European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Commentary 1 the stars and stripes Page 13 voter cynicism the Day after All 43 Republican senators signed a letter to president Clinton asking him to repudiate democratic attacks on Republican religious conservatives As bigotry the president called a radio talk show in St. Louis and turned up the heat. The presidents attacks were not limited to religious conservatives. He also got in some licks against Rush Limbaugh and the press. The tone of Clinton a remarks was characterized As a a bitter by some who heard them. The reason he is having Tiou ble with his pro a Grams and the polls he said was because of an a incessant drumbeat of cynicism by conservatives and by the press. In typical Clinton fashion the president complains that because his motives Are pure people should get behind him and support the Good he is trying to do for America. As he has before the president denounced news organizations for being unfair. But news organizations were unfair during the 1992 Campaign adopting the Campaign line that character did no to matter neither did foreign policy and Only the Economy was important. The discovery that character does matter and that a one dimensional president creates a shallow presidency is what has Cal Thomas produced the cynicism. Increasing num ers of people have come to realize they were duped and that the a new demo crate they were promised is just another Liberal. A i done to suppose there a any Public figure that a Ever been subject to any More violent Persona attacks than i have at least in modern history anybody a who a been president a Clinton told pm of radio. But that clearly is untrue. Democrats ran against Herbert Hoover for years blaming him for the great de Kresson. Franklin Roosevelt was regular a castigated by a press that was More conservative then than now especially on his Domestic programs and attempts to pack the supreme court so he could circumvent the Constitution and get More of his program enacted. Harry Truman now revered by most was reviled by Many journalists during his presidency. As David Mccullough writes in his biography of Truman time Magazine called him a mediocre Man and said the Job was too big for him. A popular joke was a a in a just mild about  Truman went another joke of that time was the weakest president since Franklin Pierce. A what did Pierce Ever do a the listener was supposed to ask. A a that Stile Point a the Teller would exclaim. To mrs. Robert Taft wife of the conservative Republican from Ohio was attributed the line a to err is  Dwight Eisenhower enjoyed the insulation that comes with being a War hero but he was often mocked for his mangled syntax. John Kennedy enjoyed pretty much a free ride during his abbreviated presidency because of the Camelot syndrome and the presses desire to cover up his personal indiscretions. But Richard Reeves Book on Kennedy destroys the myth of Camelot. Does Clinton think he is More criticized than Lyndon , who during his tenure heard almost daily a they hey lbs How Many kids have you killed today a the opposition to Johnson because of Vietnam was so Strong he decided not to seek re election. And Clinton a claim of being the most criticized modern president holds no water when he is set alongside Richard Nixon the Only president to be forced from office through resignation and disgrace. Ronald Reagan was called a a warmonger Quot by some in the press who also accused him of violating the Constitution in the Iran Contra affair. Then there was George Bush who Bill Clinton regularly beat up on during the 1992 Campaign As an elitist defender of the Rich. In his Kmax remarks the president erroneously said the press did no to report the1 White houses reimbursement for monogrammed towels and Robes taken from an aircraft Carrier by members of the presidential entourage during the a Day observances. In fact the new York times reported it. Clinton also suggested that it May have been reporters who pilfered the items from the ship though some reporters said such theft was impossible for them because no towels or Robes were supplied to their rooms. In his 20 minutes on the air the president did no to respond to one of the charges made against him by those he criticized. His complaint had the whiny Edge that is becoming More characteristic of Clinton. He says he a going to be a More aggressive in his defense of himself. If his defense has the tone of this latest exercise in self pity the cynicism will Only deepen. G los Angeles times poll on Simpson Case in sixty percent of Black americans believe . Simpson is innocent of the murder charges against him 68 percent of White americans believe him guilty. How can two groups of people watching the same televised proceedings Reading the same newspapers hearing the same tentative evidence reach such diametrically opposite conclusions i assume the poll by Usa today can and Gallup is reasonably accurate. Indeed Many of its findings Are not particularly surprising. I find no astonishment for instance in the fact that Blacks feel More sympathetic to Simpson than do Whites 77 percent to 42 percent or that Blacks Are More Likely than Whites 64 percent to 41 percent to doubt that Simpson will get a fair trial or that Blacks and Whites reach differing conclusions As to the fairness of the news Media regarding the Case. These Are perceptions based on generalized notions of equity and they Are almost bound to be different for hard pressed minorities than for the powerful majority. Black people have too few heroes and role models and Media stars to watch dispassionately As yet another one Falls. Blacks have experienced too much race based injustice to be Overly confident of Justice in any particular Case. Blacks for instance May be More Likely than Whites to wonder whether the charges against agriculture Secretary Mike Espy might be trumped up. Is he the Only Cabinet officer to have accepted an inappropriate plane trip or tickets to a sporting event How do we Enow White Cabinet officers Haven t been to Loire inc same thing for years 1 tend not to buy such arguments but i done to have any trouble understanding them. But Simpsons guilt or innocence is of a different category. To begin with it has not come across As a concerted Effort by a the system to bring Down a another Strong Black Many a As was said of Public figures ranging from Adam Clayton Powel or. To Marion s. Barry who Drew their strength from Black people in the first place. Simpsons status a certainly his Post National football league status a was conferred by a the  Why would that system now want to reduce him to utter ruin is there the slightest evidence that he s been too militant excessively Black or insufficiently grateful Well he did marry a while woman. But that was a dozen years ago and manifestly did nothing to derail his Post football Success. Here s the fact that White woman a Simpsons former wife Nicole is dead a brutally murdered along with her Friend Ronald Goldman. A Simpson based on evidence whose sufficiency and reliability we cannot yet know has been charged with the two murders. Black Folk and while Folk followed the aftermath of the slayings gasped together when . Failed to turn himself in to police at the appointed time watched in William Rasberry shared fascination that eerie Low Speed freeway a Chase a speculated together whether there would be an attempt at suicide. We heard about the same evidence a real and rumoured a and spun pretty much the same convoluted theories As to Why he did or did no to do it who else was or Wasny to involved or who was trying to Frame him and Why. My Early impression in fact had been of How Little race seemed to enter White Peoples perceptions of the most sensational murder of a lifetime. The fact that he was a superstar apparently Well liked by All who thought they knew him seemed to matter a great Deal the fact that he was Black and suspected of killing a White woman seemed to matter not at All. I flashed on Jack Johnson and marvelled at How much America has changed. Then came the poll. Two thirds of White americans think he did it three fifths of Black americans Are convinced he did no to. How can that be Are White people less invested in Simpsons Fate being objective while Blacks Are being emotional Are they hoping for his conviction because he a Black Are Black people saying they believe someone else murdered Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman or Are they Only casting a vote of racial Solidarity have we come to the Point where color is of such importance As to override every other consideration to Render us Black and White incapable of a shared reality am i wrong or merely naive to find the whole matter deeply disturbing cd Washington Post