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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: JUDY SARASOHN
Lindsay gets by--
with a little help
EW YORK MAYOR John V. Lindsay's
impressive victory Tuesday ended a
full year of campaigning featuring color-
ful personalities who created political
masterpieces and political disasters with
equal skill. Since New Yorkers were de-
ied the appetizing opportunity to vote
for Norman Mailer for their Mayor, the
problem of choosing between Republican-
Conservative John Marchi, regular Dem-
ocrat Mario Procaccino, and encumbent
liberal Lindsay caused a great d e a 1 of
vacillation.
The "true Republicans"--the conserva-
tive ones---felt their usual paranoia about
how their point of view somehow never
gets represented in New York City. This
feeling, added to Lindsay's general city-
wide unpopularity, gave the conservatives
very good reason to hope for a rennais-
sance of true Republicanism within the
city's (and state's) party It was a n 1 y
mildly surprising, therefore, when Wil-
liam F. Buckley's dearest friend f r o m
Staten Island, John J. Marchi, captured
his party's nomination over Lindsay by
a scant five thousand votes. Marchi was
then promptly endorsed by the Conser-
vative Party.
FOR ONE FULL YEAR, since the disas-
trous handling of the teachers' strike,
everyone, Republicans and Democrats,
said Lindsay had to go. It vas reported
that if an election had been held at the
beginning of 1909, in the midst of the
school crisis, Lindsay would have receiv-
ed less than twenty per cent of the city's
popular vote. That "Lindsay is a louse"
was, in fact, the only thing New Yorkers
could agree on at that point. And the Re-
publicans then made it clear to the Mayor
that lie was without major party support.
So when the Republicans conceded the
election by nominating Marchi, the Dem-
ocrats had their clear opportunity. Sur-
veyors of New York politics provide us
with the lopsided statistic that Democrats
outnumber Republicans s e v e n to two.
With this heavy an advantage numerical-
ly, and with such easy competition pro-
vided by the Republicans, and with an
encumbent who could claim only the Lib-
eral Party candidacy (which some say he
railroaded) how could any Democrat
lose?
THE FIRST REASON is that the N e w
York C i t y Democratic Party simply
does not exist. The Democrats claim the
support of the Blacks, most of the Jews,
and most of the Irish in the party's ranks,
and this accounts for the seven to two
margin. B u t it is immediately obvious
that the alliance here implied is precar-
ious at best, and non-existent at worst.
Particularly in times of racial tension,
exemplified by the school crisis of 1968-
69, party label means nothing. New York-
ers vote "ethnic lines," and would have
done so had the election been held six or
eight months ago. This explains in part
why Democrats sometimes lose in New
York City.
rJHE SECOND REASON the Democrats
lost was because there were too many
running in the primary who w e r e too
close together ideologically. T h e rank-
and-file had to choose between Wagner,
Badillo, Scheuer, Mailer and Procaccino.
T h e first three candidates represented
merely different shades of the same lib-
eral line, and their simultaneous candi-
dacy managed to render the party's lib-
eral support impotent. Although Mailer
was probably the best man, not being a
regular Democrat and all, he finished a
poor fourth, which leaves Mario Angelo
Procaccino to capture thirty-two per cent
of his party in the primary, and hence to
claim its nomination. He is the third and
biggest reason why the Democrats lost.
Rather than kick a dead horse, suffice
it to say that, armed with an insurmount-
able lead over John Lindsay and John
Marchi, Mario Procaccino managed one
of the worst campaigns in American his-
tory. His verbal blunders rank with Ag-
new's best, and his whole campaign ma-
chine smacked of crass amateurism
(which is excusable, even lovable in an
amateur, but pathetic for a machine pol-
1tician).
INALLY, there is John Lindsay, Liberal
candidate, controversial, unpopular.
His campaign was designed to unite the
majority of both major parties in New
York City (the "vocal" majority, a n d
with the help of Procaccino he did this.
The more Procaccino bad-mouthed
Lindsay, and peddled his "law-and-ord-
er" doctrine, the more endorsements
Lindsay got: from black groups, f r o m
Herman Badillo, and most importantly,
from the group which had been so disen-
chanted with the Mayor, the Jews. The
Mayor-elect owes his opponents a word o~f
thanks.
