August 2, 1968 Special Summer Edition Special Preconvention Edition J—~A llll! 2 Michigan State News, East Lansing, Michigan POLITICS UNDERSTANDING THEM BECOMES THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE WITH THESE BOOKS FROM MSU BOOK STORE 0" LYNDON B. JOHNSON: i HI EXERCISE I OF POWER / A candid political biography of LBJ from C'«>ngrcssman to Chief Executive "MASTERLY". rv r.*t Tm* • THE BEST PICTURE OF LYNDON JOHNSON WE YET HAVE." T syndicated journalists, A Political Portrait by ROWLAND EVANS Earl Mazo Stephen Hess ROBERf NOVAK The nun behind the cindidatt An >n«ide account by two veteran up-t»-ihc Mxond. journalists I R( THE EXERCISE OF POWER Is a More than 1000 entries covering the Here Is the complete, up-to-the-se- structure and form of our federal, cond story of Richard Nixon, the penetrating study of the masterful and the politician. strategies that carried LBJ, from the state, and local governments, Ameri¬ man From two veteran political observers, you will banks of the Pedernales to the White can politics and political parties, learn the true, Inside story of the House—an awesome analysis ofhowa political theory, international organ¬ izations and foreign affairs. Nixon vs. JFK debates, the "Nixon shrewd politician sought, achieved and Fond", Alger Hiss, Joe McCarthy, dispensed power while at the center Nelson Rockefeller. PAPERBACK of all the ma|or affairs of our epoch. SOME OF THE HUNDREDS OF YOUR OFFICIAL SUMMER STUDENT STORE OTHER POLITICAL TITLES AT MSU BOOK STORE: OUR OWN WORST ENEMY By William J. Lederer EARL WARREN: A Political Biography By Leo Katcher STUDENT POLITICS Edited By Seymour Llpset WHO IS RONALD REAGAN? PUBLIC OPINION By George H. Smith BOOK STORE By Walter Lippman GEORGE WALLACE - Profile of the In The Center For Inter Presidential Candidate Frida * August 2, 1968 3 Novus ordo secloru ' n will have to .igntf (ongressional protests By DENNIS MONTGOMERY Any correct analysis of the present to accomplish an' irjj. In the end, it will mean that i country cannot be political crisis in America will probably governed democr? / aljy. How did this be displeasing and incredible to those who ' lamentable state of i U: scome about? read it; the astonishment with which The gradual dj. p ion of the alliance Americans have viewed the events of this year and western con- of eastern progr< v • is evidence that they are not prepared servatives in the f u ilican party has been to understand themselves and their time. written about at, '3 it length, especially Moreover, any analysis of the present since the Goldwa jdventure. Nobody, crisis will probably not be correct. For. however, foresaw; e end of the Demo- together with the general ineptitude of cratic coalition o£ ir ners, labor, intellec- Americans for writing about politics (this uals and souther^ , probably because it ineptitude is due to our national habit of has been a long ' e since anybody could overlooking the likely out of preference see what held it~ ft ther This coalition for the possible i. the literate American was formed duf' i (he Depression, when of my generation has the further dis¬ intellectuals symf li-ed with depresssd advantage of having spent his youth at play farmers, workers it southerners. After in the scrap-heap of history, of having World War II, intellectuals became been educated as a scavenger, plucking disillusioned abught too highly of in- tellectuals Of ' ii: se, the southerners an enticing subject for analysis, both be¬ resented the public lUention being called to cause it is inherently interesting, and be¬ cause one feels the need to be forwarned their primitive cv >rjs Under the cir- cumstances it is i >n -shing that the demo- of its outcome-and forearmed. The es¬ cratic coalition T el so lone, and the tablished pundits. Lippman, Lerner. et al., explanation can on} K-the healthy aversion record of being the first to articulate Terry Sharback of most Americans f d. ology. each new popular misconception as it The disruption f ihis coalition is due comes along-the men one turns to for an alliances are naturally quite impermanent In Vietnam. The mostly to the v explanation of political affairs have lately and reorganization is required fairly often. Indeed, a major change takes place about Democratic Part)* e< uld probably have written such implausible twaddle that no survived Wallace s'* mpaign, if only red- matter how unlikely it is that I shall be once every generation, whenever, as at *i ods were supporting necks and pe<* correct. I feel justified in proposing an present, certain