Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Tuesday, Septembe
r .24, 1974
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Amnesty: Ambiguous offer?
FOR A COUNTRY that has seen
Watergate, secret bombings in
Cambodia and CIA support of for-
eign coups, the new edict handed
down by Defense Secretary James
Schlesinger Saturday wasn't too
surprising.
The announcement that the FBI
will receive personal data gleaned
from deserters who are requesting
information regarding President
Ford's amnesty, however, does strip
away the remaining vestige of the
Ford' Administration's credibility.
While the Nixon pardon may have
been well-intentioned and the am-
nesty program a sincere attempt by
Republicans and conservatives to
"bring all the boys home," Schlesing-
er's announcement exposes that at-
tempt as a sham. -
The military phone numbers for
inquiries for clemency were purport-
edly given in good faith. The few
men who tried to meet the govern-
ment halfway on a moral issue, un-
doubtedly with mixed feelings about
their country called these numbers
in good faith.
NOW WE LEARN that the informa-
tion they gave -- generally name,
service number and address - will
be turned over to one of the most
questionable agencies in American
government - the FBI.
,The Associated Press report con-
cerning this announcement stated,
"There was no indication whether
the information might be used to
hunt deserters who remain at large."
The nature of the personal informa-
tion and Schlesinger's announcement
- not to mention the FBI's previous
activities - make the intention clear
nevertheless.
Perhaps it was too much to ex-
pect the U. S. government to exoner-
ate deserters for refusing to fight in
a war which was considered interna-
tionally -- and even in our own coun-
try - to be immoral.
But amnesty has been a tradition
in 'this country. This is the first war
where deserters and draft dodgers
were not unconditionally pardoned
afterwards, whatever the official rea-
son for pardon may have been.
JNSTEAD, THIS COUNTRY will
chase down those exercising
their freedom of conscience over the
government's narrow perception of
"duty," if, indeed, killing and maim-
ing can ever be considered a "duty."
Persecution will make a mockery
of Ford's promises of "forgiveness."
Schlesinger has promised to guard
the information until Jan. 31, when
the eligibility period for clemency is
over.
So, the misguided deserters who
called expecting to encounter the
true spirit of "amnesty" will have a
choice: either turn yourselves in vol-
untarily in a show of support for the
Ford plan, or wait until you are rop-
ed in by the FBI. Either way, they
will probably have a healthy file at
the FBI for the rest of their lives.
Not much of a choice from the
president who promised to "bind the
wounds of a nation together." It's
the end of the honeymoon alright.
But it's only the beginning of a night-
mare.
-CINDY HILL
White
By PAUL O'DONNELL thinkin
(HORTLY AFTER the publi- of mov
cation of my interview with ialist
two Palestinians living in Spain, (NSWF
an envelope addressed to me to the
arrived at the Daily offices. In-- 0 E
side the envelope, which bore and ir
no return address, I found deport
printed material which includ- C
ed leaflets concerning the Arab- ism an
Israeli conflict, sheets which ing th
told of the plight of "Rudolph White
Hess, prisoner of peace," and "Jewis
a copy of the newspaper White brand
'Power, "The Revolutionary gotten
Voice of National Socialism." fromJ
On the front page of the news- Jew,"
paper, between the words five,
"White" and "Power," appears eralisn
a large swastika. I wasn't long graphy
in realizing what kind of "re- to ar
volutionaries" were sending the pool;"
mail. 01
The newspaper was, however, sociali
somewhat of a disappointment. sired b
If I expected some well-written- ian so
if rascist journalism defending whom,
the Aryan National Socialist Semitic
philosophy, all I found was eight 0 Ju
pages of traditional racial slurs remind
and cheap bigotry. White Power matter
reads like a "National Lam- thoses
poon" satire of neo-Nazism, oc- Indepe
casionally reaching such heights ers "1
of ludicrousness that its effect three d
was more comic than anything purpos
else. skulls
gorilla
WHILE A newspaper which skullsr
condones genocide by maintain- of Dr.
ing that "Hitler fought the Vonneg
Alamo of the White race" is tried t
hardly a laughing matter, some of Jew
excerpts from White Power are teeth:
worth recording here, if only as 0 D
an indication of the kind of of thre
Power:
No
big
deal
I
ng that inspires this kind
vement. The National Soc-
White People's Party
PP) platform, according
newspaper, consists of:
liminating Jewish control
nfluence in America and
ing all non-Whites;"
Condemning both capital-'
nd Marxism, and connect-
em both with the Jews.