---LEE MITGANG
m.. c. p :m.i i iFi::. ... m.x8:r..v.< . ::.. :...:... i{k:a~ x..e3
Violence i D.C.
........x ........._ ....:. ,:s . E as ille r x. .: .:
AS NOV. 15 approaches, it becomes increasingly apparent that the
Nixon administration is not about to tolerate a non-violent demon-
stration against the continuing slaughter in Vietnam.
The one thing the President does not want is a repeat performance
of last month's model protests. Several million respectable citizens
picketing, reading lists of war dead and ringing church bells are not
the proper enemies for a Republican President to face.
It is necessary to his own political future that Nixon somehow
make sure that the television-watching public once again becomes
used to thinking of all anti-war demonstrators as disreputable long-
haired troublemakers.
THE ANSWER is violence, pure and simple.
The President's strategy - borrowed from Mayor Daley for the
duration - is merely to define the parameters of the Mobilization's
march in such a way as to make police violence inevitable. Since to the
Silent Majority the police are always right, Nixon will then be able
to cry appealingly to his public that everything would really be all
right if it wasn't for the peace freaks.
And judging from what the Silent Majority is supposed to think
about the Democratic Convention violence in Chicago, the strategy
will work.
THE NECESSARY first step toward creating a violent situation in
Washington next week has already been carried out.
Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that it would not
permit marchers on Pennsylvania Avenue November 15, but would
restrict them to the Mall which runs from the Capitol to the Washing-
ton Monument.
This action has the effect of prohibiting the march from coming
within two blocks of the White House, despite the fact that the war
the New Mobilization wants to protest was initiated and has been
carried out almost exclusively by the executive branch of the govern-
ment.
Like the Chicago city officials prior to the Democratic National
Convention, the powers that be in Washington seem perfectly willing
to let the marchers protest the war to their hearts' content-but not
in the presence of the people they seek to influence.
AND LIKE the Chicago government, the Justice Department is
using violence as an excuse to provoke violence, denying valid parade
permits out of an unreasonable fear that the demonstrators will pro-
voke violence either by themselves or by inciting the inhabitants of
the ghetto adjacent to the line of march, and by enforcing the law
against ut~lawful assembly in a manner calculated to provoke defensive
violence against the police by members of the crowd.
The Walker Report of the Chicago riots reads like a scenario for
what is happening in Washington today:
"The city, fearful that the 'leaders' would not be able to control
their followers, attempted to discourage an inundation of demonstrators
by not granting permits for marchers and rallies and by making it
quite clear that the 'law' would be enforced .. .
"Most of those intending to join the major protest demonstra-
tions . . . did not plan aggressive acts of physical provocation against
the authorities .. .
"It was the clearing of the demonstrators from Lincoln Park that
led directly to the violence: symbolically, it expressed the city's op-
position to the protesters; literally, it forced the protesters into con-
frontation with police ..
THAT THE NIXON administration holds direct responsibility for
the denial of the Pennsylvania Ave. parade permit is apparent from
the fact that it is the Justice Department and not the city government
which is handling the permit negotiations in the first place.
The Mobe originally applied to Mayor Walter E. Washington-a
presidential appointee caried over from the Johnson administration-
for the appropriate permits. It was the city government, then headed
by a team of three commissioners, which handled the permits for the
October, 1967, Pentagon March, the 1965 Vietnam March, and the
1963 civil rights March on Washington:
This tim. however, the federal government has stepped in, in
the person of Deputy Atty. Gen. Richard C: Kleindienst and his various
assistants.
IT IS OBVIOUS that someone in the administration has decided
that this one is too big for the local fiefdom to handle. Policy dictates
that the march must degenerate into'violence, and only the President's
lackeys can be counted on to handle such a delicate assignment.
So when the concerned masses descend on the nation's capital next
week, they should come prepared to protect themselves against vio-
lence.
TheC T ricky Dicky Sho w
By MAR'IY SINGER
Daily Guta' V rter
Y FELLOW AMERICANS. Hi.
You all know why I've got to in a k e this
damned speech - the pressure's on. Moratori-
uns, protests, hell, I've got to keep those kids
out of Washington. Also. I don't want you Sil-
ent Guys out there thinking that I'm screwing
up .If you all bear with me you'll see how I can
make everyone happy.
