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Show i CAPITOL rJtkyA WATCHDOG Willi V J By Hill ll. nclrix Billygoat not billygate Looking at the Billy Carter affair from a Utah perspective has some disadvantages, but it also has some advantages. Since the President hasn't a great deal of support in the west, it's easy to jump on the "bandwagon" and distort the facts. We'll try not to do that. One thing's for sure, though. Billy has-been has-been something of a "Billygoat" in his acceptance of loans or payoffs from Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. Qadhafi is the "lunatic", as Anwar Sadat calls him, who uses his troops and influence to support people and causes like Idi Amin, the PLO, the Irish Republican Army and Jean Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic. Taking anything from these characters is something like befriending befrien-ding Count Dracula, the Werewolf, and the Frankenstein monster. It suggests a shortage of something important between the ears. Extending this weakness to Jimmy Carter, however, takes a deeper investigation. Suggestions that the Billy Carter affair is something of a "Watergate" type scandal a Billygate will only hold up if the President is shown to have been untruthful or covered up Billy's activities. The opposite appears to be the case. Billy's activities were actually publicized by the Carter Administration. The President's naivete in foreign affairs seems to be showing again, however, much the way it did when he expressed amazement about the invasion in-vasion of Afghanistan. For the President to think Billygoat could "wheel and deal" with the likes of Qadhifi and not have that activity spill over on the White House throws a shadow over the entire Administration. Where were .bignciw Brznezinski, Cyrus Vance, and Ed Muskie while this foolishness was developing? Has the President no influence over Billy, or does the President's family have so little respect for him that this kind of thing could happen? Unfortunately, the record shows that the President was well aware of Billy's activities. And, the Administration, through Brzezinski, added credibility to the affair by using Billy to contact Qadhafi in a futile attempt to win the release of the Iranian hostages. The President's image is changing from a nice guy. to a nice guy without the capacity for the job. Everyone's got a brother or brother-in-law that's a billygoat. Most of us make sure their activities don't besmirch our own good name and reputation. In the case of the President, though, the decision to protect the Presidetit. the White House, and the family name were not seen as necessary. |