a consultant with a Long history of association with Bush. A you just done to know what a going to  a the should run with the expectation that its going to be a close race a said Charles Black a Republican strategist. Black and Teeley were among participants in a political session Bush held recently at Camp David. A similar session to include people from around the country is expected to be held this month or next. A you begin to hear these Guys charging out of the Woodwork with one Central theme a Bush said of the democrats recently. A fall attack the president and All go after Bush for having no Domestic program.�?�. The democrats will have a hard time shifting attention to Domestic affairs at a time of riveting change in the soviet Union that follows by Only months a War in the persian Gulf. Democrats concede that if attention remains on foreign affairs  be competing against Bush a strength. That strength is reflected in the presidents sky High popularity ratings. Iowa was a terrible state for Bush in 1988. He was the states third Choice for the Republican presidential nomination and lost to Michael Dukakis in the general election. But even Iowa democrats concede Bush would carry the state if the presidential election were held now. So far even the Good news for the democrats is not that great. Consider the Washington Post Abc news poll taken while upheaval in the soviet Union was dominating the news. Six out of 10 people said the country was headed in the wrong direction. But 67 percent approved of How Bush was handling his Job. Its an Uncertain Economy that has americans thinking the country is headed in the wrong direction and that a the potential pitfall that also has Bush strategists concerned. A the political threat to the president lies in the state of the Economy rather than in any specific Democrat a said Black. How should Bush use his enormous popularity to help other republicans said Rollins. A the critical thing he has to be aware of is not necessarily losing but there Are 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats up and is it going to be an election of missed opportunities a said Rollins a former co chairman of the House Republican Campaign committee. A the can run any kind of Campaign he wants and win a Rollins said. He said the presidents strength gives him the Opportunity to Benefit other Republican candidates a instead of taking the course i think they re going to take which is a lets do a Rose Garden or lets not Start a Campaign until very  a Rose Garden strategy has great Appeal to incumbent presidents who Campaign for re election by staying close to the White House and portray themselves As too Busy with affairs of state. A traditionally presidents do not go out of their Way to try to bring in numbers for their own party a said Teeley. He predicted that Bush a former party chairman would go out of his Way to help gop candidates. A if everybody feels there a a Way to penetrate the democratic numbers my guess is he would be More Active on the stump a he said. But presidential landslides particularly in recent elections Haven to often translated into major gains for the presidents party in Congress. In 1984, while Ronald Reagan was carrying 49 states the democrats picked up two Senate seats. Four year later Bush had no coattails. He Carr cd 40 states but the democrats gained three House seats and one Senate seat. C the associated 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