First, a joke. They agreed on a table for the
Paris talks. Now that I've captured your interest
let me tell you a story. Ho Chi Minh was a bad
man. In fact, he's so bad that we decided to stop
the free elections in 1956. It was necessary to
protect the fundamental principles of democracy.
Besides. Ho would have won .
Not only that, but the man wrote nasty let-
ters. I wo rit read it to you, but just take my
word for it. After all, he was a nationalist, I
mean, Communist. And Jesus, are those guys un-
reasonable.
We've initiated a bombing halt and troop
withdrawal and they have not responded, ex-
cept that casualties are down to their lowest
point in three years. Okay. Do you all under-
stand why the U.S. is in Vietnam and why uni-
lateral (leescalation should inot come immediate-
LIET'S siE:. Oh yes, the mothers. M e r' r y
Christmas. I've got. 60,000 boys coming back in
time for the holidays (this is the tear-jerker)-.
Warm up the apple pie and bring out the bands
'Mine eyes have seen the glory. .
And you cynics. I'm not a politician. I could
have made it easy on myself and pulled out, that
would have been a popular decision Hey, you
people who read in Newsweek that 55 per cent
of the people think we belong in Viet Nam, for-
get it., I'm taking the rough road
Also, I could use the war as a political issue.
I could talk about the previous administration
and the previous administration's mistakes, but
I don't. Even if it is Johnson's wai'r
I almost forgot, I've even got a line for the
instant replay cameras (pay special attention to
my smile --- the face lifts are really working).
Are you ready? "The previous administration
was marked by Americanization of the war. This
administration is marked by Vietnamization of
the war." Boy, are we great.
OH I)AMN, the liberals and the kids. Well.
first here's something for you Pavlovian Liberals
ithank you, Stewart Alsopi. John Kennedy said
we would not give up in Vietnam. Okay, drool.
Finally, let me talk to you masochistic, effete
corps of impudent snobs. I mean kids. Shut up!
stay home, forget the protests. I appreciate your
idealism r underlined about seventy times) but
not when I want you to die. Really, when we've
got a stupid war to fight is that any time to
star't thinking?>
Ge. S. L. A. MrPshl f8ades away
N TELEVISIONLAND the word is in-
nocuous.
Successful television is built u p o n a
formula that keeps intellectual content,
controversy, and unorthodoxy in the clo-
set. The sterility and vapidity of televis-
ion programs is designed so as not to de-
tract from the commercials or provoke
anyone's displeasure with the advertisers.
Witness the cancellation of the Smoth-
ers Brothers show last spring. CBS decid-
ed that their mild political comment was
too controversial, Network officials con-
cluded that it was necessary to protect
the public - and the sponsors -- from
such "offensive" happenings as Joan
Baez dedicating a song to her husband,
who is in prison for refusing military ser-
vice.
UT THE intellectual wasteland of tele-
vision does not stop at the so-called
entertainment shows, Look at the news
programs. Except perhaps for David
Brinkley, television newscasters are sin-
gularly bland, well-choreographed, a n d
unprovokingly "objective." Of course, we
can look back to the coverage of the po-
lice riot in Chicago during the Democratic
- -
Convention and recall television's finest
hour. But we can also be assured that the
network chieftains will not let that hap-
pen again.
Just the other day, Detroit television
station WWJ discharged its news analyst
S, L. A. Marshall for reasons it would not
disclose. Marshall, the stern retired gen-
eral who would drop in on the six o'clock
local news report a couple times a week,
said that he w a s released because his
views were unpopular
('EN. MARSHALL is a syndicated col-
umnist and author, the writer of the
stirring Pork Chop Hill. He is well known
for his fiery blasts against ROTC critics
and his recent opposition to the Mora-
torium. But it is highly unlikely that sta-
tion WWJ, which is owned by the ultra-
conservative Detroit News, c o u1d find
these views objectionable But, of course,
there are the advertisers to think about,
It boils down to a question of s t y 1 e.
Marshall's views would not be unpopular
if he would, as station manager Don De-
Groot reportedly advised him, "h a m it
up." Sonny Elliot's buffoonery is the ideal:
uncontroversial and so amusing.
On the national level, newscasting de-
mands political orthodoxy. After Nixon's
cabinet appointments, Jack Newfield was
asked to evaluate the n e w President's
choices as part of NBC's reaction panel.
