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Show Ik S'alt Take Wednesday Morning Section September William Safire aribnnr Bush Should Say What He Thinks 12, 1984 New York Times Service WASHINGTON In our last installment, Vice President George Bush was needled in this space for refusing to entertain a Page 14 A Public Might Need To Absorb Possible Higher Legal Bills case at hand Utah Its a fascinating theory six state senators have propounded for meeting expenses of a man now being sued because he accused Utah Power and Light Co. and its coal supplier of wasting money. Specifics of the idea are debatable, but the sense of it is convincing. Essentially, what the senators have said in a letter to the Public Service Commission is that those who give adverse testimony in regulated utility rate hearings should not be penalized by costs heaped on them from a slander or libel suit. That is logical. Less reasonable is their accompanying proposal that UP&L should assume expenses of such a suit now pending if slander is not proven. The entire matter was prompted by testimony given in a rate hearing by James E. Simonelli, a former auditor for Emery Mining Co. He alleged that the coal company, a supplier for UP&L, had engaged in practices which caused the utility to squander ratepayer money. Both UP&L and Emery Mining deny the allegations, but the coal company filed a slander suit against Mr. Simonelli. The mans attorney claims his court costs could run as high as $25,000. One of the senators, Bill Barton, Lake, says precedent in federal law would make UP&L responsible for all legal fees if the Simonelli accusations prove to have merit, even though the utility didnt initiate lt the slander suit. Its still UP&Ls mine, is his explanation. But thats a g rationale. Better is the distinction the senators have made concerning inhibitions on disputable testimony. Why, they suggest, would anyone go public with accusations in a utility rate case if to do so might saddle such a witness with immense personal legal fees? The most obvious initial answer is truth ought to be sufficient shield. Clear, ample evidence of the alleged wrongdoing should prevent those accused from, themselves, incurring expenses of a lawsuit. Except rarely are issues of this nature open and shut. weak-soundin- Mr. In the Simonel-li- s allegations are so broad and com- pounded the PSC has ordered the Consumer Services Committee, which sponsored his testimony, to reduce the information to a concise list of charges and recommendations. Even then, more shades of grey may emerge than precise black and white. Contention could still fly back and forth. But should any potential witness, at any time, be intimidated against alerting the PSC, the public generally, by the likelihood of being driven to penury by a lawsuit? Utilities and other businesses which value spotless reputations can honorably answer that they deserve protection against careless, unsubstantiated or malicious attacks uttered during official regulation hearings. Recourse to libel and slander suits ought to be available for countering damaging falsehood. In other words, regulated industries should enjoy as much defense against in- "State law requires that you have the seat belts fastened when we tell you the price!" My old friend reacted, George called George about this Moroccan double cross because he is the high administration official who has spent the most time with Moroccos king; a year ago, he was jogging on the king's golf course in Casablanca on an official visit. Second only to Cap Weinberger, Bush has been the strongest voice urging the president to trust the "moderate" Arabs, and Morocco's federation with terrorist Libya is the latest evidence that such trust is misplaced. This is not the first time the vice president has refused to reveal his Middle East mind-se- t. Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, in his memoirs, wrote that the vice president had persuaded Reagan that the United States should vote in the United Nations to condemn Israel's move into Lebanon. Before Haig had that decision reversed, he writes : "William Clark told me that Reagan had acted on the basis of a recommendation from Vice President Bush's crisis management team in Washington. I circled that passage and sent it to the vice president, asking if that had been his recommendation. In those days, George would answer promptly, and here is how he I have worked evaded the question: assiduously to build a relationship of trust and confidence with the president to preserve that relationship, which I value so highly, I must keep it confidential. The vice president added- I have been tempted to call you in reaction to items in your column which have had me incorrectly I through a press aide, a by objecting to number of inaccu'lr- Safire rate and, quite frank- ly. snotty criticisms of the vice president in this column. (Adding injury to insult, the aide misspelled my name seven times in his letter; only the intercession of a kindly copy editor averted mutual embarrassment when the letter was printed ) The inaccuracy that evidently touched a nerve was that the vice president was campaigning in a media-fre- e cocoon. He does. Of the four candidates for national office, only the uncharacteristically testy George Bush insists that no press accompany him on his plane. Because Air Force II is now journalistenrein no photographers can catch the vice president wearing sweat pants (which happened to the president and did not fit in the White House's official Theme of the Day), and difficult questions can be rejected, as mine was, as "inappropriate. The issue here is not whether a public official must return a call of some pundit "... ... positioned on foreign policy issues. I have resisted that