groups feel that they have Wallace, and McC: •Jj s campaign, if only analysis of mv own. been too long without influence The travelers were sup- communists and f? It ought to be made clear at the outset present crisis consists in the fact that, porting McCarthy, si as it survived the just what is the situation under considera¬ even though the current structure of the defection of Strc 1 lurmond and Henry tion. and why that situation is a crisis As parties is obsolete, no reorganization is Wallace in 1948 t k' ? the war has laid everyone knows, the stability of American feasible that will represent all the im¬ bare the fundamel > < tivision in American government is due to the "two-party system.'' portant groups Compromise between two society, the division h> -h used to be marked The two parties, in order to exclude the groups being easier than consensus among several, this is undesirable. by the fall line l £*; European civiliza- competition of a third party, must be loose tion left off and iriative culture began, alliances of many different groups Such This means, among other things, that The knowledge ths'1 'ft ng men are burning ■((■(■■■■(((■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ill the paralysis of Congress will be enhanced, their draft cards v >1 desecrating the flag because it will be much easier to find , a majority who oppose a given measure than is obscene to maii^ je sons These people Dennis Montgomery is a Cincinnati, Ohio, to reach an agreement about what ought to are attracted to W*" c< not because he is a senior. His major is economics. be done. The executive and the court (Cob!^. e-. on page 5) i Baha'is and racial By RICHARD THOMAS discuss their common problem, an Ameri- c attitudes that such isis vc'Id needs, In 1912 a spiritual educator from Persia can black looked on-Richard Wright-and Baha'is throuf ut the country have visited America His name was Abdul wrote The Color Line to report on "the addressed them V* 5 to this problem, Baha the Son of the prophet founder of first conference of colored people in the In their summe: so iools they taught the world. importance of :1 harmony. At a time the Baha'i World Faith. Baha'u'llah. And when most Am<" ar whites shuddered at since that visit, thousands have heard and embraced his message of unity. His The 1912 speech of Abdul Baha rings even the thought of «al equality between early teachings and practices had a great more prophetically true when we- consider blacks and whitf b* tause of the intimacy the black Americans who have chosen to it implied. Abdu» la >a said to the Ameri- effect on both black and white Americans. internationalize American racism in an can Baha'is t=be possible, gather When confronted with racism, he never compromised the teachings of his father attempt to combat it: Dubois wrote in together these t^ r ces, black and white. Once while attending a Washington. D C. 1917 "the dark world-Japan, China. India, into one assemt/< i id put such love into Africa and the Negroes in the Americas their hearts that* shall not only unite diplomatic affair held in his honor, he left a seat vacant on his right for his guest of might wage war upon the white world. but intermarry. sure that the results honor-a black American whom he had pur¬ and 42 years later still at it in Peking. of this will at "> ih differences and dis- Malcolm X in July 1964 before the Africa putes between b • ; \nd white. Moreover. posely invited. He never missed an oppor¬ Summit in Cairo Egypt also exposed Ameri- by the will of M I. may it be so! This tunity to proclaim the importance of can racism as did Stokely Carmichael in is a great service i) uijanity." solving the racial crisis. At Howard University, he spoke to a Europe and James Forman at the fourth In 1939, the si? Uv#l head of the Bahai committee of the U.N. General Assembly on World Faith. SWJ i Effendi. sent a long gathering of black and whites. He said Nov. 17. 