Show Gary Hart Hopes for Nomination Through Vote From the People New York Times Service WASHINGTON — “So when are you going to dive back in?” I asked Gary Hart on Nov 2 seven weeks ago “You think I should?” he countered answering a question with a question as my Brooklyn grandmother used to do He had called to say he was briefly m Washington and liked a piece I had written on the oil import fee which he had been proposing for years I asked him to lunch at a re- staurant called appropriately Gary’s My previous experience with a politician universally pronounced “finished” led me to consider the possibility of a comeback by Gary Hart perhaps as a secretary of state or defense in a future Democratic administration y I replied to his with the standard admonition that I had gone out of the advice dodge but added that if he did choose he could expect to have a few tiles knocked off his heat shield it was common knowledge that several news organisations are poised to clobber him with more stuff about extra-maritaffairs if he tried to rise again He winced a little and allowed as how a hypothetical would require a wholly unconventional g campaign No staff no no party endorsements — just a lone candidate appling directly to the people over the heads of the commentators party leaders pollsters moralizers and pop psychiatrists It struck him that the only people who had not yet offered a judgment on him were the voters He seemed concerned about the effect of resuming his campaign on “innocent people” but was less concerned non-repl- fund-raisin- William Safire rank-and-fil- about his ability to override that issue in a comeback campaign The impression he left was that he was eager to get back in the race but would defer a decision until early next year If the Democrats were floundering and none of his themes were emerging — then maybe That was not enough on which to tag a speculative column but enough to suggest that the Democratic primary campaign had not yet taken final shape Senator Hart moved up his timetable and has now discombobulated the political world Good for him My respect for Gary Hart is greater now that he has challenged the media to do their worst while he does his best He is too dovish for my taste on Nicaragua and his long opposition to Star Wars is a minus (though he carefully expressed support for research on the Strategic Defense Initiative in his public-Tcommentary on the recent summit) But he is the only Democratic candidate with both an articulated world view and a detailed position on domestic policy If permitted to discuss these larger issues Hart will cut through the present aimless bickering and force the others to be much more specific What sort of Hart campaign can we expect? Deliciously different Forget Iowa that is a caucus state — and told him in so “Go quietly or else” words many Meekly Mr Hart went Now feeling he was a quitter and having nothing better to do he is back and in coming back he has in effect told the Washington Post “Publish and be other affairs affair entirely on Mrs Hart had a point when he observed “A woman her age ought to have known you don’t leave a alone for an entire weekend” To Mr Hart the Bimini boating party and the town house tumbles were inconsequential “peccadillos” that tell us nothing about character A third of his countrymen however disagree To traditionalist America his flagrant adultery was not simply “bad judgment” or “reckless behavior” but manifestation of a serious moral flaw a clandestine breach of the most important promise Gary Hart ever made a statement of indifference or contempt for his highest personal commitment Caught in flagrante Hart dissembled all over the lot like a teen-age- r caught in the back seat of a car Why are Americans wrong to conclude that if this guy will cheat on his wife he will us as well? probably double-cros- s Nonetheless Mr Hart’s return is not unwelcome he has made life miserable for a political party which has done much to deserve it he has added laughter to a terminally boring Democratic race most important his return is going to elevate a genuinely valid issue — and I don’t mean Mr Hart’s “new ideas” of “strategic economic investment” and “enlightened engagement” Specifically Mr Hart's return tables the issue of press power and press motivation in exposing the private secrets and private sins of public men It is widely reported for example that Mr Hart dropped out last spring only after the Washington Post confronted him with stories of damned” The ball is now in Editor Ben Bradlee’s court If the dirt allegedly dug up on Mr Hart was news then it is news now In which case the Washington Post should publish or explain why it does not An editorial decision to withhold the information until Mr Hart has regained his footing would suggest the Post is not in the business of reporting news but in the business of breaking candidates and making presidents With thq American people traditional in their view of private morality — one third would not vote for a man who has committed adultery or used marijuana — the press’s potential power to destroy has always been enormous What is new is that the press has lately decided a presidential candidate’s past sexual sins are fair game for public disclosure With the Miami Herald willing to with the do midnight stake-out- s Washington Post holding its bag of bricks to drop on Mr Hart’s head at the right moment with the Wall Street Journal feeling free to delve in Pat Robertson’s