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Show DESERET NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH We Jax! A5 THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1977 for the Constitution of the United States with its three departments ot government, each fully independent in its own field. Nixon -- Frost program wasn't show-and-te- ll If any Americans seriously expected anything particularly new or startling last night from farmer President Nixons first public discussion of Watergate since his resignation, they must have been seriously disappointed. Thats not entirely the fault of interviewer David Frost, who repeatedly pressed Mr. Nixon to admit criminal liability in a series of relentless questions. Even so, there are a number of pertinent questions that should have been raised and might have been if the televised appearance had been in the hands of professional newsmen or an attorney rather than a show business personality. For example, what was Nixons initial reaction and his first order when he learned of the break-i- n at Democratic party headquarters in the Watergate complex? If Nixon did not, as he claimed last night, erase 18 Vz minutes of the taped conversation he had about Watergate on June 20, 1072 with his chief of staff, H. R. Ilaldeman, does be know who did it? Did he make any attempt to find out? Why did he tape conversations in the White House? Did he plan to sell them eventually or to use them in writing his memoirs? Since Nixon described Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman at their resignation as his aides as two of the finest public servants he had ever known, why didnt he giant them a pardon when they sought it before Nixon resigned? Why didnt Nixon tell his subordinates to stop calling John Dean a liar when the tapes showed the President knew Dean was telling the truth? Why was there a need for an enemies list, for retribution? The list of such questions could be extended considerably. In any event, the public evidently will never know the answers to such questions from the Frost show. Though three more interviews with Nixon remain to be aired, the others dont deal with Watergate. This raises the question of whether David Frost, despite Nixons assertion last night that he is dead politically, is letting this format be used as the launching pad for a Nixon comeback. Richard Nixons long public career has been marked by a series of remarkable recoveries after crushing and apparently final defeats. The interviews with Frost may represent one last effort to overcome what has been called Nixon's seventh crisis, the most damaging one of all. The most startling disclosure last night was Nixons assertion that he considered resigning 15 months before he actually left office. Aside from that, the public was treated to what was largely a rehash of the familiar. The former President insisted, for example, that he was not involved in the Watergate break-in- , and did not participate in or approve payments to the burglars. That is precisely what he said when he was trying to save his embattled presidency in the face of impeachment charges. He admitted he made a mistake in trying to involve the CIA in the Watergate coverup as a means of blocking a full investigation by the FBI. What else could he say? Insisting he never committed an offense that was impeachable, Nixon acknowledged he made many mistakes in judgment and was responsible for his own downfall. He attempted to contain the scandal, as he told it, simply to keep innocent aides from being smeared. That position amounts to anything but a confession. Though occasionally rambling and evasive, the former President appeared healthy and alert after his long seclusion In any event, while last nights interview demonstrates that interest in Richard Nixon and Watergate remains high, the full facts in the case clearly are still not out. Handicapped rules: Q I LiLJ costly but welcome ART BUCHUJflLD VOf, IV-- Ask energy man Why is there an energy shortage? Because not enough dinosaur died so they could rot and make oil to last us beyond the year 2040. Q A y almost allocating to the handicapped only as much as is convenient. The regulations require ''Animating physical barriers the handicapped wherever xieral funding is involved, md they stipulate that d children, regardless of the nature or severity of the handicap, are entitled to free public education appropriate to their needs. Public education has been the distinctive American right. The extension of it, especially to the mentally handicapped, will generate legitimate controversy. Ini- - tys treatment of the handQ situaWhy dont we raise more dinosaurs and kill icapped in them and bury them in the ground so they will rot and By tions, and to manage this provide oil for us? improvement by codifying George K. standards of behavior that A Because the environmentalists wont let us are better than prevailing Will kill dinosaurs. They are a protected species. standards. Q What about foliage and other fossils? Why Modem government has cant wc bury them so we can have more oil? extended the citizens claims WASHINGTON HandA It takes a billion years for vegetation and of entitlement, and now the fossils to rot and turn into oil. Most people dont want icapped persons are actohandicapped are moving to wait that long. quainted with disappointward full citizenship. This ment, and they have experiWhat happened to all the oil we were Q in time a been has long enced much of it since 1973, supposed to get from Alaska that would make us coming because the handwhen Congress grandly deicapped are a varied and indejfendent of the Middle East? clared that no otherwise A often invisible minority, inThat oil is going to be shipped to Japan and qualified handicapped indivisible in part because of ve will get the oil that Japan would ordinarily buy vidual . . . shall solely by discrimination This dis- from the Middle East. reason of his handicap sufcrimination often involves a fer discrimination under any Wont that make us more dependent on natural