Power denounces t h e
;h bargain basement
of 'socialism' that has
help under the table
Jewish capitalism." "The
reads an article on page
"with his Bolshevism, lib-
m, integration, and porno-
y, is turning America in-
racial and cultural cess-
Advocating an "AYRAN
st society of the kind de-
by all the great pre-Marx-
cialist founders - all of
by the way, were 'anti-
c hatemongers;' "
ustifying white rascism by
ding readers that "as a
of fact, the majority of
signing the Declaration of
ndence were slave own-
Elsewhere in the paper,
drawings are shown which
e to show that Negroid
are closer in shape to
skulls than Caucasian
are. Here I was reminded
Jones, the dentist in Kurt
gut's Mother Night, who
to prove the inferiority
ws by examining their
and
)is-playing a photography
ee swastika-wearing "Ar-
yan women," and asking: "what
normal woman wants anything
to do with the kosher-keester-
kissing, nigger-loving kind of
'man' who suckers in for Marx-
ism?"
AMERICAN neo-Nazism is not
a new phenomenon, as anyone
who ever saw or heard about
Lincoln Rockwell, who founded
White Power in 1967, knows.
Nevertheless, there are those
who advised against writing an
article about the NSWPP on
the grounds that such coverage
would devpte too much space to
a minute group of racial ex-
tremists, and would even be a
kind of free publicity for the
movement. I received the copy
of White Power, however, at a
time of world-wide financial
crisis and economic depression,
when neo-fascist and right-wirig
paramilitary organizations are
springing up and gathering sup-
port in many Western countries,
particularly Italy and Great
Britain.
No matter how limited a fol-
lowing the NSWPP philosophy
might have, neo-Nazism and
neo-fascism af'e tendencies
which can't be ignored, espec-
ially by those of, us who grew
up in the rabidly anti-Commun-
ist era that preceded detente.
In those days, the domino
theory was commonly taught
and discussed in high s c h o o 1
civics classes and on editorial
pages. Recent history, especially
in South America, offers num-
erous examples of domindes
falling to the right rather than
I I
'-r'sa 54NooL. Sus5e$Ae OO:Cwt t,*C5e4ooL &kbARE COMi& !
I,'I
! 1
7-j
.d
to the left, particularly in times
of economic difficulties (and
when the U.S. has contributed to
the fall of certain dominoes in
that direction), Neo-fascism in
America may be an unimport-
ant political force, but it is one
that should be paid attention to.
IF NOTHING else, this arti-
cle will serve to inform the un-
knowns who sent me a sample
copy of White Power's May edi-
tion that they needn't send me
any more literature. I suspect
that the fellows down at the
NSWPP headquarters might
find more of a "kosher-kester-
kising, nigger-lover" than a sup-
porter of their "White Mlan's
Revolution."
Letters
to
The
Chie: Typical of, U.S. policy
LAST WEEK, OUR VERY OWN Sec-
retary of State and part-time an-
gel of peace, Henry Kissinger, sat in
front of our very own Senate and ex-
plained that the overthrow of the
democratically elected Chilean gov-
ernment was planned American poli-
cy. Asked whether this action was.
consistent with the stated American
belief that foreign countries have the
right to self-determination, Kissin-
ger replied that the move was ap-
proved by the President. Intervention
was part of some plan - policy is
policy and that's just the way
things are, he explained.
Of course, Kissinger's testimony,
came as no surprise to many people.
The reasoning behind U. S. foreign
policy has always seemed somewhat
of a mystery. Events in Chile have
simply brought these inconsistencies
into the open. In the past, things
have often been done illegally, cov-
ertly, and contrary to democratic
principles,
()NE PART OF the government says
one thing, while another agency
does just the opposite: direct support
is given to dictatorships such as the
one which was overthrown in Greece
while millions are spent to subvert a'
democratically elected government
in Chile. The only consistent charac-
teristic of American foreign policy is
its inconsistency.
Despite changes in administrations,
the same sick, ill-conceived plan to
shave the world into some power-mad
foreign policy marker's vague ideal
still seems to linger.