1967 The whole world watches letter in book to the American that "each one should endeavor to develop and assist the other towards mutual ad¬ America, particularly the non-whites. If Bahais. Its tittt fhe AHrem of Oirim- vancement love and unity will be fos¬ America can solve her biggest domestic Justice, contairf" it it probably the most instil . . . tered between you, thereby bringing about problem-racism--she probably would do a significant an 5 and guidelines ever lot better in the world of a non-white, to be addressed-! ai American interracial the oneness of Mankind. For the accom¬ hungry and oppressed majority. And community W' -ei the sub-title "The plishment of unity between the colored and whites will be an assurance of world peace." black and white unity in this country could Most Challenging t sue." Shoghi Effendi In 1912 only a very few could perceive go a long way in developing the peculiar told the black a** * Site Baha'is in Ameri¬ ca that racial m«ice " . . should be the implications of America's domenstic issue on international affairs. Only a few ■niiiiiiiiiHiiMtiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiim regarded as cO it>ting the most vital and challenging le Confronting the Baha'i like the late W.E.B. Dubois could say that Richard Thomas, East Lansing senior, has community at 1 * ^present stage of its the problem of the twentieth century was been a frequent contributor to CoUnge and the evolution." He , etj on to say that the the problem of the colored line. And much Stale Mew*. His major is history. '* later at the Bangdung Conference in 1955. where the non-whites of the world met to 4 Michigan State News, East Lansing, Michigan 'Berets stereotype of war film By JIM YOUSLING Yesterday was a strange one. During the aft¬ ernoon I talked to a former Nazi soldier; in the evening I saw "The Green Berets." In Holly¬ wood's eyes, the Nazis were once inhuman mon¬ sters. Yet here I was, talking and joking with one who is now employed by a large American firm. Now Hollywood tells us that the Viet Cong are sadistic maniacs. Will I joke with them some day? Has Hollywood twisted everything out of perspective once again? The war movie has been a Hollywood staple since D. W. Griffith demonstrated the film's potential for propaganda-plus-action in Perhaps "The Green Berets" should simply "Birth of a Nation." The resulting thousands The "plot" concerns a newspaperman (David be viewed as a fantasy. But even if you ignore of battle-epics range in quality from the heights Jansseni who goes to Vietnam to substantiate the political comments, it falls flat. The spe¬ of "The Longest Day" to the depths of those his anti-war feelings. During the course of the film, he is, naturally, converted by the brutality cial effects are laughable, the acting mediocre, dozens of quickies with "Hell" in the title. of the Cong and by Big John's philosophy, the visuals unexciting, the dialog boring and Nevertheless, spotting trends in the war flick the heroics beyond bttief ("They got him, which includes such gems as "Out here, due is simple. Almost without exception, they fit but he took six of them with him!"). The ex¬ into the following categories: pro-military/an- process is a bullet.'' Janssen's stereotype is The teriors were shot in Georgia, which turns Viet¬ ti-war, anti-military/anti-war and pro-war pro¬ Skeptic; Wayne's, The Inspired Hero. Others include the Comic-Relief Chump, the Mata nam into a pine forest; and the interiors would paganda. I add the word "propaganda" to the be too artificial for a musical, much less a Hari and a little Vietnamese girl (The Cong last group because one cannot rationally be pro- war movie. "The Green Berets" fails on every war unless one supports a specific war with drag her off into the woods!) and a little orphan level. specific causes. The first and most common boy (The Cong kill his puppy!). Wayne never hesitates to stoop to cheap melodramatics. Why, then, is it the biggest grossing film in category, pro-military anti-war includes such the U.S. at present? Because it stars John films as "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Although there is cruelty and killing on both sides, Wayne (who also directed) has care¬ Wayne, it is topical and as we said before, it "The Best Years of Our Lives," films which comforts the folks in Dubuque. The movie show the glories and bravery of soldiers, but fully stacked the deck. The enemy is rarely seen in close-up, so that we can easily think of theaters are crawling with kids and adults also the tragedies created by man's hatred. who do not read reviews. them as "those devils out there." In the two The second group, anti-military/anti-war, cases where they are viewed more closely, they Eventually, "The Green Berets" will be is the one which Hollywood has traditionally are homely and decidedly stupid. laughed at, just as we can now laugh at "Hit¬ avoided, but masterpieces like "The Paths of The Americans, on the other hand, are pro¬ ler's Children." But in the meantime, we are Glory" and "How I Won the War" crop up oc¬ vided with endearing personalities, lofty mo¬ at war, and that means that Hollywood will con¬ casionally, usually expressing the director's tives and a talent for doting over women and tinue to spit out pro-war movies. Anyone who personal anti-military feelings. These films children. Thus, when our boys are killed, we cares about art or truth should boycott this one. are excused from being left-wing propaganda The rest of you, go ahead. Nothing I can say emphathize with them, aided by close-ups of only because, whether or not we are anti-mili¬ the tortured faces. would stop you tary, we all think of ourselves as basically anti¬ war, adding parenthetically that war is some¬ times "necessary." The third category, the propaganda film, usually appears only during war-time. Its most recognizable features are these: (1) All characters must be two-dimensional stereo¬ types. (2) God is on our side. (3) Every enemy soldier is a monster who kills to appease his Baha'is and racial crisis sadistic nature. (4) Our soldiers are all heros who kill for a worthwhile cause. (Continued from page 3) "everyday opportunities no matter how World War I brought us "War Brides" and insignificant.' "Lest We Forget," both of which presented the issue was of "paramount importance" and Baha'is in America were given specific German people as the Huns you love to hate. that it would take tact, vigilance, sympathy, guidelines to eradicate racism from their World War II had, among countless others, moral courage and fortitude, and that the ranks and then to go forth and "to assail "Hitler's Children," which Griffith and Mayer urgency and importance could not be over¬ the long-standing evils that have entrenched describe as "exposing such tidbits of Nazi estimated All Baha'is, both black and themselves in the life of their nation." brutality as the flogging of lovely damsels with white, were instructed to "lend their assis¬ White Baha'is were instructed to "make well-developed (and uncovered) torsos." In tance" to solve the problem. a supreme effort in their resolve to con¬ each of these dubious productions, Hollywood tribute their share to the solution of the had just one motive-to comfort a war-time pub¬ When we consider when this was written, problem." They were to abandon their lic by telling it what it wanted to hear, that it is even more significant that Baha'is "usually inherent and at times subconscious our boys were saving America from a group were told that once they accepted the sense of superiority," correct their patron¬ of subhumans. Baha'i Faith's laws and principles they izing attitude and work to persuade the Needless to say, because such films invar¬ could never allow any "differentiation of members of the race "of the genuineness iably lack both artistry and intelligence, the class, creed or color . . under any pre¬ of their friendship and the sincerity of their public forgets them as soon as the war ends. text, and however great the pressure of intentions" and to understand "any lack of These productions undoubtedly embarrass events or of public opinion, to reassert responsiveness on the part of a people Hollywood after peace is re-established and the itself." They were told that the only who have received, for so long a period, movies can no longer portray every German discrimination that would be tolerated such grievous and slow-healing wounds. as a small-time Hitler. would be a discrimination in favor of Negroes were to "show by every means But now we have the Vietnamese war, and minorities, racial or otherwide, and that in their power the warmth of their response, Hollywood is at it again. "The Green Berets," they should feel it to be their "first and in¬ their readiness to forget the past and John Wayne's latest opus, presents us with a escapable obligation to nurture, encourage their ability to wipe out every trace of philosophy so simple-minded and characters so and safeguard every minority belonging to suspicion that may still linger in their stereotyped that we can only place it with the any faith, race, class or nation . . ." hearts and minds." Both black and white worst of propaganda films. This principle was considered so vital that Baha'is were never told that they should Bahais were told when an equal number of not think that the "solution of so vast a ballots have been cast for a Baha'i office problem is a matter that exclusively con¬ "between various races, faith or national¬ cerns the other . . . " Their job was to I am a brick. ities within the community, priority should get in the thick of things by demonstrating I am a common sight. unhesitatingly be accorded the party rep¬ the