European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 04, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday. February 4 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 v la i Public service has often become a disservice William f. Buckley As the crowds move into washing ton and the crowds move out of washing t ton there Are sounds of weeping and of laughing. It is one thing to weep because you no longer have Access to the Rampart or which you watched and indeed there is no reason to do so because the enemy overcame. To wish to remain in washing ton for the purpose of keeping the Barba rians at Bay is one thing. To wish to be there in order to govern is another. The differences Are Worth reflecting upon. I know people not a lot who go around saying things like Public service is the great Opportunity in those who feel this Are of two kinds and the distinction is Crit ical. The person who devotes him self to Public serv ice defined a missionary work in Burma or Redcross service in Somalia or any of the 100 different activities that can be done in a Community to Hel those who need help is the Public servant who is truly admirable. It is a pity that one so Seldom hear about them. Of maybe the Man who founded the red Cross what was his name or who began the Jesuit order. Mostly they Are Anonymous men an women and their gratification is in serv ing their fellow men and their god. But giving your life to Public service these Days is generally intended to dog scribe an ambition to serve in political of fice. Recently it was recalled that tip i o Neill was asked what was it that hav ing left Washington where he served As speaker of the House he missed replied without hesitation Power. That is the great , our legislators get pretty fair pay these Days. But Back before the Reform acts in great Britain there was no pay to speak of for members of the House of commons. But there were Long lines of men who wished to serve the Public. It is arresting to remind oneself that As often As not those men in Public service Are engaged in doing great disservice until 1807 the British continued to authorize the Trade in slaves. The dissenter May think me too categorical in saying so but i nonetheless say that i deeply wish that Lyndon Johnson had gone in for real estate instead of government. At the extreme of course there Are the forthright tyrannies. These Are except in situations of anarchy such As Somalia s Brief in duration. Usually there is organized government behind the concentrated ugliness of Power. I note that of the 220 million people killed during the 20th Century 155 million of them were killed by their own govern ments. The nazis killed More germans than did the allies. Ask How Many Ger mans were killed by Hitler russians by Stalin chinese by Mao and one quickly gets the is the harsh end of govern ment. At the softer end you have the governor who attempts to do something Beneficent for. His subjects but ends by doing them a disservice. The National debt is the accumulated excess of govern ment spending Over government income. The deficit has risen in America to the Point where counting in other taxes americans work full time for Federal and state governments until May 5, when they begin to work for themselves. One Hun dred Twenty four Day enthusiasts for government will list the benefits of government free schooling health care the lot. Well the slav masters also provided food lodging and medical care. Government is of course Nec Essary but in a season where the religious left the Happy designation of fran Liebowitz referring to the aggregations that surrounded Bill Clinton when he was inaugurated As president is in a delirium of enthusiasm about what the new government is going to do for us it pays to remind ourselves that we Are in the hands of men and women who love Power. They mainline on it. What can we do today for the Ameri can citizen the government can do something for the people Only in proportion As it can do something to the peo t. Jefferson How can we get More taxes from him what next can we forbid him to do require him to do the Joy of the Cadet entering West Point to do Public service is a wholly understandable phenomenon. He is there to do As he is told in defense of the policies his country devises. But it pays to remember that the defense policies of Many countries in Many centuries have made of a nation s armies primarily shooting squads bemused the men who command under new those armies Are mostly predators. Our governors Are for the most part the enemy. The government John Adams wrote views every contingency As an excuse to enhance Power in that was almost 200 years ago. How right he was. Our enemy the state. C in Ivorski pros Syndicate military homosexual juror far out of proportion. La or w Jef a Mac so so of if Nett to to when american forces were encircled by a Mas Sive German counterattack in december 1944, Bill was one of the Guys who Rode to the Rescue. Along with other elements of Patton s 3rd army Bill and other army medics endured the brutal dash mostly on foot in heavy Snow from their lines in France to Bastogne in Belgium to Rescue comrades. Bill was one of the Guys who picked up the pieces body was As Nasty a duty As there could be. He also tended to the wounded men who did not think to ask him his sexual preference if preference it is at is Gay a homosexual. He s also been a Friend of mine for 30 years. He rarely talks about his combat experience in world War ii you have to pry it from him. He does not talk with me either about his Homo sexuality. He prefers to stay in the closet his Choice. But i know Bec Iuse he talks about it with my wife and she tells me. He knows i know. Another Good Friend of mine is a barroom brawler Type of Guy who ran away from Home to join the army in 1939 and fought his Way through the Pacific during world War ii. He says he knows there were homosexuals in combat with him but they did t make him aware of their pres ence by actions or declaration. So what he asks As Long As they could kill Japa Nese. When my turn came during the korean War i was caught up in the same Macho Demeanour that infects most of us when in the military. Catch a Guy with his wrist hanging slightly and he s suspect.1 was pretty sure Thorpe was one. We shared a two Man tent for a week but he never made an overture. In the two years i served on Active duty no one Ever placed a hand on me As part of a homosexual gesture. Homosexuals have been in our military service going Back to the beginning to the Continental army. It really did not become an Issue until the 1950s, when a Mccarthy like sweep was being made of our military i the name of Security while at the same time the More Mill Tant faction of the Gay Community was demanding open acceptance author Gore Vidal recently implied in an interview with a Gay publication that George Washington our first army commander and Alexander Hamilton who was his next in command were in love with each other. Can you handle that Howard Kleinberg what is before us today is asinine. The anti Gays believe the ban on Gays in the military is necessary for Security As Well As personal reasons. How Many Gay traitors have we had How Many heterosexual traitors indeed a Barracks is not the Best place to meld persons of different sexual traits but what does the record show us has there been abuse How much Why is a male Soldier who preys on female soldiers any less of a danger to the military than a male who solicits males they Are not which brings up the code practice by soldiers and sailors for Ages. If a Soldier makes an unwanted sexual move on an other Soldier or if someone steals from your foot locker or does t Bathe often enough you Deal with him or her in one of two ways. Either you turn him in for military Justice or Vou and the othes in the Barracks Deal with him tribally the latter punish ent being an accepted course for centuries. T1hs entire military homosexual Guior is out of proportion a political Molehill grown to Himalayan dimension. None of this homophobia is a new problem or is it necessarily a problem at All to the defense of the nation. C co t service
