European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Press must Stop flogging self for dogging others William Safi re Why is it whenever Public figures moan about the Rigours of Public scrutiny some journalists feel called upon to dive into their hair shirts ostentatiously flagellate themselves and engage in paroxysms of Mea culpa ? the preceding paragraph is hyperbole originally a latin word signifying a to throw a Ball beyond the limits a hyperbole is a time honoured tradition both in politics and journalism it is a colourful and blessed part of the warped roofing in Public life. I employ it today in response to a line in an essay by Anthony Lewis a though he had no ground for complaint himself Bobby a a a a Inman had a Point. It is True that men and women named to High government office Are often savagely  Lewis is a cherished Friend but is hopelessly compassionate when it comes to Liberal lawyers appointed to High office. One Many so Savage abuse and a partisan zealotry a hyperbole when applied to principled conservative resistance to the attorneys Lani Guinier and Robert b. Fiske or. A is another Many so close scrutiny and fair  the columnist Ellen Goodman also chastised by Inman for daring to Call attention to his failure to pay social Security taxes then decried a that drive by shooting Quality that has made a lot of Fie Ople very reticent to go into Public Ife. She meant  a generation ago in my Nixon years i saw How robust Media criticism could be inhibited by suppressing fire. Patrick Buchanan wrote a speech for Spiro Agnew to deliver in Des Moines Iowa blasting the unelected elite that was the end of a instant analysis a and the Start of much of the Media a Antsy self consciousness about the Power of the press. Not every journalist joins in the general self bashing. The other night on television Ted Koppel characterized Oliver l. North the candidate for a Virginia senatorial nomination As a an accomplished liar and a shameless  when the Media critic of the los Angeles times Howard Rosenberg Tut tufted that this a was a Little Over the line Quot abcs Koppel held his ground after All a jury convicted North of lying before the verdict was set aside. North lapped up the Media exposure and did not withdraw his candidacy confirmation hearings can be smear the reputations of Good people Clement f. Haynsworth jr., Robert h. Bork John Tower and Clarence Thomas come to mind. Not much Liberal breast beating about them in these cases the press was conduit not perpetrator criticism of excesses should be directed to the Hatchet persons in the political system. But Tough minded confirmation hearings and the press scrutiny leading up to them test the Mettle of nominees much As a Campaign shows us How candidates react under tire. Sex lives should be a Over the line a but business records previous official service speeches and writings should be sifted and examined closely. That keeps some sensitive souls out of politics but the rough and Tumble keeps politics clean. And rigorous confirmations enable Congress and the press to get answers not otherwise available. Back scratching networks Are illuminated. The Pentagon lawyer Jamie Gorelick was chosen by Hillary Rodham Clinton a Law partner Webster Hubbell who pompously signs his internal memos Quot asst. Atty. General and chief operating officer to replace Philip b. Heymann As Deputy attorney general and improve the a personal chemistry atop the Justice department. Gorelick should be asked about her representation of Clark m. Clifford and Robert Altman in their Effort to get first american Bank to pay their Legal fees owed to fiskes Law firm. Fiske is the one Janet Reno was forced by Hubbell and White House counsel Bernard j. Nussbaum to choose As a a special no Independent counsel in the Whitewater and Vincent w. Foster or. Investigations. Why choose the Liberal Fiske known to be anathema to conservatives because Heymann wanted someone else a Donald Ayrc a who insisted that no lawyer client privilege be taken by counsel Nussbaum and the Clinton. But the malleable Fiske made no such demands which is Why the general services administration has just signed a three year lease for fiskes Headquarters in Little Rock Ark. Call this Savage abuse ideological zealotry spare us the hair shirts we re doing our Job. C Tho now York Timos care n in t cure we the health plan hatched by Hillary Rodham Clinton and the president Isnit new. Democrats tried to ram through a similar plan More than 50 years ago As part of Franklin d. Roosevelt a new Deal. A dec. 26, 1943, Story from the Chicago Tribune a Washington Bureau gave details. Sen. Wagner Murray sponsored a Bill that would have offered Cradle to grave health insurance for All. The Bill was conceived by a new York City pub Ca Tion called a pm which is sometimes referred to As the Uptown edition of the communist daily worker noted the Tribune Story. The Murray Bill would have taken 12 percent of the nations payroll each year and used it to build a colossal state insurance fund designed to cover everyone from the moment of his birth until the Day he died. And How a this for dip Vul the publicity drive As paced by pm is designed to smear the medical profession by impugning the motives of physicians who oppose the plan and of the National physicians committee for Extension of medical service which has charged that passage of the Bill would destroy the effectiveness of medical services in the United  Are these not the same arguments used in conjunction with the Clinton health care plan in 1943, the National physicians committee asked a do you want medical care for the sick to be provided by bureaucrats or doctors a. The Bill would have limited the number of patients any one doctor could have. Democratic sen. Robert f. Wagner of new York one of the Bill a sponsors insisted doctors would have a Choice of coming in or staying out of the Federal system such a Choice technically might be available under the Clinton plan but practically infeasible since most patients will be herded into the medical equivalent of collective farms or a arc Vional alliances. The Bill was never passed but its essence and the strategy for persuading a Way medical profession and a sushi Dudli Cal Thomas Cious Public have been updated by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Why has Hillary Clinton consistently attacked doctors and those who develop lifesaving and life enhancing drugs it is because of the class warfare she and the president Are waging on a the Rich a whom they see As the Root of All evil. And it is to direct enough anger at and distrust of doctors so that most people will believe the government will penalize medical professionals for making too much Money yet encourage them to maintain magically outside of Market forces the same Quality of care. Most of the statistics used in an attempt to convince us that there is a health care a a crisis Are misleading. According to. The employee Benefit research Institute a nonpartisan nonprofit Public policy research organization in Washington 83 percent of no elderly americans and 99 percent of elderly americans aged 65 and Over were covered by either Public or private health insurance in 1992. It is politically powerful and heart wrenching to read As the president did a single letter or a thousand letters from someone who suffers because of an ailment he cannot afford to have treated. But the answer is not to provide Universal minimal guaranteed care to everyone a that simply Lowers the Quality of care for those with afflictions More serious than a general practitioner can treat. In his response to the presidents state of the Union message sen. Robert Dole r-kan., ought to have listed several programs that the government administers poorly starting with welfare. Then he should have said that the same people who brought us welfare now want to bring us health care. Only a real sucker would fall for such a scam a second time. Most americans Are compassionate people who want to see the less fortunate cared for. But the Clinton health plan like its failed ancestor in 1943, wants to nationalize socialize and thereby harm the greatest health care system in the world. Clos Angeles Timos