vital and uncompromising teachings of My ases are only limited by the imagination and mood resenting the minority, and this for no other their faith. They were further instructed: of my mason. reason except to stimulate and encourage it, "let neither think that they can wait con¬ Thus, I may provide the foundation for a new house, the and afford it an opportunity to further the fidently for the solution of this problem wall of a skyscraper, or the fracture of a skull. interest of the community." Baha'is were until the initiative has been taken, and I may be lain in pride by the earnest hand of a home further instructed to arrange their affairs the favorable circumstances created, by builder. so as to have as many diverse races as agencies that stand outside the orbit of possible in the Baha'i community. their Faith . . . Let them rather believe, Or I may be at times thrown in passion by the angry hand They were also told to demonstrate the and be firmly convinced, that on their of a rioter. Baha'i principle of racial unity in every mutual understanding, their amity and sus¬ Regardless, I remain just a plain brick. state circle "whatever their age tradi¬ tained cooperation, must depend, more than People determine what I am used for. tions, tastes and habit". "It should be," on any other force or organization opera¬ copyright Morgan Douglas Carter II the instructions stated, "consistently demon¬ ting outside the circle of their Faith, 1X7, reprinted by permission strated in every phase of their activity the deflection of the dangerous course so and life, whether in the Baha'i community Reproduced by permission of Morgan Douglas Carter II greatly feared by Abdul Baha. and the ma¬ or outside it. in public or in private, terialization of the hopes he cherished formally as well as informally ..." In for their joint contribution to the fulfill¬ schools, colleges, social parties and recrea¬ ment of that country's glorious destiny " tion grounds; in their business offices and Frid (i , iugust 2, 1968 5 Dawn is A By JASON LOVETTE just breaking. The sun just a prom¬ bo a,y Jason Lovette, g/r/, a East Lansing junior, is a poli¬ ise of eerie red light on the distant horizon. tical science major at MSU. A poem of his was The skeletons of once-proud buildings are published previously in (.<»//«*«•. indistinct and difficult to make out at first but as the sun's red glow gradually changes to a yellowish-orange the silhouettes of a few wrecked high-rise dwellings become more dis¬ tinct. their empty windows show the glow of dirty river. We see rusted and overturned cars the rising sun We sense movement and grad¬ and trucks. The bones of a human arm and ually, realize we are moving closer and closer hand protrude from underneath a wrecked to the horizon car. A huge blackened hulk of a ship protrudes Now the light is a pale yellow and we are from the river. Cut to a city park. The trees are looking at a scene of total, bleak devastation. broken stumps, empty branches against the We know we are looking at a dead eity-a city sky The burned-out hulk of a tank sits at the that once shouted its defiance at the blackness edge of an empty wading pool. We can see the of night with uncounted jewels of manmade coins scattered on the bottom along with brass ligfft-a city that once throbbed to a million cartridge cases. A half-destroyed statue of a heartbeats, but no more Silence-desolation. soldier stands in the park. On its base the A feeling of a strange loneliness settles over legend: . Or those who died in Viet- us Nam may their sacrifice be not in vain." We quick-cut to different parts of the dead We cut to an elevated view of the city. A city. A huge suspension bridge with the middle slow pan across the destruction rests on a span destroyed, the roadway broken and wreckage-strewn street. We are conscious crumbled, one section descending into a brown. of movement. We zoom in close. There are green-uniformed men making a darting cautious advance through the rubble, they are wary and stick close to the buildings, using empty doorways and wrecked vehicles for cover. We follow State K# t ihoto by Bob Ivlns their silent advance. The men are all Cauca¬ sian and it is evident by their dirty torn uni¬ ble gurgle and bloo . re, jtis from his mouth, forms and grimy unshaven faces that they have Now the air is fulUc! rif "e fire and grenades been fighting a long time. We realize that we going off. Men scrfi.fc a> i curse and die. We are following rather closely the action of one see that it is black # w ite. Black and white man. He