human failure of Middle East oil than we were before? program or activity receiving i federal financial assistance. A No comment. In this heavily subsidized To fully effective, the new What does President Carter propose to do to Q society, that can have a broad solve the energy crisis? reach. HEW regulations require a of A Declare moral war on it. But such broad sweeps of social sensitivity which, if it existed, sentiment are law only in a llow do you fight a moral war? Q hollow, technical sense. They A would make By taxing people who use gasoline. He regulations unrequire the executive branch to raise the price ol gasoline by live cents per expects lu make regulations that , ul it necessary . gallon Uuiil pivpc uac "make the law. be a burden on people who need that Wont Q The Department of Health, their automobiles to go to work? a imaginative sympathy, Education and Welfare, agine, for example, the A to rethe failure They will get rebates providing they dont by to majority not reluctant write agonizing judgments which is cars. imagine how life looks to have regulations, wrestled with the quired by the rule that the must be persons less fortunate. How will I get my rebate? task of giving substance to handicapped Q in A society deficient with the nonReCongress sentiments. A By filling out IRS Energy Form 19876 listing imaginative sympathy cently, after more than three handicapped in regular clasaddress. Social Security number, number; name, your exwith to srooms the maximum surrounds the crippled years, it produced 48 dense tent of dependents, as described in Paragraph C. You will 106 possible." designed of thoughtlessly rules, plus pages pages add the of the car to gallons of gas consumed, facilities which provide no and thenweight of related documents. divide the total by the number of cylinders wheelfor access convenient The new rules require an With feigned precision, you have in your engine, and then multiply this figure chairs, facilities that shout by your earned endless exercise of sensitive HEW guesses that the new income, making an allowance for socidiscretion by public officials, societys indifference. A state and city taxes as described on page eight of the requirements will cost sociein deficient imaginative ety especially at the local level. amended IRS Energy Form 1218, Article 3A. This ty (especially school systems) In this regard, they demonsympathy consigns the refigure will then be noted on page three, line 6B and $2.4 billion. Actually, no one tarded to education progstrate the difficulty of much from your date of birth on line 6C. Once subtracted knows even how many millrams that reinforce rather the form is of what modem government filed, no later than April 15, or unless you ions of people (probably more cruel the than ameliorate under the IRS Energy Act an ask for extension, than 40 million) are does. capriciousness of nature of as much as $50 or pay a will a rebate the receive To be sense the effective, in you fully handicapped The new regulations an of of se tail be appealed. which CouJ $208, new IIEW regulations really of having a physical or penalty nounce the beginning of a mental impairment which require a degree of social Will the oil companies benefit from the Q costly but welcome era. Nosensitivity which, if it exsubstantially limits one or President3 plan? would make the thing the Carter Administraregulamore major life activities. isted, A Only to the extent that they will receive as next in do will the tion three are tions unnecessary. They But the significance of the for their "new oil as we are now much so money will touch vears many an attempt by the central regulations is that now the OPEC nations. the lives ready for justice. paying societo must nation improve government stop rationing q Does this mean the price of gasoline will go up for the consumer? A Does the sun rise in the morning? What is a gas guzzler? Q A gas guzzler is any car tha gets less miles A to the gallon than the car you own at the present handled Japans traditionally ese electronic products, inThe Supreme Court just ruled that you could Q tortuous negotiators in Tokyo cluding television sets, to spank children in school Does President Carter plan earlier in the montli by sim- congressional scrutiny at this to spank people who drive gas guzlers? ply adjourning the meeting, time, the Treasury advised A Not at the moment. But the Department of the President was voting for the President. The same has a standby plan in case its goals on the Energy memo warned against Contough bargaining. purchase of small cars are not met. They would set gress opening up the issue of up a Government Spanking Bureau and before you Strausss role extends trade policy m general, and would he permitted to buy a big car you would have to beyond present haggling over I' S Japan trade relations in go there and get 20 whacks on your backside. color TV sets and shoos to a particular. Hy Rowland Evans There are some poplc who like to be Q paramount political proband who might buy a big car just to get and Robert Novak State Similar spanked, Department vs. lem: foreign imports beaten. What will you do about them advice is blamed by adAmerican jobs. Tut one-da- y for the officials ministration A The government has their names in a garment industry strike April WASHINGTON PresiPresidents blunder in offerU may have been the first computer, and if it finds out they bought a big car just dent Carter informed the ing Fukuda a color TV import to get spanked they will le refused the privilege and of American workers ever at 2 5 million a year. April 18 meeting of his quota asked to pay an excise spunking tux instead foreign cabinet that Robert S. protesting against Not only has this That doubles the 1.3 million competition. Strauss was in charge of become issue No. 1 for organwhich is average of 1973-7- 5 foreign trade negotiations i ized labor, but Mr. Carters sought by the industry and and was to receive full cooplabor as the new quota. show Americans polls private eration from the Economic for the