Show Rep Burton from Washington State of of the Union Union Different Message for Each One Listening When a President delivers his State of the Union address h he has a vast audience and every conceivable point of view with respect to government af fairs is represented THE DIVERSITY of opinion among among just the members of the Senate and House is con As I looked about the chamber I could see Viet nam doves who oppose the Presidents President's war w a r policies hawks who think he hasn't pressed hard enough in Viet nam fiscal conservatives who believe the country is falling apart under President John sons son's leadership and economic liberals who with eual mence predict the country is doomed to disaster unless the President follows policies reo re quiring even greater federal spending On the other hand man many of the Presidents President's champions were present also Speaker John W McCormack for example des Bribed the address ss as one of the wisest and most practical prescriptions for peace and pro gress in many years AS TH THE E President looked down on this variegated assem blage of statesmen and not not so statesmen Ill I'll bet he thought How flow could I ever hope to please this bunch buch And all of his pr predecessors from George Washington to John F Kennedy have probably ly thought much the same thing My own reaction to the Pre address was not quite like the Speakers Speaker's I suppose this was predictable just as the Speakers Speaker's reaction was predict able too I believe the dent was too optimistic in his outlook for the war In Viet nam And I think he glossed over some of the real problems we face here at horne home parti parti- parti the fiscal ones In the final analysis land and this is a point that most news analysts and commentators have agreed upon the speech was polito oriented as one might ex for the beginning of a pre election year It marked the opening salvo I suppose in the Presidents President's campaign for reelection election AS TH THE E address was pout polito charged so were most of the reactions to it Senator Eu gene McCarthy the dents dent's challenger in the Demo Demo- Democratic cratic primaries didn't show up He knew he wouldn't like what Mr Johnson had to say about Vietnam before Mr Johnson said it Senator J of William Fulbright of Arkansas the erstwhile critic of of Vietnam policy did attend lie He was part of the official escort for the President Senator Robert Robert F Kennedy Kennedy of New York was present but ap not particularly happy about it it His face was blank when it was not bleak and he applauded only the Presidents President's exit and entrance sinking fur ther into his chair with every paragraph so reported Mary McGrory in the Washington Star TH THE E MAN the President most wanted to impress didn't come That was Congressman Wil bur Mills chairman of the theR R House use Ways and Means Com who holds the key to passage of the Presidents President's pro to increase the income tax A good part of the address was directed toward that sub sub- subject But Mr Mills was not around for the speech and he had no comment to make when asked about it later Generally speaking the De said they like the Presidents President's address the Re publicans criticized it There were of course exceptions such as those already noted MY ADMINISTRATIVE as Roland Robison stay stay- stayed ed home to watch the address on television When it was time for the speech to begin he ask ed Christopher his three and a haff year old son to turn on the TV set Chris dutifully res and the tube brighten ed just as Mill er the House doorkeeper was announcing the President of the United States Chris watched the Pre and his contingent of es sorting orting Senators and Congress men march down the aisle saw the assemblage applaud with waves of his hand smil es and of the head Then Chris turned the set off People Are Funny Daddy We dont don't want to watch that he said with finality right right Maybe the kid was Out of the mouths of babes |