I 94r' Aniran Onadl Eighty-three years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan - letter from the editor A proposal to rejuvenate the Human Rights Party 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 News Phone: 764-0552 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1973 New cause for impeachment WITH THE DUST hardly settled over President Nixon's decision to release his Watergate tapes, two revelations of possible administration scandals give new impetus to efforts to terminate his clouded Presidency. New evidence indicates that the dairy industry used political contributions to gain favored treatment from the admin- istration. This comes as little surprise. The Nixon years have been marked by scandalous collusion between the execu- tive office and big business, ranging from the ITT convention *fiasco to the more subtle and sublime. What does shock, however, is the mag- nitude of the alleged payoff that found its way into the Nixon campaign coffers.. The administration's budget for 1972 called for a 10 per cent increase in sub- sidies to the dairy industry, a move which was worth from $500 to $700 mil- lion to the industry. AFTER the President -made this gener- ous decision, the American Milk Pro- ducers made contributions to the Nixon campaign totaling more than $400,000, according to the Washington Post. As this new evidence on the dairy scan- dal surfaced, ABC news reported that Special Watergate Prosecutor Archibald Cox had uncovered a secret investment portfolio established for Nixon at a bank owned by his close friend Bebe Rebozo. Allegedly more than $1 million in cor- porate campaign contributions had been used to set up the President's personal investment package. This latest report has added to spec- ulation that Cox was fired because his investigation had succeeded in finding evidence of Presidential wrong-doing. The absence of an independent probe of the administration's activities surely lends credence to this idea. THESE TWO NEW charges of serious corruption in the Nixon Administra- tion demonstrate that the belated re- lease of the Watergate tapes does little. to erase the cloud of scandal which hangs over the chief executive. The President has clearly failed to re- store the confidence of the Amierican people in its government. Responsibility to do so now lies with the Congress. At this time there is *no reason to believe that public confidence can or should be revived with Richard Nixon in the White House. By CHRISTOPHER PARKS IN THE SPRING of 1972, the Hu- man Rights Party (HRP) was bright, shiny and new. For t h e city's flood of young, liberal to radical voters, they represented a distinct alternative to the "tired worn around the edges" image of the Democratic Party - a way to vote for change without j u s t casting another ballot for the New Deal. HRP's stunning two-ward sweep proved convincingly that there is a strong market for new ideas and new blood - that the youth vote can elect candidates in this city. To those who viewed this phe- nomenon as a distinctly exciting and hopeful development, the par- ty's subsequent decline has been a depressing spectacle. Two cqn- secutive shut-outs - in November of '72 and April of '73 - sent poli- tical writers scurrying to their typewriters to pound out HRP's obit. YES, VIRGINIA, there still is an HRP but it's dying and at the rate it's going, after next year's city election, it will be dead. HRP has lost the one quality which made it viable - the char- ismatic lure of a new and exciting alternative. There never was a sizable social- ist or even radical vote in t h e city. Just as disgruntled liberal-a were the cannon fodder of the peace movement, they were also the basis of HRP's electoral strength. Like the "Movement" from whose ashes it rose Phoenix-like, HRP has built a constituency and then deserted it. And like the late lamented Movement, HRP has come to be seen not as a hopeful vehicle for change but as a hopelessly ineffez- tive Marxist debating society. IT NEEDN'T BE that way. The liberal discontent within the Demo- cratic Party which was tapped so effectively in 1972 still exisi.;. The Ann Arbor electorate is one distinctly open to new ideas :and "HRP has lost the one quality which made it viable-the charisma- tic lure of a new and exciting alternative." ...2s . .s o-:::"x:2: : .. ....... new approaches. It is, ny and large, liberal and forward thinking. Along with this progressive elec- torate, the city is blessed with an immense wealth of academic brain power. The University's intense emphasis on high level research has produced a veritable hothouse for the cultivation and nurturing of rare and exotic ideas. The party which joins these two factors could be a powerful engine for social change. As former May-. or Hobert Harris has correctly pointed out, Ann Arbor could be a test tube environment for progres- sive experiments in government and social planning. WHAT HRP NEEDS, to stay alive, is an ample stable of "idea people' drawn from the u r b a n planning centers and other Uni- versity research programs. Surely, provided with an oppor- tunity to put their talents to prac- tical use, bright progressive peo- ple could be recruited to develop what could be a radically new and futuristic way of looking at t h e city's problems and potentials. Interested persons should be re- cruited now and put to work on the present structure of the city and its government. There should be a crash four- month program, culminating at the end of February with some sort )f position paper on the{ state of the city environment and a series of bold, future-oriented prigrans which are feasible and yet un- tried. To survive, HRP must be a par- ty of new ideas. Old ideas, no mat- ter how "correct" their underlying ideology, simply aren't going to make it. Boldness, energytand in- itiative are necessary to the par- ty's survival and badly needed in the city. g: Resisi A plea to