To the innocent observer, it would
seem that only God should - or
could .- be concerned with controll-
ing all the countries and people in
the world. Not so! Foreign policy
planners have evidently decided that
the U. S. government should take it
upon itself to interfere in the foreign
and domestic issues of every single
country.
Editorial Staff
DANIEL BIDDLE
Editor-lb-Chief
IN FACT, THE U. S. is so interested
in the business of other nations it
has dreamed up a policy which may
be called "divine intervention." Its
passion for meddling is largely satis-
fied through the covert operations of
the omnipresent CIA, backed by "al-
mighty" dollars. If all else fails, the
every-ready military machine is pre-
pared to create even greater problems
as in Vietnam.
U. S. foreign policy is based on a
vague understanding of reality. Un-
til only recently, Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek, was recognized by
the U. S. as the legitimate govern.-
ment of mainland China, although
his Nationalist regime has been in
exile since 1949. Except during the
missile crisis and the disastrous Bay
of Pigs intervention incident, the U.S.
has treated Cuba as if it didn't exist.
Only recently has reality begun to
take effect on the bureaucracy. Rap-
prochement with the People's Repub-
lic of China was a rational move. Re-
newed relations with Cuba are under
consideration. The covert operations
in Chile, however, show that old poli-
cies are still at work: the old plan
is still in effect.
ND SO IT GOES. The ruthless
game of power politics is played
without consideration of duly elect-
ed governments or native popula-
tions. The strategic view is utmost in
the minds of foreign policy planners.
The U. S. government's intense in-
terest in the affairs of other coun-
tries simply embroils it in a quag-
mire of internal disputes of which it
should have no part. Taxpayers' mon-
ey is used to subvert foreign govern-
ments, even democratic ones.
American lives are lost propping up
corrupt dictatorships. Surely no na-
tional interest is served by these poli-
cies!
Perhaps some, good may come out
of these subversive activities in
Chile. Maybe someone in Washing-
ton will recognize what a mess U. S.
foreign policy is and do something to
set it right. It's time to throw away
the dominoes, destabilizers, and pow-
er politics playbook. We need a for-
eign policy that respects established
foreign governments and shows some
concern for the people of other coun-
tries. It should be dedicated to world
peace and practice the evenhanded-
ness that it preaches.
CS
To The Daily:
ON SUNDAY and Monday
night, September 8 and 9, the
CBS news team again exhibited
partisan politics under the guise
of "reporting the news." Spec-
ifically, in regard to the inti-
mated cross section of Congres-
sional opinion regarding Presi-
dent Ford's pardon of former
President Richard Nixon.
While I personally did not
entirely agree with such ac-
tion, I find the manner in which
CBS handled the news coverage
thoroughly digusting. According
to other TV and radio broad-
casts, at the time 1f the news
programs and accompanying
editorial opinions, the Congres-
sional opinion was running ap-
proximately 50-50 pro and con.
The CBS news sampling of con-
gressman and senators inter-
viewed, indicated approximately
1 pro-4 con. Any fair minded
person, regardless of his politi-
cal persuasion, would be upset
at such a perversion of the
facts.
It seems to me that this coun-
try has undergone enough d&vis-
iveness over many issues in the
past ten years. Such blatant at-
tempts to artificially induce
public opinion against the Presi-
dent should be abhorrent to ev-
ery thinking person. This should
be particularly so in this in-
stance, when the facts that in-
fluenced the President's decis-
ion are not known to all of the
members of Mr. Ford's staff, let
alone the general public.
Let us no longer be inluenc-
ed by men who seek to reopen
healing wounds and fnflict new
ones. To do so will let the infec-
tion spread and eat to the very
heart of every United S t a t e s
citizen.
-iruce VanFarowe
September 20
Levin
To The Daily:
I CAME to the Lawyer's Club
today looking for an alternative
to Governor Milliken. Instead of
that, all I got w a s political
Cream of What. Sander Levin
must in my book be chalked up
as one of the most imbecilic
politicians I have even seen.
But to start the afternoon off,
we were treated to a campaign
speech by Regent candidate
Sarah Power, who told us she
wanted to tell us "where I'm
coming from". What we got was
a joke about streaking that no-
body understood, a five-minute
history of her career, with
heavy emphasis on the male
politicians she has worked for
(including Nelson Rockefeller).