When Newfield proceeded to explain that
he was not exactly impressed by the new
array of dour old men, he was cut short,
UINDLESS orthodoxy seeks to preserve
All the standard caveats learned from years of protesting the war
ashould be observed: wear a helmet, heavy shoes, no pierced-ear ear-
.rings, and so forth; carry wet rags for your eyes: and leave the dope at
home.
THERE HAS been for some time now a grtowing sentiment among
youth that to smell tear gas, feel Mace, or, ultimately. to be clubbed
is a sort of initiation rite all of us need pass through in order to
achieve our political manhood.
And there are also those among us (including myself) who still
believe, despite everything, in peaceful protest, who are going to Wash-
ington frightened of what might happen to us, but going nonetheless.
The President seems determined to give another quarter million
of the concerned the opportunity to be pushed violently out of the
more conventional political arena, to give those of us who missed
Chicago our chance to join the ranks of the experienced disaffected.
No one in the administration or out of it knows how many people
.,will come to Washington peaceably to 1rotest the war next week. How
-,many will leave determined never to protest anything peacefully again
is up to Nixon.
L ETI 1ERS IO IHE EDITOR
Lone dissenters and idleous crosses
'Io the Editor':
TUESDAY I sass something
which turned my heait to revolt
--and I did revolt. The conse-
quences to me were similar to
those which have plagued lone
dissenters throughout the age.
I .as Ii }forcefully restrained
from carrying out my revolt, 2
manhandled and slighty injured
by a brute of who Doug Harvey
would have been proud, 3 i
threatened with le~al action, 4 >
confronted by lpolier, s lectured
to by closed-minded people who
accused meof having a closed, tn-
t'easoning mind, i put down for
trespassing on the rights of the
prevailing establishment, andid 7
admonished, with accompanying
threats, to repair the damage
e>." "Our answer to Nixon is on
the Diag!"
To me the crossesEsvere hideous
and offensive. They represented a
crossly disrespectful reaction to
Nixon's speech: a reaction which
was preplanned and would have
been used regardless of the content
of that speech. Worst of all, they
:aried the message that all 1800
men whose lives the crosses repre-
sented had died in vain, not fight-
ing for freedom, but as victims of
the American democracy. Did this
represent the true feelings of these
ren? The crosses also offended
me on other ways. Too many ways.
I BEGAN, therefore, to pull
them up and deposit them in
trash containers. Soon, however,
I was halted by the brute force
the goverrnment of South vietnam
live up to its bargain with Presi-
dent Nixon. I'm not even a real
outsider, but a university teaching
fellow. The crosses still offend me.
AS I WRITE this letter, some-
thing else is worrying me more.
Why are young people so critical
of their elders and yet so unable
to act differently themselves? If
the rising American generation is
no better than the present one;
if it uses the same old tactics, ex-
cuses, and repressive methods that
it has complained so loudly about:
ihat hope is there for peace?
What final good will come from a
march on Washington?
-Sylvia Taylor
Teaching Fellow
Nov. 5
Therefore, for example, your recent
article indicating that the Presi-
dent had magnanimously liberated
students from draft liability and
then interviewing duly grateful
students, verges on criminal neg-
licence.
PLEASE, with all due respect,
if you can't print draft informa-
tion correctly and comprehensive-
ly, then don't print anything at
all.
-R. M. Barron
Law '7I1
Nov. 3
f1 (lt f Agnew
To the Editor:
"IMPUDENT SNOBS," like Vice-
President Agnew are real. He and
Jews. He warns us of the "in-
evitable witch-hunting repression."
Who would conduct such repres-
sion?
WE MUST acknowledge that
"arrogant, reckless, inexperienced
elements" such as the Vice-Presi-
dent and his followers exist with-
in out' society. These neo-nazi citi-
zens can be a cancer slowly de-
stroying our democracy. We can-
not assume that our constitution
will automatically save us. Our
governmental institutions and
freedom sare only safe when we
have the courage to defend them
against would be dictators.
Remember Agnew's warning.
"Evil cloaked in emotional causes
is well disguised and often undis-
covered until it is too late."
r a m . - -Fn~w
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RON LA _1iSSMAN
C1Ei[ STEIi f. FA1><or'iate (-":'c Ed~tor
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