temptation for the same reason that George, with that permapainful nently expression on his face, succumb to temptation' Only when the president releases him from his bonds can his views be "correctly positioned" and can we learn if Israel would suffer by his elevation to the presidency. I have been told, for example, by two members of the National Security Council that Bush was so outraged by the Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear bomb plant an action that has saved millions of human that Bush led the beings from incineration charge to punish Israel by withholding shipment of promised aircraft. Is this true? We are not permitted to know. Is the Haig assertion about a condemnation vote true? No comment. Did Bush know in advance of the Moroccan-Libyadeal, and do nothing to stop it? That question is too sensitive to "appropriately" discuss, and draws an angry blast for being asked. Upon what meat doth this our preppie Caesar feed that he is grown so fatuous? Come off it, George. A campaign stump is not an isolation booth. Get permission to a vice president should loosen up a little be loyal, but he doesn't have to be a nut about Oh. would n it Remember the days of yore, sipping a beer while watching movies in Charlie Bartletts basement, and face the press with lips unsealed. Your old friends, even those who differ on specific issues, will admire you all the more. timidation as public hearing witnesses. fair balancing of rights is needed. One alternative would be to simply grant the PSC privilege, so that all testimony it hears would be immune from lawsuits. If that is not feasible, another option is already indicated within state policy and procedure. The Consumer Services Committee was created so that ratepayers could have additional representation during utility rate cases before the PSC. The committee sponsored Mr. Simonellis testimony, believing he had something seriously relevant to say. Consequently, the committee, which is also a defendant in the Emery Mining Co. slander suit, should, if slander is proven, absorb all the legal So a fees. That means the public, through state government, might occasionally pay unforeseen, unintended and expensive legal bills. But if the public wants deeper involvement in utility rate matters, it will have to accept the risk of possible higher advocacy costs. William Raspberry Reads Polls, Too Gromyko President ReaganS forthcoming meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko can be attributed to various motives. And the greatest of these is pure pragmatism. There is little doubt the stern men in the Kremlin would prefer having someone else in the White House after 1984. Mr. Reagan has been a terrible chore for them. They have no desire to do anything that will further his prospects. The Gromyko meeting is almost certain to do just that, especially in light of recent taunts from Democrat candidate Walter F. Mondale which claim Mr. Reagan is the only president in recent times who has not met with top Soviet officials. This genuine reluctance notwithstanding, the veteran Mr. Gromyko and his colleagues are aware of preelection polls and are apparently convinced that Ronald Reagan is the man they must contend with for four more years. They must have concluded, accordingly, that there is nothing to be gained by snubbing the president while Mr. Gromyko is in the United States. That, we suggest is the general rationale. There could be a more positive motive as well. Last Sunday, on the television show. Meet the Press, Secretary of question about the surprise support given to Libya's Col. Khadafy by this administration's favorite Arab monarch, the king of Morocco. who thinks he's a big shot The issue is whetha person can run for office while consistently screening out questions about his actions and positions on public policy er State George P. Shultz was emphatic in restating the Reagan position that there is nothing to be gained by meeting with top Soviets unless there is a solid prospect of accomplishment. Mr. Shultz, who will be seeing Mr. Gromyko at the United Nations prior to the foreign ministers visit at the White House, should by now have reason to believe that some measur-eablif not dramatic, progress torelations will ward better be made at the Gromyko-Reaga- n talks. If none results, his Sunday admonition and the longstanding excuse for this administrations aloofness will be exposed as bluster and deceit. e, U.S.-Sovi- et Nostalgia is a medication for removing warts from the past. You'd almost think the cause of overs hadn't been discovered. hang- Coach Thompson Adopts Fatherly Role Washington Post Service WASHINGTON The thing that keeps coming to mind when I think about Coach John Thompson's treatment of his priority. The difference is that Thompson acts as though he believes it. His players, e unlike many college stars, nearly always graduate after four years. Thompson understands that basketball and life are not synonymous. Graham, a sometimes demon on the court, revealed himself as a student, and wound up on academic probation. The usual move in such a case would be to suspend the player for a semester while he got his grades together, providing him with a tutor and perhaps letting him practice with the team. Thompson says Grahams athletic suspension will be for a full year even if he gets all A's this semester, that he w"t not play or practice with the team, or even be monitored by the coaching staff. In short, Graham will become a student before he is allowed to return as a basketball player at Georgetown. It was an extraordinary move by an extraordinary man. The problem, said Thompson in his role as disappointed "father, is not that Graham big-tim- forward Michael Graham is that it is what a good father might have done for