When someone finally asked her
one question (on "open admis-
sions") she stated that she had
not thought about it. Oh, s h e
did say she was against Re-
gents censorship of films. And
then she introduced Sandy Lev-
in.
From listening to him, o n e
would think he was a mortician.
Everything he didn't want to
talk about was a "dead issue".
Graduated income, tax. "It's not
on the ballot." Of course, the
n aetn fltune urlwth tim hn-
major scandals, deaths and in-
juries in some of our sleazier
abortion mills precisely because
politicians like -Levin and Milli-
ken have refused to regulate
abortion to ptotect people's
health.
Equal rights for women. "The
Equal Rights Amendment is a
dead issue in Michigan". Yet
opponents of the ERA. failed by
only one vote to get a resolu-
tion rescinding its passage re-
ported favorably out of a Mich-
igan Legislature committee.
Debates with Ferency as well
as Milliken? Not until there are
two-way debates with Milliken
scheduled for Detroit Metropoli-
tan television. I suppose the
Lou Gordon show doesn't count,
but then a lot of things don't
seem to count when you are
Sandy Levin. But there is to be
a debate on the Lou Gordon
Show.
FINALLY, the most disgst-
ing moment came when Levin
refused to answer whether he
would oppose George Wallace or
Henry Jackson if they were on
the national ticket. "National
politics are a dead issue." But
that didn't prevent him from at-
tacking Gerald Ford.
-Trudy Bykowski
September 20"
blind faith
To The Daily:
McGOVERN was behind Eag-
leton 1000 per cent. Nixon back-
ed his aides Ehrlichman and
Ialdeman without question.
Now, President Ford asserts
that Henry Kissinger "has my
full support and the unquestion-
ed backing of the American
people." Maybe, if that were
true, unquestioned support is
a major problem.
returned to the community ei-
ther on parole of upon the ex-
piration of their sentences', pri-
son officials acknowledge an
obligation to attempt to rehab-
ilitate prisoners and return
them to constructive living. The
Manual of Correctional Stand-
ards of the American Correc-
tional Association states that the
prison's "basic purpose" is "the
rehabilitation of those sent there
by society." Many state sta-
tues mandate that the state de-
partment of correction or pris-
on officials provide an affirma-
tive program of rehabilitation.
Despite this rhetoric and these
statutory obligations, few pri-
sons catually provide meaning-
ful rehabilitative opportunities
for their inmates. Rather, in
most prisons educational and
vocational training are gross-
ly inadequate, and idleness is
the rule. Also, programs of
psychiatric and psychological
counselling are understaffed or
non-existent.
THE QUESTION here is whe-
ther prisoners have an enforce-
able right of access to meaning-
ful rehabilitative programs. An
analogy might be drawn to the
rights of prisoners, involuntar-
ily committed to mental hospit-
als. There have been some indi-
cations, where the reason for
commitment is the need for
treatment, that failure to pro-
vide treatment actually violates
the inmates constitutnonal
rights.
The logical extension of this
principle would require that, if
rehabilitation is the primary
purpose of imprisonment of
adults,eprisons must actually
provide meaningful rehabilita-
tive opportunities. A prison
should be obliged to furnish an
inmate with an opportunity to
acquire at least a high school
education, to gain job skills ac-
tually of value in the economy,
to repair any medical defects
he may have, and to benefit
from psychiatric or psychologi-
cal counseling if that is need-
ed.
No case has held that a pris-
oner has a "right to rehabilita-
tion." However, in Holt vs. Sav-
er, 309 F. Supp 362 (E.D. Ark.
1970), a federal district court
held that the failure of the Ar-
kansas prison system to provide
any meaningful rehabilitative
programs was one constitutional
significant factorbearing on the
holding that the system was un-
constitutional. The court rea-
soned that the deprivation of
rehabilitative opportunities, to-
gether with the other oppressive
conditions in the prison consti-
tuted cruel and unusual punish-
ment under the eight amend-
ment
THIS DECISION may open the
door to a challenge to prison
systems that do not provide
sufficient programs or resourc-
es to meet the rehabilitative
needs of the inmates. In states
with strong statutory require-
ments for affirmative rehabili-
tative programs, perhaps the
challenge should be made on
statutory, rather, than federal
constitutional grounds.
