America
under
Richard
Nixon:
f endurance
Two
years
o
-. - -- - . 0 I wom"s
I
"Americans are great for remembering the dead ..."
..'
IT IS NOW nearly two years to the day since
I stood in Detroit and watched Richard M.
Nixon put the final touches on his campaign for
the presidency.
In the intervening period, the most that can
be said is that the American people have endured.
The inner contradictions, hypocrisy, and shame-
fully misguided priorities which have been the
hallmarks of the first two years of the Nixon
administration show no signs of leaving us. It
seems clear that we will be forced to endure at
least two more years.
Two years ago, Nixon told Detroiters that he
had a plan to end the war. It is clear now that his
plan will do little more than eventually reduce the
number of American troops in Vietnam. The
war will continue. It is the ultimate aim of the
Nixon-Laird-Rogers "plan" to assure that the
South Vietnamese will continue to fight a war
against their countrymen in the name of a cor-
rupt and undemocratic South Vietnamese govern-
ment.
Meanwhile, American involvement in the rest
of Southeast Asia has become more apparent -
especially Laos and Thailand. The invasion, and
subsequent destruction of large areas of Cambodia
in the name of a just peace has left thousands
dead and homeless.
And in Paris, Nixon continues to take the
position that this country has the right to nego-
tiate the future of Vietnam.
NIXON'S WAR policies continue to have disas-
trous effects. More than 44,000 Americans
havebeen killed in Vietnam thus far. The Nixon
administration has taken great pride in the fact
that it has reduced American casualties. S t i1l,
nearly 60 American soldiers who were alive when
Michigan beat MSU last Saturday are dead today.
The toll of Americans wounded also continues
-290,000 thus far, about 400 per week, most of
them draftees. And 28 per cent of the wounded
will have a limb amputated. About 15 per cent
will have a sense organ impaired.
In this light, Congress attempted to appropriate
an additional $105 million specifically for Veter-
ans Administration hospitals. The bill was
vetoed by Nixon as part of his war on inflation.
IN THE area of civil liberties, the record of the
Nixon Administration is frightening. Nixon
tried not only once, but twice to appoint to the
Supreme Court southern white racists whose re-
cords on upholding the Constitutional rights of
persons accused of crimes could only be character-
ized as dismal and "mediocre".
He has allowed the Voting Rights act of 1965
to expire, and be reinstituted in a weaker version.
And he has maintained in office J. Edgar Hoover
as head of the FBI who, with the consent of At-
torney General John Mitchell, has begun to wage
war on dissenting students.
Court approved wiretapping has been increased
by staggering proportions under Mitchell-Nixon.
Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg. Mitchell
has repeatedly stated that he reserves the right
to eavesdrop electronically without court permis-
sion whenever he feels the national security to be
endangered. There are no public records of these
taps.
From what we have heard out of Mitchell and
his wife, and the rest of the Nixon administra-
tion, it would seem that he considers a large pro-
portion of the people of this country are threats
to the national security.
This anti-intellectualism of the Nixon admin-
istration is perhaps the most ultimately depressing
aspect, for it has manifested itself in a verbal
hate campaign being waged by Martha Mitchell,
Vice President Agnew, and Nixon himself. It
has encouraged divisiveness and distrust. Voices
have not been "lowered," nor has Nixon attempt-
ed to "bring us together."
The official intolerance of dissent that has be-
come the formal stance of the Nixon administra-
tion is rubbing off. It is clear in the wording of the
report of the grand jury report at Kent State,
where the language indicated a deep resentment
of educated, concerned persons and at the same
time, a willingness to tolerate indiscriminate
murder of four human beings.
ON THE economic front, Nixon's policy has been
to put the lower classes out of work in order
to hold down prices for those consumers who do
work. And even this has not had any effect. Un-
employment is horrendously high; even allowing
for those affected by the GM strike, it is at an
intolerable level. Yet the cost of living continues
to rise at record levels. The only real affect of
Nixon's policies has been to stabilize the stock
market and increase the profits of the Wall
Street financiers.
The draft, intolerable in any form, continues to
exist, despite pledges to the contrary. Only token
reforms have been made.
"This is Martha Mitchell-I'm calling you from my
upstairs bathroom so John won't hear me.
-#1-
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