European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday novembers 1992 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13 dispiriting 3-Man race prompts write in vote George f. Will when tonight with slow retreating tread departs and election Day dawns i shall cast a write in vote for president. Here is Why and for whom. The primary Point of voting is a influence the outcome of Competition for Power another reason for voting even when As is often the Case the outcome of an election is not in doubt in one state or in the nation is that we Register consent to the outcome by participating in the process. A third and not negligible reason for voting is the catharsis of venting an opinion. One should not cast a write in vote merely because neither party has put Forward a Paragon. Deciding Between disappointments a picking the least inadequate a is what a enthralled adults often do More or less cheerfully. But a write in vote is permissible indeed obligatory when no candidate represents even remotely what the nation needs. In such a Case to cast other than a write in vote is to Send a false signal of Contentment about the conventional choices. That is a truly wasted vote. What signal should a conservative of my Stripe Send not one that can be sent by voting for Perot Bush or Clinton. Perot has removed himself from the ranks of the la Sibie. The various instalments of North Dallas. Putty phantom guard dogs attacking invisible terrorists How dare anyone ask him for verification of the doctored photo plot or the other plots suggests that Perot is a this is the kindest construction a someone deranged by overdoses of sycophancy. Regarding Bush what the new Republic says merrily conservatives must gloomily acknowledge Quot Bush has done to conservatism what no Liberal opponent could have done he has destroyed it from  he has treated it As a Mere expedient for his attainment of office. The nation always needs a healthy conservative movement to resist governments organic tendency toward aggrandizement and the suffocation of society a energies. There cannot be such a conservative movement until the Republican party is out from under Bush a control. Regarding Clinton the new Republic even while warmly endorsing him noted that a in so Many areas Clinton a thoroughly political character makes him at times almost indistinguishable from his  Clinton a assumptions about Revenue gains and self financing programs Are loopy to an almost Darman esque degree. And most of the a a change he promises would Point the nation in the wrong direction. In fact it is not real change it is just another instalment of reactionary liberalism a defense of factions strongly organized and skilfully represented in Washington. His itch to use government to manipulate the private sector particularly investment reflects an Overes ft1 Kimation of the usefulness of that Blunt instrument government and an overestimation of the skill and niceness of the class attracted to service in government and an underestimation of the benefits that would flow from an american society less supervised by that class wielding that instrument. Furthermore harnessed to his party a congressional action and propelled by its pent up demand for activism Clinton would Worsen inc worst aspect of Macri a Namaa up a Naif idea s increasingly dt0------------------ crease the role of the parasite class in governance. 1 refer to those principally w Kington lawyers and lobbyists and those who hire a a who Prosper in what author Jonathan Rauch Calls a the parasite  us a Large and growing portion of americans finite apply of entrepreneurial Energy is devoted to  this Energy is not devoted to generating wealth by producing goods and services. Rather it is devoted to manipulating government to capture wealth that others produce. Here is a Harbinger the Center for responsive politics divides the top business contributors to the presidential candidates into eight categories. Bush has received More than Clinton from seven categories. But Clinton decisively beats Bush with the heaviest contrib uting category lawyers and lobbyists. The nation needs what no contemporary Democrat can be someone controlled by this Core conviction the Point of an Enterprise society a in a sense the american premise a is that prodigies of productivity can result from millions of in heroic actions by individuals going about their business without government guidance supervision subsidy or regulation. The candidate who will receive my cathartic vote understands this. My candidate has kept his dignity in a setting inimical to dignity a the Bush administration. He has been conspicuous and often disdained there because of his ebullient interest in ideas in the absence of which politics is Mere appetite and cynicism. In his passion for entrepreneurial capitalism and empowerment of the poor he strikes the balance st. Benedict urged 15 centuries ago a so temper All things that the Strong May still have something to Long after and the weak May not draw Back in  my vote goes to Jack Kemp. This is not an endorsement of him for 19%. However it is a message to the prospective Clinton administration. My patience with it is wearing thin. C the Washington Post this lifelong Republican breaking tradition perhaps you too have had a rough time this year deciding which candidate you Are less against. Here is How one undecided voter reached a decision i searched for my key trigger. Each voter has an array of triggers inside his mind these Range from taxes higher under Clinton to concern for human rights lower under Bush from government domination of the Economy worse with Clinton to government intrusion into private lives worse with Bush ,. The character trigger my instinct is not to Trust Clinton whose Campaign has achieved a Dewey eyed smugness but i have Learned from hard experience not to Trust Bush. Perot Noia is not an option my own key trigger this year which is probably not most Peoples is Bunker ism a a corrosive penchant for secrecy compounded by ethical blindness to conflict of interest. A generation ago i saw that arrogance of insider Dom destroy an administration and Many Peoples lives that a Why the need for Washington glasnost seizes me now. As a test i submitted a question to Bill Clinton last month about More open government did he support Extension of the Freedom of information act which permits citizen and press Access to unclassified papers in executive departments to cover Congress and the White House on any other subject i would get a Call Back from Clinton aide George Steph Nopoulos the same Dav but a Ilei William Safire on this silence. After weeks of pestering came this fudge a i support principles of foia having said that i have not studied the particular policy questions raised by extending foia to Congress and the a. White  having ducked Clinton added soothingly a was president i would look at this Issue with a Strong preference for Public disclosure. He would sell dangerous f-15s to saudi Arabia and keep open unnecessary defense installations to pick up a few votes but on a matter that might open up closed door political operations in the White House a thereby keeping them clean a Bill Clinton and his policy wonks were too Busy to study the policy aus Tion. That puts those few of us whose votes arc triggered by excessive secrecy Between Little Rock and a hard place. The hard place is George Bush a refusal to permit Independent investigation of obstruction of Justice within his Justice department. He has just personally and publicly joined attorney general William Barr his former Cia aide in the Iraq Gate cover up. Asked by Charles Gibson of abcs Good morning America about accusations in this space Bush replied a a he a making charges that Are not True. The Justice department had 40 lawyers that Are non political. And they looked at these charges out of the partisan House judiciary committee and they said there Isnit anything Here. Forty that Are non political wrote a 97-Page  the president is associating himself with the unsigned apologia for nonfeasance attached to his attorney general a rejection of the houses first Call for Independent counsel. The a career prosecutors so often cited therein whom Bush misidentified As 40 a non political lawyers Are mainly his political appointees. Most of these whitewashes serve at his pleasure and their jobs depend on his re election. The real career prosecutors at Justice include Many who have been on the phone to me to express their disgust at the 97-Page Barr apologia a a document already exposed As misleadingly inadequate by the recent c1a-Fbi accusations. These Veteran straight arrows will not risk retaliation by volunteering evidence to their political Bossy a Patsy prosecutor a but will testify about their superiors wrongful interference when a grand jury is convened by a court appointed Independent counsel. Now to my voting trigger. Clinton a reluctance to stand foursquare against unnecessary secrecy is troubling but Bush a embrace of a document that May figure in a criminal conspiracy is far worse his encouragement of Barros stonewalling places the Ira Gate scandal in the Oval office. New York times columnists traditionally do not endorse any candidate and in a for traditional values. But any Reader who cannot figure out against whom this lifelong Republican is voting this year Isnit trying. In to now Yowh