first time say they are Strauss on trade is markeda message Policy Group willing to pay higher prices to ly less a free trader than with broad implications save jobs. BOEING AIRCR6 Blumcnthnl or particularly about the handling of an SecRichard Cooper, Under increasingly dangerous politThis combustible political retary of State for economic ical issue. climate is reduced by trade affairs. Viewing the current The moment he was named experts in the bureaucracy to Japanese export surge as chief trade negotiator Strauss bad guys" (protectionists) akin to a commanding generbecame the target for sniping vs. good guys (free tradal grabbing land just before from the Treasury and State ers). A Treasup' memo prethe peace conference settles Department bureaucracies. pared for Prime Minister boundaries, Strauss sees noBut the President himself had Fukudas visit here March thing sacrosanct in current been the victim of faulty out 2 of hand the rejected import figures. bureauadvice from th idea that the rise cf cotor TV crats, loading to a wrunis sets imported from Japan Less than a week after blunder about color television from 16 to 27 percent of the sworn in, Strauss was being set imports while meeting U.S. market over the last 12 the in Tokyo confronting Prime Minister Takeo Fuku-d- a months, was caused by Oriental stonewall built by of Japan a month earlier. Japanese government export Japanese negotiators. After subsidies. So. the politically attuned almost eight hours of getting understood Mr. Carter's mesnowhere, Strauss astounded his Japanese adversaries by sage at the cabinet table Rather, the Treasury's April 18: Bob Strauss, not the principal concern was mak getting up and going home trade experts, was calling the ing sure the issue did not get "The Juiniicsc nearly 'ocat him back to Washington to shots for U.S. Japanese to Congress "There are obvi'This is our new sales director. He used to be one insider ous risks in ojwnmg up the keep talking, negotiations on color TV immoderator on TV's 'Let's Make a Deal. ' " a told us ports. Since Strauss had subject of imports of citizenship, absent-mindedl- face-to-fa- hand-cappe- " be degree the .. Land closure was too hasty heat but little light has been generated by the Bureau of Land Managements emergency withdrawal of 26,927 acres of land in the Deep Creek Much miles south of Wendover. Briefly stated, these are the facts : No existing mining claims are being cut off. vehicles The area is still open to and other recreation uses. The closure order does, however, preclude any settlement of land, any land sale, or futher location of mining claims. Furthermore, the area is so isolated from normal travel routes that it has rarely been in any danger from exploitation other than mining. And Atlas Minerals, whose company offices are in Moab, appears to be the only mining company with current interests in the area. It is interested in uranium exploration in the area. Atlas Minerals and the BLM have had a gentlemans agreement for some time that the firm would not violate a designated area deemed important by the BLM as a possible wilderness area. Environmental issues also enter in. The area, says BLM, contains a rare species Mountains 50 off-roa- d cutthroat trout, an unusual species of stone fly, rare plants such as the cape fern and bristlecone pine, and archeological sites. Scientists believe the trout habitat is a complete ecosystem and is important to the study of prehistoric Lake Bonneville aquatic life. Those reasons alone, however, hardly seem sufficient justification for the land closure. None of the species cited are presently on the list of rare or endangered species. So the issue essentially boils down to a quarrel between BLM and Atlas Minerals. Atlas, it appears, either accidentally or intentionally allowed a bulldozer operator to cross the boundary-ig operations to one of its claims. Even BLM admits the mining company has a right to go in and develop its claim. So why the sudden rush to declare an emergency closure? A far wiser course would have been to hold a hearing on the matter and listen to everyone concerned, including the public, before acting. ot road-buildin- Too much military brass The U.S. military establishment has too many chiefs for its Indians. Since personnel costs make up the bulk of the defense budget, it should be y possible to trim the leadership ranks without impairing U.S. military effectiveness. In fact, a trimmer military machine could very well provide the U.S. with better protection for less money. So the Senate Armed Services Committee acted responsibly when it voted this week for a 4 reduction in each of the next two years in the number of U.S. generals and admirals. top-heav- Afterthoughts . . y the military brass Just how has become can be seen from the way their ranks have ballooned over the years. At the height of World War II there were 2,068 generals and admirals in service. That was about one for each C,000 persons in the lower ranks. top-heav- When the U.S. was at war in Vietnam, there was one general or admiral for every 2,600 servicemen in the lower ranks. Today, with the country at peace, the U.S. has one general or admiral for each 1,785 servicemen in the lower ranks. If the ratio that pertained during World War II had been maintained, liiei e wouiu be only 354 generals and admit ula now instead of the 1,165 the U.S. has. . One certain sign of a middle-ageman (as my children derisively point out) is that he still raises his voice to a call. shout when making a d No wonder that Admiral Hyman Kickover is among those calling for a cutback in the swollen ranks of generals and admirals. The money saved by making the ranks of the brass leaner and tougher can and should be used to equip the military with the advanced new planes and ether hardware it needs, long-distan- but first ntroduced as a leisure suit. (In England, a justness suit was actually called a "lounge vhat Men now wear leisure suits we call a business suit was Sydney Harris A i t edu-cate- d l Prickly issue trade - DOUG SflEYD l |