is obviously the patrol leader. He is die. The fight blaze * iri usly for a few min¬ slowly, cautiously making his way around a utes-then as sudder^* is t started there is si- burned out police car. We sense his tension lence. We see bodies t ert-ig the street, and fear. He is cautious but obviously exper¬ There is one youiuf /hi. e soldier who is not ienced. quite dead. His gut ii •rit'-ip and he is bleeding d from his ears, nose ^ louth He cries piti- fully and weakly. Vf U *rs of pain making Suddenly he stops. We follow his eyes to a hu¬ clean lines down his ir i face. He repeats man figure lying face down in the street. We softly between sobs, ■ fy, Jod, my God, oh my notice it is a black man clad in a faded blue God." A shadow loc 3 iver him. His pain- denim uniform. His hair is black and long and filled pleading eyes >k jp. He is not a sol- bushy. The white soldier raises his hand~a dier any more, just h* t scared kid who is signal for his men to take cover and be alert. about to die We ti reach out and help They disappear instantly like shadows into ' him Our sympa"*-' v* ,h him We see who doorways and behind objects that afford pro¬ tection. The white soldier slowly, cautiously removes is standing over can see that if '¥ Tf y, ing black female. We cleaned and dressed in other than blue > «rr. combat uniform she his bayonet. He slowly, silently eases up to the would be pretty ?1) is, tarrying full combat prone black. We see his blue eyes-hard, cold, equipment-pistol b*' g^nades. bayonet, am- hate-filled He suddenly plunges the knife into mo pouches. We s«f he ugly machine gun in. his back. her hand. She rai:* iUslowly, deliberately * The same look of <* Ktred is in her brown The black was obviously dead before. White eyes that the patr# a<- )r possessed. We see soldier removes blade and wipes it on the dead the barrel of the f fpm the scared kid's man's clothing He is returning the blade to its position. It looms i {e ,;ike a cannon before sheath. Suddenly a loud piercing battle cry our eyes. "God d*K j u to hell." she says fills the air. Quick cut to a fierce black, beard¬ quietly, but with i ie^j passionate hatred, ed face, the face from which the challenge to Fire comes from V rn zzle. A long burst, a war emanated Automatic rifle fire knocks the short burst, anothi' >n; "burst until a metalic State News photo by Jim Mead white soldier against police car. He emits horri¬ click signals the M I »« (lpty 'i. New World Ordei If Rockefeller should be elected with the and shapes thv e^ hs of government. (Continued from page 3) He may carry t V hf". programs well or help of McCarthyites. his aggressive foreign ill. but the progr s lemselves cannot be segregationist, but because he has not been policy would almost certainly alienate these liberals: seduced from the Democrats, very different fr-<4 ti,.? programs his op¬ tainted by ideas. The great mass of ponent would ha * pi csued. or from the Americans used to regard the civilized they would be abandoned by the Republi¬ An important cause of political programs of his*, re 'ecessor. Congress minority as respectable, because they were cans. truculence. as the riots have shown, is un- would oppose at dr stic departures from the only persons who knew how to do what is expecte<. ' f the terms of the certain things Today, however, the decay kept promises, and it seems likely that members of th» ioHe were made the of western civilization has made intellec¬ many of these disappointed liberals would become more radical in their views. same as the tenr tl® president, as Presi¬ tuals seem frivolous and mass education dent Johnson ha -roSosed. a dictatorship has made civilization unnecessary for McCarthy will not be nominated, and if Rockefeller is rejected as well, the liberals would be a lit 4 * .sier. but still im¬ doctors, lawyers and ministers Conse¬ probable A b 'f. r expedient would be will be diasppointed. but some of them may quently. the division between the two cul¬ simply to igrv<( Congress altogether. tures is becoming more pronounced be willing to try again This is impossil? a present, but after Wallace's campaign is only slightly more The difficulty of further progress under the "old politics" is sensed by many a few more yeai^ if Congressional intransi¬ bizarre than the antics of the liberals, gence and obstr\ oft*m. the public will who simultaneously desire the election of people, who yearn for a "charismatic lead¬ er". unhampered by previous commit¬ probably be grst ul for unconstitutional McCarthy, the nation's most famous dove, and