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Show THE NATIONAL ENTERPRISE, . 27 OCTOBER 12, 1977 Judicial politics by Parker M a reply good intellect, proper human instincts, balanced experience and the ability to expound the law in the judicial opinions he will be called upon to author. There is every reason to have confidence that Prof. McKay has those abilities and that he is being appointed, first of all. because he possesses them and only secondarily because he is Rep. McKays brother. Shearers point that politics was not eliminated from the process, and in the nature of things could not be, is well taken. Nevertheless, a balanced appointment process ought to take account of the inevitablility of those forces and it is to Carters credit that he has postponed them to a point after the matter of President Carters screening qualifications was settled. committee produced in excess of 50 applicants, many of whom were well qualified, 13 of whom were interviewed and 5 of which were submitted to the Attorney General. The Attorney Nielson ? J The flap over President Carters pending appointment of Prof. Monroe McKay to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, featuring Governor Matheson, State Bar President James Lee, and continued by Kent Shearer (Enterprise, Oct. 4), raises concerns that are real but also misses the point. President Carter, while yet President-elect- , announced that he would adopt a system of merit selection for judicial appointments in an effort to reduce politics in the process. The thesis of the critics of the McKay appointment seems to be that Carter has reneged on that promise by not taking the first name on the list submitted Attorney General Griffin Bell, which was produce by the screening process, and the endorsement of the State Bar. What is ignored is that Carter never indicated, much less promised, that he would appoint the first name on the list. The screening process is merely advisory. Frankly, 1 would prefer to see the appointee be a bona fide Utahn, with extensive experience before the Court of Appeals, and safe from the influence of strong vested interests. In fact, agree enthusiastically with the endorsements of Mr. David Watkiss, who was recommended by both the Attorney General and the Bar, and who is a superb lawyer well qualified for the post which is no discredit to McKay, who I do not know But the fact of the matter is, the President was not obliged to satisfy any of these criterion or accept any of these recommendations. The appointee ought, however, to have a i I ' - -- '' O t :T ' Q. 0C ; - ; ; : r ' : i LU ' O O iLIKEmA r I MUGHdFA wxjpTM IF IT CM) BE W I MS El Ifti 3mr, MORE THAT TflOUSHT. pr AS Opr cm 68 A OXOARD. trr nur SCO) .ALL as r map IM com A ooum op MORE I tioow 1 AXr AH EXTRA' Hcues IPIU, 01) TOP 4EE OF ASAIU CfiPlOARIlA' I Ask is APMIT SOlTHCOSttT AU WAS UPSET 8V THE IHOOSttT SO THOOCtfT AEAfO: - io- -i &t I A COtOARP HAS CLIMBS? A MOUUTAllJ. climbep A KXCrAflJ- 2. at ate repef axmsp so General then ranked the 5 and it is my understanding that Watkiss and McKay were ranked The screening committee balanced according to race and sex and with a liberal number of lay members, and the Attorney General, operated without the political influences which the Governor and the Bar were trying to exert in the traditional mode. That is to the system's credit. The President deserves approbation for implementing a system which produced a field of so many qualified candidates and for selecting from among those found most qualified by a broadly based panel. The appointment is, in the end, his to make. Abdication of that responsibility to the screening committee, the Attorney General, the Governor or the Bar would be the worst corruption of his Constitutional responsibility. That is what his critics seem to urge. THE BRAVE ttUMAO. eeius! PRAGMATIC DOGMATICS The Star Wars fallacy The cinema never has offered the equal of Star Wars. Superb both in conception and execution, the film undoubtedly will shatter box office records and, along with such flicks as the Wizard of Oz. will become a classic for future generations. But, that said, earthlings best had view the motion picture in the knowledge that it is a and most certainly not a fantasy, a reflection of humanity on this planet, in this galaxy, at this time. For. in the production, evil is 100 percent and good is at worst 95 percent. On the side of darkness lurks the Death Star. Grand Moff Tarkcn. Lord Darth Vadar. and a host of The near-purImperial Storm Troopers. heroes and heroines include Luke Skywalkcr, n Kenobi. Princess Leia. Han Solo, and the and Wookiee. Chewbacca, as well as the e, e Obi-Wa- modes are to guide us, a more appropriate appreciation of human nature is afforded by Graham Greens 1939 novel. Orient Express. which contains, in the words of the New York Real people, ...varying in their Times. degrees of good and evil, but with no one of them perfect. versus unabashed evil some pretty heady consequences ensue. What is the Star Wars solution to disagreements between the white hats and the black somberos? The two sides attempt to By Star Wars annihilate one another. reasoning, the cil specter of Communism would do to us as the Death Star does to the innocent planet. Aldcrann: obliterate us. The only alternative available to the Democracies, therefore, would be to do to the Reds what the heroic rebels do to the denizens of the Death Star: demolish them. In a nuclear world, those are awfully drastic choices to contemplate. If fictional We must remember that, admirable as he may be, Jimmy Carter is no Luke Skywalkcr. Likewise, although not the epitomes of virtue, those who rule from the Kremlin are considerably less depraved than the likes of Tarkcn and Vadar. C-3P- O by Kent Shearer play-piec- and droids, If one keeps ever in mind that the voyage of the Millennium Falcon, Solos starship, is also a flight from reality, no harm will be done. If, however. Star Wars fans come to think of the contemporary world in Star Wars terms in the context of unadulterated good R2-D- 2. Af ter all. we do not cohabit in a Star Wars environment. Rather, we exist in an imperfect world society, comprised of imperfect governments formed by imperfect persons. We earthlings may watch Star Wars with enjoyment. We should not view it as any of f'irsclves. Were we to do otherwise, the Force might not be with us. mirror-imag- e |