case all the way back to 1954 to find some juicy tidbit from his youth we have entered a new era Had these new journalistic standards obtained for the past half century any single newspaper could have destroyed three of the last five Democratic presidents (Roosevelt Kennedy and Johnson) as well as the Rev Martin Luther King and half a dozen potential and actual nominees of both parties That friends is raw power And what do we know of the character and motivation and proclivities of the men and women now wielding it? As Butch Cassidy used to say to the Sundance Kid “Who are those guys?” The Department of Veterans Affairs Act HR3471 recently came up for vote in the US House of Representatives This bill elevates the VA to Cabinet-leve- l status and enhances and strengthen veterans entitlement programs This bill is long overdue and is a step toward full and just appreciation of the sacrifices made by our nation’s veterans to preserve our freedom Tile bill passed in the House 399 to 17 It is interesting to note of the 17 who voted against two are from Utah Congressmen Nielson and Hansen Thankfully Congressman Owens voted in favor of the bill Does this disparity tell us something about how Utah feels toward it veterans? JAMES VERNON TEVIS West Valley City Hotel Soviet Soviet inspectors will be taking up residence perhaps for 13 years in Salt Lake County They will need a home away from home The University of Utah has an unnecessary and obscenely expensive hotel It would fit into the Soviet life- style to put thetospectors and their KGB butlers into an isolated collec tive far from the profit-makin- g parts of this valley The hotel could be easily sold to the Soviet government It is ideally sited for electronic espionage and for protest demonstrations Best of all any hotel guest in need of heart surgery caused by fast foods or pretty coeds could be whisked at once to our mediagenic university hospital What better way to help our image and budget crunch? T RUSSELL WINGATE Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer’s full name signature and address Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reason on others Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days Preference will be given to short typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer’s true name All letters are subject to condensation Mail to the Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 887 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 fYoo hoo honey — It’s me Gary! I’ve come back to you!’" Don’t Like Law? Ignore It 'V Deaver Symbolizes Reagan Error! 10- North America Syndicate WASHINGTON — Here we are again with a pathetic story of a confidant of an American president snared in the web of corruption Like Richard Nixon’s John Mitchell John Ehrlichman and Bob Halde-ma- n Deaver has run afoul of the laws He has been convicted of lying about the ways in which he used his closeness to President and Mrs Reagan to try to enrich himself I have tried hard to muster up some sympathy for Deaver As the closest person in the White House to Mrs Reagan and a trusted adviser of her husband Deaver did a service for America Especially when as he will confide in his upcoming book he conspired with Mrs Reagan to get off the back of the president a bunch of White House neanderthals whose greatest contribution to foreign policy was to mumble “Nuke the com- mies” Yet Deaver symbolizes two of the worst qualities of the Reagan administration: 1) its brazen contempt for laws that Reagan didn’t like and 2) the arrogant assumption of those close to Mr Reagan that they could do almost anything without fear of criminal prosecution Rita M Lavelle her boss Anne Gorsuch Burford and others in the Environmental Protection Agency knew that the president wasn’t fond of environmental protection laws They worked overtime trying to circumvent and undermine EPA regulations Lavelle went to jail and Bur-for- d and others left in disgrace officials carried Other high-levout insider stock trading schemes foundations set up and engaged in other sleazy activities under what they thought was the protection of two Reagan landslides A collection of characters inside and outside the White House knew that Mr Reagan did not like the Boland Amendment and other restrictions on his efforts to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua They sold arms to Iran stashed cash in Switzerland diverted funds to the SHI in Salt Lake! 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' Sizes for two to six persons v Since the fashion made by Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev is so critically important that it rates a front page article I wonder if the style conscious editors of The Tribune could help me with an question: What does one wear while being incinerated by a thermonuclear weapon? JONATHAN LEE BYRD Case for Reform The case of the Holladay woman who won a jury award of $105 million ( Tribune Dec 8) for eye injuries sustained when a pop bottle cap struck her in the eye points out once again the need for tort reform According to the article there was some doubt about the method used to open the bottle as well as the posabnormal sibility of a state of the eye Apparently the plaintiff was willing to accept compensation of $75000 Taking the case to court resulted in a 100-fol- d increase in compensation Ultimately our society pays such a settlement This takes the form of huge liability insurance premiums stifling attempts to start a new business JOHN F RAMSEY MD g BAGS are made of super tough water resistant heavy duty polyester duck Durable 7 YKK nylon coil zipper and heavy cotton web handles Even comes complete with an adjustable shoulder strap 11' Dia x 28” long This is a special factory run so hurry in! 