of Rockefeller, its most famous hawk. ments or by the give-and-take of prac¬ government, as tV Gi .mans were when all of this happened bi(* e • (The reader who has not noticed Rocke¬ tical affairs, who is supposed to usher in feller's talons should recall the campaign a "new politics." thereby uniting the In conclusion. ,1 ? present state of af¬ of 1960. when Rockefeller opposed Nixon country and setting everything right. The fairs is unencoi X 'irtj, But the reader implication of this desire is obvious and who agrees witii 'h4T dire predictions of because Nixon intended to cut the defense this article sh 1 1 Je reminded that his¬ budget, and Nixon had to sign a statement disgusting, but most people do not learn from the experience of other people It tory is inevitat>IV on/ in retrospect, and to the effect that there could be no price is not unlikely that when this yearning that it is just s> 5 As go. we both turned and without a word, slowly and with dignity, made our Terry Sharback we slowly progressed, we waved at the way to the door. Michigan delegation and John Martin. In retrospect, I suppose many people Finally our presence was noted and we were little reading this article may be amused at escorted a more quickly down the the desire of two midwestern boys want¬ aisle, as I was still taking pictures. Jim Schaefer, Lansing graduate student in We next went down into the basement ing to see what it is all about' in a English, is a State News Staff Writer. He has of the Cow Palace and ended up holding political convention. They may also smile also written for the Grand Rapids Press and signs saying "Welcome back, Ike" and "Hi, the Williamston Enterprise. Mame" for an Eisenhower demonstration. There must have been hundreds, even (Continued on page !9) Friday, u^ust 2, 1968 • ( convention game: * to love George Wal pee By WINTHROP HOWE to build a new coalition in P plating the large youth-peace movement in * ; fisting political 1968 may turn out to be a watershed year, a structure. It will be much arjer for Senator year in which America takes a new course McCarthy to accomplish 1, I, fpr he may turn a 1932 or an 1860. In both those years the new out to be too closely ideti fiel with the new course involved a long range reorientation of cult to make a bridge to tht id i ne. the people's political allegiance. A new party became the dominant party, and more than One of the reasons this 'V tfc'^n such a puzzl¬ that, a new political mythology was widely ac¬ ing year politically, so ful) i : jrprises, rever¬ cepted as the background for voting decisions. ses, entrances and exits ar jns and excur¬ It was either a change in the way we saw our¬ sions is that Madison's l^c u still working. selves, or a change in the way we saw our en¬ There is no permanent ic ot ty in America, vironment, and this change was expressed in a as he intended there nev5 aid be. The old political way. majority, the New Deal r K-ity, the Roose¬ Many people think that this is the case. Clear¬ velt coalition oveivwhich t ht years of Eisen¬ ly Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy does, probably Sen. hower were thinly glued ll a#heap veneer, is Robert F. Kennedy did, though perhaps in breaking up. All of the el« of the nation, somewhat different terms, and Gov Nelson A those who were in and. t' who were out, Rockefeller loudly trumpets his reorientation sense this, and so the pu^t g^nd shoving, the throughout the land. The key to it all is Viet¬ hard bargaining begins i £?sult of this we nam of course. It is bound to be a major is¬ might say that the people »'{ want anybody sue of the election, indeed it is the only issue for President this year. A Resident would as far as many people are concerned. It cuts mean a new coalition of »> ? i "nd; and toward across party lines, and has tended to destroy every possible coalition tl* ' I the vast hostil- old coalitions and create new ones. It is a ity of those who fear the} o* A not be on the inside. This is why who«' ^ems • symptom, for most of those who expound it, to be the of the end of the cold war psychology in Amer¬ front runner attracts suet) »t,^d . real hat- ica. A mass rejection of the cold war's ail- red. This" is why we hii c ucified Lyndon embracing significance by thousands, mostly Johnson on the White Hf c loor. When the President withdrew Kenrr y likely among the young, but not all young by any f came a means, lies behind the current 'generation gap,' front-runner, and instaf ' te became the and the insistent and disturbing questioning of target of