European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday october 14, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Mary Mcgrory Gates played right music for Senate ears Robert Gates in his make or break return appearance before the Senate intelligence committee demonstrated the understanding of what is wanted that has made him a favorite of presidents and other powerful  was not apologetic to the committee. He did the contrition gig in his debut on sept. 16, when he told the senators he was sorry he had not shown a Little More curiosity about the Iran Contra scandal going on around him when he was William Casey a Deputy at the Cia. The committee loved it so much that his chances went from questionable to Good and stayed there until last week when a Trio of former employees came in from the cold and called him a trimmer. The opening remarks in which Gates refuted the charges Point by Point a or at least most of them a had several of the qualities he warned his writers against. He sounded variously smug arrogant and complacent but he played to his audience every step of the Way. He opened with a reference to George Bush. He closed with a reference to their a uncommon relationship a knowing that that is the reason republicans have rallied around his confirmation. His testimony was As smooth As the Best administration wordsmiths could make it. It came Down he said in his Flat midwestern twang to a question of those with firsthand knowledge a his defenders a and those without his accusers. The infection is limited to Sova which May sound like a glamorous slavic spy but is the name of the soviet affairs division which was charged with rationalizing William Casey a cold War fixations. It was also the site of an eternal War one of Gates apologists said Between a com sumps and  it was the question period that enabled Gates to show the stuff that sped him up the Power ladder and to illuminate his subtext which is what is going most strongly for him among democrats particularly the committees chairman sen. David Boren a okla. It is the Promise that he will be kind to Congress. Sen. John Glenn a Ohio was led to believe that his favorite subject non proliferation would get a great Deal of attention from a director Gates. Glenn asked a question that went to the heart of the grave charge of politicization. First he asked about Cia estimates of pakistanis nuclear capabilities. Glenn wrote a Bill that cuts off military Aid to bomb making countries. But the Cia never would give the data that would require Pakistan to be certified for having the bomb a that would have Cut Oil our military Aid to Afghanistan. Gates answered that it had been a lawyers quarrel and that it boiled Down to a question of Wyeth William f. Buckley or the pakistanis have an assembled weapon. There was a never any pressure a just a a a caution to be very careful about the words to be  then Glenn asked about Gates famous speech plugging Star wars. Glenn did no to think a High Cia official should be peddling weapons a particularly those that Are the subject of fierce debate. Gates said arrogantly that he did no to think a Cia director should be barred from making speeches such As William websters on proliferation. He might wish to emulate Webster he said slyly and talk about non proliferation. The most he would concede is that his Star wars speech could have been a misread As  Glenn failed to ask Gates Why he had made it in the first place. Probably because Casey asked him to. The perfect Butler never says no. Gates understood perfectly that Congress does not want him to take revenge on the Sova rebels who led the charge against him. Yes there was a a a perception of politicization and yes he was going to ask the analysts to help him track it Down and he wanted Congress to Tell him what to do too. Glenn was a bit Wistful. The discrepancies of four years ago in Gates Iran Contra testimony have been reinforced by sworn witnesses. A maybe a Glenn said wistfully a we should do what they do at the Agency a use a lie  c Universal Pross Syndicate Thomas ensnared by gender differences Here Are a few fugitive thoughts on the Clarence Thomas Anita Hill business. A is it True that men tend to be callous to sexual harassment the answer is yes and no and i do not Here mean to sound like judge Thomas during much of his hearings. I mean this that the sexual appetite is vibrant in men and although obviously As much can be said about the sexual appetites of women they Are less quickly aroused. The sociology of courtship More or less acknowledges this disparity by giving to the male the initiative. It is he who pleads for the hand or indeed for the body of the woman she accepts agrees or does not. A it is the function of civilization to instruct men to curb their appetites so As to comply with conventions. And these conventions in our society Are designed to respect the person uni the will of the woman. The ultimate profanation is the act of rape though the psychologists insist that this is not a sexual act but rather an act of violence. It is probably both and is in any event a misogynistic in character. A some men learn More easily than others the manners of intersexual relations. This is an important Point a namely that those who learn less quickly than others Are not for that reason alone condemned As less civilized. They Are properly condemned As less self disciplined. We know about too Many men in history with copious sexual appetites and profligate ways who on balance Are thought to have been assets to civilization rather than burdens to it to permit us to pronounce the Iron Law that promiscuity is a civil disqualification. A the traditional Means by which men initiate sexual experiences with women is by making a pass. Volumes have been written on the subject Many of them pedagogical in nature. How to enhance the prospects of Success. How to overcome initial resistance shyness de Mureness. Famous poems have been written on the subject under the generic title. Gather be rosebuds while you May. A the 14 men who heard in private the accusations against Clarence Thomas outraged much of the most vocal feminine Community by declining to make it the subject of Public interrogation. They Nave the impression that they did not weigh the charge As of sufficient Gravity to Merit Public interrogation. It is likelier that the senators m question reasoned As follows first that the refusal of the plaintiff to permit the use of her name suggested a reluctance to press her charge to the Point of submitting it to Cross examination. And second that the bizarre character of the charge encouraged scepticism. They were asked after All to believe that Clarence Thomas thought to arouse the erotic interests of the plaintiff by describing the sexual act As performed Between women and animals. Grown men and women know about the phenomenon of bestiality. But anyone attracted to bestiality is an aberrant and someone who summons the fantasy of bestiality As an aphrodisiac designed to attract a Beautiful and scholarly Young woman to bed cannot reasonably expect to have escaped the attention of others. If judge Thomas had a psychological weakness of character so grotesque it is difficult to suppose that he could keep his derangement unnoticed. For which reason the committee and later the Fri interrogated other women with whom the judge was in close company and found nowhere any Trace of this bizarre taste. Under the circumstances the decision was made by sen. Loe Biden a Del. To let the matter drop. A in letting the matter drop it does not presuppose that the All male committee is indifferent to the offence of sexual harassment. It does suggest that the committee members Are seasoned men some of them no doubt themselves sexually promiscuous who know that it is biological realism that men will flirt with women and that the possibility in the Case in question was that flirtation did occur in which event it was not a disqualifying offence for service in High office. Call this the John f. Kennedy Law. And the possibility was also there to be considered that what happened Between the judge and his associate Wasny to seductive flirtation but something misinterpreted As such growing grotesque in the imagination sufficient to metastasize As an inclination to bestiality. The political meaning of All the above is really tragic. It is possible that some senators who for political reasons would like to prevent c Larunce Thomas from going to the supreme court will now be aide to vote against him pleading their sense of Shock Over character deficiencies that Are not Inci Nelly credible.  Jet 1 jyn111< .tit1