Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Thursday February Page 20 4 1988 Machine’ created Bush has a ‘Fog George By Christopher Matthews San Francisco Examiner Commentary WASHINGTON — George Bush is not a gifted ad libber Catch him in a surprise situation and the results are unpredictable He could say anything This explains why in the words of my colleague Hunter S Thompson he travels with a campaign “posse" The job of these aides is to keep the candidate as protected as possible from any unscripted encounters with the in other words to guard against Eress ever-vigila- nt Lee Atwater who directs the Bush campaign is a master at media manipulation Since taking control of the vice president’s political agenda he has moved forcefully to shore up what had been George Bush’s weak public reputation what’s been called his “wimp" factor First there was the softball approach Bush spent much of last fall giving intimate interviews with reporters who were in the process of writing personal “profiles" for the How then do we explain Bush's decision to upcoming campaign appear live on a recent edition of the “CBS The result were a series of favorable stories Evening News" with Dan Rather? How do we accented the Bush the family man Bush that explain that brilliant riposte of his to the nation’s TV anchorman: “How would you like it the man who was shot down as a young Navy Sremier Bush the man who left the easy life of the your career by those seven minutes pilot Eastern Establishment to pluck it out on his own you walked off the set in New York?" It was that Ingenious counterjab that needling as a swashbuckling Texas oilman the kind of reference to embarrassing moments several guy who “knows what it means to meet a months back when CBS “went to black" that payroll” makes so many J wonder about the Then there is the hardball Atwater is a whole Rather episode student of both Machiavelli and Richard Nixon Was it an accident? Bush's His gift as a campaign manager lies in his ability g campaign exposes its candidate to the nation’s to employ deliberate public rela! most pugnacious anchorman out of naivete? Was tions 1 the candidate a veteran politician who has spent Case in point: The “Fog Machine” memoranmonths refusing to go public on his record in the dum surIranian swap really In October 1984 Atwater wrote a contingency g news report that prised by CBS's for the Reagan-Bus- h I proceeded the campaign It set out plan interview? I There are good reasons to believe that the the steps to be followed if Ronald Reagan answer to all these questions is “no" The stumbled as badly in his second debate with Walter Mondale as he had in the first campaign does nothing by Under a heading entitled “If We Lose the with accident It’s media the as are relations j strictly choreographed as a command perfor-- J Kansas City Debate” were the following mance at the Bolshoi Bush-watche- one-on-o- ne rs hard-nittin- arms-for-hostag- es hard-hittin- on-a- ir nt “Create a fog machine If it’s clear the president did badly then it’s our job to obscure the result The single most important mission of the fog machine is to shift the emphasis to Mondale and drive up his negative rating “Media Bias Everyone knows that the Big Media especially the networks have been out to get Ronald Reagan since day one Recount how the polls as to who won and lost in Louisville e (site of the first debate) were until even media did its hatchet the relatively job on the president” Atwater appears to be using similar tactics in the 1988 political environment Case in point: the Des Moines Register debate Three weeks ago Bush walked into a debate with his fellow Republican candidates for the presidency He had two clear objectives each of them identical to the steps set forth in Atwater’s 1984 “Fog Machine” memorandum First he went after the media Ignoring his rivals the testy vice president launched into a tirade against the moderator of the debate Des Moines Register Editor James Gannon The gambit succeeded brilliantly News clips later that night showed Bush confronting “the media" Not only was he attacking the press but a particular newspaper that is extremely suspect indeed villainized by Iowan conReagan-Mondal- servatives Second he created a diversion Consistent with the “Fog Machine” memo Bush sought to shift the emphasis to archrival Sen Bob Dole Out of nowhere he said that he had released his tax returns for the past decade and wanted other candidates to do tne same Four years ago Atwater had advised Reagan’s troops to ignore their own candidate’s weaknesses and concentrate on those of the enemies Here he was doing exactly the same thing: putting the heat on Dole so as to dampen the fire around Bush It appears that Bush and Atwater conspired to execute the same play in the “debate” with Rather Step 1: Hit “media bias" If attacking the Des Register makes good political sense in Iowa attacking CBS makes sense nationally What better way to enlist irate conservatives than taking on that old fortress of “media bias" itself! What better way to win the love of Sen Jesse Helms’ cohorts than to seem victimised by Rather! Step 2: Create a “Fog Machine" Just as in 1984 the “single most important purpose” of the Atwater strategy is to create a diversion: Put the emphasis on someone other than the candidate By focusing attention on a network anchorman the Bush team hopes to release the vice president from what has become for him a Chinese water torture: continued and relentless curiosity about his inside role in the Iranian arms deal In stirring up a battle with the media first in Des Moines then in New York Lee Atwater and Co have accomplished a public relations masterstroke They have put the heat on someone else at least temporarily they have made their candidate a hero among conservatives they have left poor Dole completely out of the action and last but not least they have given Bush the alibi he needs in Iowa If things go wrong on Feb 8 Bush already has his excuse: media bias He already has his villain: Dan Rather Most important of all he already has his “Fog Machine Moines far-rig- Christoper Matthews now a political columnist former aide to Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill Scripps Howard News Service ht is a Egypt proposes new Mideast peace 1 t WASH-- i INGTON -i Jeone "Negotiations have worked can work we and iSfS£Ot must see to it that they l work again" George Shultz told guests at his State De- partment luncheon recently in ‘ nonor of Egyptian President f HosniMubark ’ Shultz added that the United 1 f believes States as it has always believed that direct negotiations among the parties conflict is i to the r the way to peace And he added f the United States “Will pursue f any avenue to get to that end including an international conrr Arab-Israe- - fi ference It was something new Shultz had never been so affirmative about an international confer-- " ence And his comments made it clear that his “intense dis- cussions" with Mubarak had