European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday november 2,1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Harry f. Rosentha longtime tradition of leaks has its purpose begin with the premise that leaking sensitive information is a time honoured Way of doing business in Washington. Beniamin Franklin was not above doing it accept too the idea that leaking is done for a purpose. Its a Way of stabbing someone without leaving fingerprints or even the ice pick. It can air a Point of View without taking responsibility. It can marshal Public opinion. It can swell the self import nip of a faceless government worker to a size beyond his imaginings if he does no to get caught. Right now the Senate is engaged in self flagellation Over the source of the leak to a reporter about the sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas before his confirmation As a supreme court Justice. It seeks to Root out the evildoer and expose his or her sins All Over Capitol Hill. The attempt to derail Thomas employed Only one of an infinite variety of ways to a get Ink in the parlance of the Trade. Contras to popular belief a leak does no to have to be partisan. The information that president Bush a chief of staff was using government planes for private trips most certainly came from within the White House. Imagine you Are a hard liner working for an administration trying to better relations with the soviet Union. You leak information that the soviets Are building a huge radar installation at Krasnoyarsk a treaty violation. You have sowed within a doubt that opponents Plant from without. Or suppose you want to gauge Public opinion on a subject. You tickle the ear of a reporter who is Only too Happy to run with an exclusive Story. Other news organizations competitive juices prompt them to get the same Story. If the reaction is bad you deny this Ever was an idea seriously considered and escape without getting wet. The Senate last week voted 86-12 to hire a special investigator to look for the leaker in the Thomas Case who is Odds on a Senate employee. As the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call noted a the Senate has battled leaks and their press conduits for More than a Century imprisoning reporters firing aides censuring senators but never succeeding in damming the Marty Linsky a lecturer in Public policy at the Kennedy school of government at Harvard University mentions a Well pointed leak As far Back As 1771. Benjamin Franklin obtained letters written by Thomas Hutchinson the appointed governor of Massachusetts Colony in which Hutchinson suggested limiting freedoms for Massachusetts citizens in the interests of preserving order. He leaked them with a tremendous outcry and Hutchinson was recalled a. Linsky says. A a it a thought of by historians As a fairly critical event convincing a lot of people on the Fence that reconciliation with England was unlikely.�?�. Thomas Paine As Secretary of the foreign affairs committee of Congress was privy to secret negotiations Between the United states and France for purchasing arms to conduct the revolutionary War. He revealed the details of the negotiations in a series of letters published under a pseudonym in 1778 and 1779. To find leaks says historian Samuel Gammon a you Wiley a. Hall Iii could go Back to any Defeated nomination. Nominations to the supreme court of the United states Are peculiarly subject to them. Its High risk because its a life sentence. At least one of three or two of five supreme court nominations get shot for an example look no farther than the 1987 _. Vard Law professor. Ginsburg a use of marijuana both nation of Doug. Ginsburg a 41-year-old former har while in College and As a professor was conveyed to a reporter. After it became Public Ginsburg withdrew. There were leaks and whispered allegations in 1969 when two successive Nixon nominees for the supreme court were rejected. Allegations of drinking and womanizing against former sen. John Tower whom George Bush wanted As Secretary of defense were fuelled by leaks. Leaks have bedevilled Many a president. In exasperation Ronald Reagan said a live had it up to my Keister with these he once ordered his staff not to talk to the press without an of from the White House press office. The most famous of leaks was when Daniel Ellsberg handed the Pentagon papers a a secret study of the Vietnam War a to a new York times reporter in 1971. That begat the White houses notorious a a plumbers unit which later begat the watergate burglary which produced a White House cover up which eventually caused president Nixon to resign. Linsky who has written much about the press and politics says leaking has been a Normal Way of doing business in this country a so a Normal question of whether its proper is beside the a the reason leaks Are effective a says Kathy rudder Secretary of the political science association a is that we Are supposed to have an open government process. A leak releases information that one might argue should have been in the Public Domain All Gammon executive director of the american historical association Calls the Thomas Case a part of the larger Story of the artistic use of As a tool of government he says a you could almost generalize that it works when it ought to work and it tends to fall of its own weight when it ought anyway he says things Haven to yet reached the Radical a Law of the suspects Quot stage of the French revolution. A if you were accused of something then a says Gammon a they figured where there a smoke there a fire you must be guilty and the glorious Republic can to take chances a Gammon says. A so you a be sent to the chopper. That show you got rid of people you owed Money in More modern times All you need is a Telephone. C the aaa Odatal Para Indian sensitivity ignored by sports society forgive me for mincing words but we live in a rude arrogant disrespectful and generally obnoxious society. For decades now american indians have tried to Tell us that they done to enjoy being used As mascots for sports teams. Sometimes they have been polite about it. Sometimes they have been strident. Several colleges and High schools have responded to their complaints and Why not it seems a simple thing to adopt a new Mascot and if it avoids offending an entire race of people its worthwhile. But the Cleveland indians perhaps the most miserable team in baseball still cling to their chief Wahoo the cruel caricature they use As the team logo. The Washington redskins one of the last professional football teams to integrate its squad continue to insist that their repugnant nickname is meant As a compliment to indians not an insult. And All Over the country High school and College students whose schools use indians As their team Symbol Don headdresses and War paint and dance around in Little circles whooping a May Yiyi Yin a the Way the ill fated indians in those old westerns used to do it a and All in the name of Good clean fun. But american indians keep trying. The Atlanta braves lost the world series. The redskins Are undefeated after eight games and Are considered a serious contender for the super bowl. The Florida state seminoles a the no. 1 team in College football. American indians Are trying to take advantage of All of the hoopla and attention surrounding these teams to make a simple Point they Are neither flattered nor amused by the portrayal of their peo ple As team mascots. An Indian group picketed the opening game of the world series. Another group plans to picket upcoming Redskin games. It dehumanizing derogatory and very unethical a said a regional director of the american Indian movement in Atlanta. He was describing the a Tomahawk chop adopted by braves fans As a Way of inspiring their team. A it extends a portrayal of native american people As being warlike aggressive and added the Leader of a group of concerned parents who have pushed for an end to Indian mascots of High school and College teams in Minnesota a people in Atlanta done to realize they re talking about an entire race of people. It hurts. You have Todias the line on Good clean fun when it infringes on ethnic in a polite society these words would be enough. But ours is not a polite society ours is a rude arrogant disrespectful and generally obnoxious society. A group of people our neighbors and fellow citizens have said they Are insulted by our behaviour. Only a very very crude and loathsome society would refuse their request. C tha Baltimore evening Sun 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