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PACK is a great value with ' reinforced and padded shoulder straps quality nylon- r coil zippers 11 oz Coated Cordura nylon and Fastex hardware Perfect for skiers and students alike Reg $18 95 ’ 1399 SALE all 20 OFF Kirkham’s g aQ outdoor products s 3125 South State Open Mon Wed 9 30-- p m Thurs 486 4161 9 Fri til - Contras and took other actions produce some stunning indict'ments within a few weeks Deaver described as “like a soq’o to President Reagan was seemingly without conscience in peddling his influence in and around the White House Millions of dollars were po nied up by South Korea Canada’ Puerto Rico Philip Morris Inc the Boeing Company Rockwell Interna-- ' tional Trans World Airlines and others just to get Deaver to make a tele' ‘ phone call to “the right people” Deaver then lied under oath abont his influence peddling later claim-'- ’ ing that his memory was affected by his alcoholism an alibi the judge refused to accept Another Reagan confidant Lyn Nofziger is about to go on trial on charges of illegal actions in behalf of the Wedtech Corp Still we hear whispers these Bea gan aides don’t have anything to worry about because if their legal defense funds don’t save them tbeir popular president will pardon them It could take a lot of pages of paper for all the pardons Mr Reagan may have to grant One has to wonder if he really wants to leave that large a paper trail across the ' pages of history that-ma- 9950 to 39950 Incinerating Attire u Tlr HEAVY BUCK DUFFEL Tribune Readers’ Opinion ’ J Reagan confidant Michael The Public Forum Long Overdue Alt Monday December 21 1987 pitting committed organizations against each other He is likely to drop in there to say hello and will do better than expected only because of his household name (he owes Donna Rice something) In New Hampshire however e Democrats can make their choice by secret ballot That’s the state where an underdog Hart upset a favored Mondale there is at least a chance that the new underdog Hart will upset the favored Dukakis and Simon The trick for Hart will be to exploit his maverickicity He should not even have a press secretary let the media find him on the trail He should forget about a finance committee let his wife and family collect the million dollars now owed his campaign by the Federal Election Commission He should tell questioners to leap in the lake when they badger him with the Big A and every time a supposed old flame pops up remark blandly that he hopes he can count on her support Am I secretly pleased because this new candidacy damages Democratic chances? No the revived Hart campaign injects new excitement into the Democratic race and dashes only the dream of Mario Cuomo to be chosen at a brokered convention The Democratic Convention will as Hart put it “let the people decide” — by choosing either Gary Hart or the man who beat Gary Hart in the primaries I’m pleased not so secretly because I admire the process that admits the possibility of speedy political redemption Gary Hart the newest longshot may fail but like Teddy Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena he would “Fail while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat” A Moral Lesson From Hart? Chicago Tribune Service Well the good news is the Democrats have finally found a front-runnwho is not Jesse Jackson Setting his cap on becoming “first teacher" Gary Hart declared on reentering the presidential race “I would only want this for an epitaph: He educated the people” Why we Americans should be in need of moral instruction from the first mate of the Monkey Business remains however unexplained For the past six months Mr Hart has been demonstrating that down deep he neither understands the nature of the office he seeks nor the people he presumes to lead This campaign is about “ideas” Mr Hart has told us ad nauseam in exasperation at the commentary on his private behavior But his protestations notwithstanding a presidential campaign is only secondarily about “ideas” When Americans go into the voting booth they do not choose between position papers (wisely most Americans don’t read position papers) they choose between men and they base their decision on who should be Chief of State the personification of American nationhood upon their assessment not only of what a man says but what he has achieved and most important who he is Unfortunately for Mr Hart four in 10 Americans have decided he is a flake inqualified by temperament and unfit by character to occupy the office Harry Truman once called “preeminently a place of moral leadership” From his name change to his age change to his affected imitations of JFK to a social behavior at age 50 one might expect of an empty-heade- d jock at age 20 the people have concluded Gary Hart is a case of arrested development a portrait in immaturity a synthetic middle-age- d man dissatisfied with his modest personal history trying to recreate himself in the public mind in someone else’s image In TS Eliot’s phrase one of the “hollow men” The wag who blamed the Donna Rice The Salt Lake Tribune Prices good thru Dec 31st Saturday til 6 00 Dec 24 9 9 00 v t 30-- 00 ’ y |