had an impact on American ' Mideast policy Egypt's president had come I to Washington not only to discuss his country's economic problems but also to make the ' case for a new beginning in the : : : troubled relations between Israel and her Arab neighbors Kirkpatrick In conversations with Ameri- cans in and out of government Mubarak argued that disorder in the West Bank and Gaza added new urgency to the problem and has made it clear to all parties that the existing situation is not viable Throughout his visit Mubarak called for a “six-mon- th all moratorium forms of violence and repression” and he cautioned against being limited by "old formulas" and “old ideas” that on have not worked He also urged the organization of an international conference existing of all parties to the dispute (Israelis Jordanians Egyptians Palestinians Syrians) and the permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States the Soviet Union China France and Britain) While Mubarak refused to talk on the record about the See EGYPT on page "This which snows ueonge GBruxiadrawmg ra Iran-Conthis neck in the scandal la si sunww us deIled by Presided Just prior to press time "I am a wap!' he shcutei throuwjflie cartoonist against the wall mussing his tie and breaking his brush 21 Party after priest’s death shows how one person changed It takes a man with a clear conscience to bring his friends together after his death oil their conversation with strong drink and trust that once they start comparing notes his reputation will survive intact However it wasn't all unqualified praise the other night as a few hundred friends of Monsignor Hugo Pautler gathered — at his expense — for food and drink upon the occasion of his death His will specified that $2000 of his worldly resources be used when he died to bring his friends together for a party He borrowed the idea from Father Beaver Yes there really is a Father Beaver though I doubted it at first When you pick up the phone and some guy on the other end with a voice identifies himself as “Father Beaver you're pretty certain your leg is being pulled But when he told me that the monsignor had died of a heart attack at 82 I knew he was genuine People don’t joke about a thing like youthful-soundin- g that it turns out that Father Reinard Beaver of Wash is not only a priest but a retired military chaplain with tne rank of colonel More relevantly he is an old friend of Hugo Pautler which is an even higher rank in And Steilacoom life man They said that he had been a strict authoritarian given to formality and ordering And he is the executor of the monsignor’s will To his astonishment and pleasure he found in the monsignor's papers a copy of his own will which calls for a $2000 party upon Father Beaver’s death (since raised to $3000 I trust I will be invited) Obviously that is where the monsignor got the idea for underwriting his own wake And Father Beaver was calling to say that though I was one of the lucky to be invited So I joined a couple hundred others that night for a bite to eat and several glasses of strong drink And sure enough as the old dickens fully intended we were soon talking about him These were the people the monsignor loved people who loved him and yet the comments were candid at times This Hugo Pautler was two men in his life as many of us are especially we who hail from German and English non-Catholi- cs thick-necke- d traditions I didn't know him early on but others marveled that night at the transformation of the people about— often an angry man And what a skinflint He was so tight his backward collar squeaked on his stiff neck “I can’t believe the monsignor would spend 2000 bucks on a party” said one amazed guest rapidly sucking down one glass of spirits after another lest this miracle cease and the bar be closed They say that somewhere along the line the monsignor began to soften Some think it began with Vatican II and jolly old Pope John XXIII who brought the church — and apparently Hugo Pautler — into the 20th century The monsignor learned to laugh and touch people They say he even learned to hug He even came to believe that backsliding newspaper columnists who are so wrong in some of their writings about his church and modern morality are He never doubted for a moment how stupid and untutored I was in those matters but he came to believe it was an error of the heart He learned to stop looking down his nose and start holding out his hand That is but one example of how as the years wore one he became a warm person with a reach far beyond his flock And so it was no wonder the day after the party that a throng of hundreds flooded into that large round church It was no wonder that the audience included many a Protestant and backslider It was no wonder that members of the flock built his simple pine casket with their own hands It was no wonder that the bishop came and that 34 priests from all over the Northwest joined the bishop in celebrating both Mass and service monsignor in a happy punctuated by Father Beaver’s droll remembrance and the laughter of small children Perhaps it was no accident that the opening song was “Let There Be Peace on Earth” which includes the line “and let it begin with me" That line from that song is the story of Hugo Pautler who found peace not in death but long before when he shifted his life into New Testament gear stopped getting angry and learned to hug Maybe that's what he wanted us to discover when he invited us to his party the other night to talk about him standing-roo- m-only song-fille- d Maybe he wanted us to talk about the old Hugo and the new Hugo — and notice which one drew the crowd 0 1911 Extra Newspaper Features Letters to the editor ‘Notch babies’ To the editor: It's not fair! In 1977 Congress created the “notch" by cutting benefits for Social Security beneficiaries turning age 62 after Dec 30 1978 Those born between 1917 and 1921 may receive benefits based transition benefit formula which excludes earnings in years after turning age 60 Those born after 1921 receive benefits based on a on a new formula Many "notch babies" are World War II veterans who risked their lives to protect the United States from foreign aggression This one issue has taken 10 years to resolve At last there is a Senate bill before Congress (since Oct 29 1987) The Sanford Bill is S 1830 It costs less than other notch reform bills while doing better for almost everyone It's time to right the wrong What is a “notch baby?" Senior citizens born between 1917 and 1928 receive less Social Security benefits than other Americans with identical work records S 1830 will correct the problem and restore fairness For further information contact “The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare" James Roosevelt chairman 2000 K St NW Washington DC 20006 I was born October 1920 Vinita Okla but it’s hard to project people like me born in 1920 at the bottom of the “notch" trough who will get less on average than everyone born since 1900 Our See LETTERS on page 21 |