The fact that imprisonment of
Daily
dicially tractable. For example,
if an inmate is found guilty of
some disciplinary infraction, he
may be transferred to a maxi-
mum security unity where his
participation in rehabilitative'
programs is severely curtailed.
SIMILARLY, prison classifi-
cation decisions have a decisive
influence on whether an'inmate
has access to rehabilitative op-
portunities. If he is considered
troublesome, he will be relegat-
ed to a maximum security
classification where he will have
limited educational, vocational,
recreational, and other oppor-
tunities.
Administrative decisions as to
an inmate's participation in the
educational program will also
determine whether he will have
a chance to acquire skills need-
ed for success on parole and
subsequent to his release. Since
all these matters have such an
important 'impact on the in-
mate's present and future life,
decisions denying access to re-
habilitative opportunities should
be made with simrupulous re-
gard for procedural fairness. In
other words, requirements of
procedural due process should
apply to these kinds of decisions
as well as to disciplinary decis
ions imposing severe punish-
ments.
-Matthew D. Jones
Jackson State Prison
No. 119136
September 14'
sell out
To The Daily:
SINCE I became eligible to
vote, I have been on the fringes
of the Democratic party. With
the candidacy of Dr. Ed Pierce,
I way almost drawn into the
fold. And had he won the pri-
iary vote recount I would have
unequivocally supported him.
During the interim period,
when Dr. Pierce and Reuther
campaigned together, I harbor-'
ed a faint hopethat, if Reuther
should win the recount, he
would continue to stress the is-
sues that Dr. Pierce 'has brought
fI
to the campaign. But I w a s
wrong..That opportunistic, lab-
or-leader's nephew with connec-
tions at the top immediately cal-
led on the "big guns" of the
Democratic Party. Reuther is
no longer merely a labor-lead-
er's nephew but Reuther-Ken
nedy-McGovern -Mondale -Hum-
phrey.
t
Reuther
Dr. Ed Pierce based his cam-
paign on issues that were of
primary importance to the peo-
ple, and consequently the peo-
ple formed the backbone ,of his
campaign. Reuther, however, is
an imported candidate with no
roots in the community and no
real idea of the community's
wants and needs. Hence, he is
forced to rely on the "big
guns". But those "big guns"
conjure up the same dark im-
ages that are usually associated
with Richard Nixon - Humph-
rey and the'milk fund, and
Kennedy's infamous midnight
ride. The only difference is
that they were quickly able to
blur the facts. And just as
quickly John Reuther will' be-
come a blur. The Democratic
Congressional candidate is no
longer the people's candidate;
he is the Democratic Party's
hopeful. Well, I'm not so hope-
ful.-
-Alan Konell
- Sideswipes
A quickie glossary
toeonoBmi EperiS
By BOB SEIDENSTEIN--
Kissinger
As an American people, I can
testify that no one gets my
,unquestioned support. It is dis-
turbing to have any President
make such an unthoughtful
statement. If the lessons of hu-
man and political history have
'any relevance to the contempor-
ary moments it must be that re-
presentatives of any constitu-
ency must bear constant skep-
ticism and continuing assess-
ment.
IN CASE you haven't noticed,
the economy is back in the
news again.
But if you are like most
newspaper readers you don't
know your rediscount rate from
your laissez-faire.
So, as a public service, a n d
with no extra charge, this col-
umn will present a glossary of
everyday economic terms guar-
anteedato get you through the'
next panic.
Let's start with the basics and
then work our way up high a's
the prime interest rate.
MONEY - The foundation of
American capitalism, the root
of all evil. What they want,
whnf t n 'nt ornt aharlf
ECONOMIC ADVISOR - Per-
son Who can solve all financial
crises with three -phases, to wait,
"Let's exercise a little caution,
let's have a little restraint, let's
try a tax break for big busi-
ness."
THE BUSINESS - What
American industry and the gov-
ernment usually give us.
GOVERNMENT REGULA-
TION - What big business is
against unless it is designed to
protect big business.
BROKER - What we are get-
ting all-the time.
BANK - Destination of oi1
company executives having a
good laugh.
TAXPAYER - Citizen work-
,a fr. a, t',a n'n-narnmiAnt