his own son. e Graham, whose aggressive rebounding was a vital factor in Georgetown Un- iversitys national championship last season, will clearly be missed But he wont play Thompson has set him down, not for a semester but for a whole year, to force the youngster to get serious about his academics I suppose there isn't a college basketball coach in the country who won't profess a fatherly interest in his players, who wont insist that education, not basketball, is the Dick West Computers Turn Campaign to Video Game WASHINGTON (UPI) According to a study conducted by Aristotle Industries, the use of small computers in political campaigns has increased 155 percent this year Aristotle attributes the advance to campaign managers looking for an edge over the opposition But I'm not sure that interpretation tells the whole story A blurb accompanying one of the new books about the "computer revolution" raises the question of whether desktop electronic brains are "changing the way we think about ourselves and the way we relate to others " Sure, there were enough candidates for president this year to account for a 155 percent increase in small computer sales But if computers actually arc changing the way wc relate to each other doesn t it stand to rea son they also are changing the way we relate to politicians I therefore am convinced that sales weie boosted by voters seeking a clearer understanding of the campaign It may be that voters who attentively watched Geraldine Ferraros news conference and had access to the tax forms and other documents she released could valuate the finances of the Democratic vice presidential candidate and her husband. John Zaccaro But how much easier it would have been simply to buy computer "software" containing all the information about their private business dealings and examine it at your leisure And the same thing goes for the federal budget Not long ago, Sen. Pete Wilson. figured out the SI 5 trillion national debt would make 125 stacks of dollar bills as high as the moon However it isn't easy for a finite mind, which most voters have, to comprehend 2.18 857 miles, which is the distance to the . moon How much clearer Wilsons analogy would have been if some computer programmer had made a new video game of it possi bly connecting the moon and Earth with 125 green lines that the Internal Revenue Service must gobble up in order to turn the color of the screen from red to black, which wins I also am grateful to Sen Robert Byrd Va . for suggesting a new way of portraying the budget The Senate Democratic leader told his colleagues that dollar bills laid end to end as rapidly as President Reagan is increasing the deficit would break the sound barrier Greenbacks "would have to be rolled out at the incredible rate of 1,917 mph," which is nearly triple the speed of sound at sea level. Byrd calculated D-- He did not say whether he made that computation on a computer or in his head Very few voters have been to the moon but most have traveled in jet airliners that fly 350 to 600 mph. So even if we haven t ever broken the sound barrier, we can grasp " Byrd's reference to "supersonic deficits If you also can env ision supersonic dollar bills, it must mean you have a faster credit card than I do Liar lit r Byrd spoke of the need to smoke out" any plan Reagan might have fur balancing the budget Let political candidates try that one on the ol computer, and see how long it takes a smokescreen to reach the moon lacks the smarts to make it in Georgetowns academically tough environment but that he lacks the maturity and to make the commitment at this time . . . Hes just got to stay off the streets of Washington and stay on the campus of Georgetown. If he doesn't learn that, he will never play basketball here again. Thompson, who likes to toss his basketball recruits a deflated basketball to demonstrate the need to prepare themselves for life after sports, said his goal is to help Graham to mature, as student as well as player. Grahams academic problems are "purely attitudinal, he said. I would fight for a person doing the best he can and just having trouble. But Michael's got to understand that national championships and all the other things are great, but you have to handle the total responsibility. Like so many fathers, Thompson tried milder approaches before deciding on a year's suspension Twice last year, Graham was left on campus to study while his team went on the road, including a trip to Hawaii. When I put pressure on him or kept him from a game, he did extremely well, Thompson said. "He performed well under those conditions, so I know he can do the work. But hes got to learn to be consistent, not just for the sake of some immediate goal or short-tersatisfaction. Now he has to do it for his own sake. I told him a person can't be on scholarship for the rest of his life. I hope this will work. I don't know whether it will or not " Again, it has the ring not of a coach doing what is best for the team but of a father doing what is best for his son. Its hard to remember that a kid who is and well over 200 pounds is still a kid But Thompson, at 6T1" and better than 300 pounds, understands it well, and he also understands that maturity cant be measured with tapes and scales He is insisting that his prospective basketball star grow up. And don't be too surprised if it works. Graham may be embarrassed by the entire episode, but he passed up the chance to transfer to an easier school. He decided on his own to attend summer school. A lot of us are grateful for what Thompson has done One day, if hes lucky. Michael Graham will be too It s a gloi ions feeling when the preacher for a starts talking about someone else change You can get a reputation for wisdom by being too Uiy to make your own mistakes |