passionate hatr he focus of al- Sen. Wayne Morse and Sen. William Fullbright most as much virulence » Jf mson The feel- This is why those who are still functioning with¬ ing toward Nixon, Rockele * Humphrey, Mc¬ in the limits of the 'facts' of the cold war are Carthy'and Wallace is mc . same, or will be much the same if the* their day out often sincerely unable to understand the near the center of the stag* charges that are thrown at them, or the courses i of action suggested by their critics. And this is also why those who reject the 'facts' of the cold The most important o note about the war Weltanschauung can only understand Pres¬ two conventions then i tKtf ominous back¬ ident Johnson as a monster and murderer, and ground. It is not the Iea» s ?ho will not lead, that lovable liberal war-horse the Vice Presi¬ but the people who will i f How, because the dent as a 'sell out' and a fink. rhetorical appeal of the 1 : jogans has failed, Put at its simplest a new historical 'revi¬ or is failing, while the t- .ot ca 1 appeal of the sionism' is in full cry. It is a revisionism that new slogans is not yet e bfe^hed The Repub¬ seeks to debunk the cold war as Tansill and lican power base has shr k r o alarmingly that Barnes debunked World War I. This kind of they might disappear a t gtrty should they movement is always accompanied by political revisionism in America. Lacking a state religion jump the wrong way this a?The Democratic base has also shrunk; f< tb • first time since we have developed through a series of pseudo- 1932 only a minority c o^- people identify historical socio-political cults which have their themselves as Democra T. e big gainer is an practical incarnations in the dominant parties amorphous category of >d< pendent, not yet of the era during which the cult is functional. perhaps an anti-anti-col m ust independent, The new cult has its worshippers, its prophets, but a worried, over-tax? ra cially threatened, its priests and its theologians. It certainly has middle class generation hi« 9 wants to do the its poets, all of the poets it sometimes seems; right thing' but is unceri n & what it is or how and poets may be, as Shelley claimed, the con¬ to do it. Such people art ttn jasingly alienated science of mankind. from both big party stru- in and the two con¬ , It is amazing that the growth of such an opin¬ ventions appear "closed! )(aem ion has not lead to the resurgence of the Re¬ In analyzing the situat, i * 5 must not be tak¬ publican party. They, after all, were the home en in by the clamor of 4 '^ew politics' how¬ of the anti-Wilsonian revisionism of Tansill A convention ever. can '« fcsed' in the tech¬ and the rest. As the opposition party it would nical of sense having a c ir avorite who must normally fall to them to criticize administration inevitably win, without ct^Uy becoming a policies, to develop alternate programs, and if convention which stifles te yill of the people they had been functioning in this manner, they It is a standard device of le^econd runner, the would now find"themselves in a position to capi¬ dark horses, and clever i eewnmitted delegates talize on the widespread dissatisfaction with who want to bargain c-i 'In .platform or the the war. Some of them, of course, like Rock¬ cabinet, to claim that a <: ve ntion with a clear¬ efeller. are astute enough to see this but they ly established choice is ' os"d.' This, they say are hampered by the existence of a large cold means that there will a ro-.ered' convention war faction in their own party, probably a ma¬ They summon up dark ire its of bolting the jority of that party in fact party unless 'justice , i d< re In fact how¬ As a consequence of this Republican failure ever, many of them sint ly^ope to open' the the stage is set for a classic third party situa¬ convention in order to p tion. but the third party that exists is instead an tr^mselves in a po¬ sition where they will be ne ones who are able upsurge of the very elements with which a to broker and bargain. A .c^ventions are bro¬ native American fascism would hope to build, kered. That's what con ri> ons are for. One the lumpen-proletariat, the frightened petty might be cynical enoug t' posit the theory bourgeois, the racially insecure, the paranoid, that 'open' conventions ■ e onventions where and the stupid The George Wallace third party the good guys' win; anc„ ir ikered' or 'closed' means that if a new-left oriented peace party conventions whe were to be organized in order to more purely are ones • t^e 'bad guys' win. Let's look at the Repul c;"*