impeach President Nixon (Editor's Note: The Michigan Daily, along with 16 other college newspapers, has endorsed the following editorial written by the Amherst Student. Although written before President Nixon decided to release his Watergate tapes to Federal Judge John Sirica, we believe the substance of the editorial remains significant and sound.) (iONSTITUTIONAL government in the United States may have been suspended at 8:00 p.m. last Saturday- night. Richard Nixon now rules by fiat and force. He is no longer a legitimate leader. With callous disregard for his oath of office and the intents of Congress and the Judiciary, the President first refused to abide by a court order to produce Watergate documents. He then forced the resignation of the Attorney General and fired his Deputy and the Watergate Special Prosecutor when they refused to condone his conduct. Moreover, the President abolished the office of Special Pro- secutor and dispatched the FBI to seal off their records. These decisive and unprecedented actions represent the tactics of a military coup. They are anathema to a rational democratic polity. WHEN ELECTED officials violate the sacret trust placed in them by the people, the Constitution provides means for them to be impeached and, if convicted, removed from office. These procedures are very difficult to implement and are seldom used: But if ours were a parliamentary system of government, the Nixon Administration would have fallen months ago. In the past, Mr. Nixon has cloaked his actions in a veil of legality, but now he has bared his intentions to foresake rule by law. The President must be impeached. No amount of legal double- talk or political timidity can obscure this fact. The question of his past culpability is almost moot. He is willing to maintain the Watergate cover-up at any cost. There is real question whether the Congress and the, Judiciary can force Richard Nixon to deal with them within the confines of the law. But our actions, for the moment, must be based on this premise. The weeks ahead could represent either the redemption of American democracy or the prologue to its collapse. We remain silent at our own peril. Karl Armstron Fance on trial No peace, no prize THERE IS NO peace in Vietnam. Le Due Tho's refusal to accept the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize because peace has not come to Vietnam is the only possible re- sponse to the Nobel committee's ostrich- like award. Evidently there was agree- ment with Tho's position in the ranks of the committee, because two members have resigned in protest of the joint Kis- singer-Tho prize. The news of Tho's rejection came on the same day as reports of fierce battles near Saigon, fought by the Thieu regime on the premise of destroying villages to save them. Ten years and a peace agreement have not changed the U. S. government's stra- tegy for control of Indochina. The color of the money is the same. Only the color of the corpses has changed. Investment firms from Japan and factories, and Thieu's soldiers clear the land - make it "safe." There is no peace for the people who live on the land. AT THE TIME that the award was given, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese civilians were imprisoned and tortured in prisons and concentration camps own- ed and operated by the U. S. government. There is no peace when citizens can be seized on the streets or in their homes, and obliterated by inhumane and clever- ly criminal means because they disagree with Thieu. A "peace" that must be maintained at such an exorbitant cost is not worthy of recognition, much less praise. That the Nobel committee could even consider giving the Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger, the man who developed the Armageddon theory of brinksmanship that became holy writ to the Nixon ad- ministration, is an exhibition of execra- ble taste, at best. THE NEXT STEP for the Nobel com- mittee is unclear, but two things are obvious: Henry Kissinger should never receive an award for peace, and no one should get a prize for peace in Vietnam while the fighting continues, while colonization is a possibility for southern Vietnam, and while 200,000 political pri- soners rot in Saigon's jails. Peace comes first., The prizes can wait until later. By the KARL ARMSTRONG DEFENSE COMMITTEE THE AUGUST, 1970, bombing of the Army Math Research Center, Madison, Wis., followed a spring invasion of Cambodia, the years of secret bombings of Laos and Cambodia, the revelations that tens of thousands of acres of land and tens of thousands of lives were being lost or de- stroyed in Indochina. We had been protesting against this war for so long and it seemed then that the government just wasn't able to listen to its own citizens, to those of the world. If we had known then what we know now, how would our actions have been different? We know now, from the Winter Soldier in- vestigations, from those veterans that have testified to the Senate, from the Watergate hearings, that much more than we even dreamed was being perpetrated in Indo- china, and further, that the government not only heard us, it actively lied and, for years, deceived all of us. WHAT WOULD we have done different- ly? The answer is moot, but many people had the full insight of the truth of the war, and their actions differed. Daniel Ellsberg changed from designing the policies to re- vealing the policies. The Berrigans destroy- ed draft files, admitted their participation, and then let the public judge their guilt. The most visible military facility in the Madison Community was, and is the Army Math Research Center, developing the tech- nology for the Army's Electronic battle- field, and automated war, as well as other advanced military programs. The center became the focus of research and edcuation in the Madison anti-war movement in 1967 and the student attempts to have the Center's Army sponsorship ter- minated failed time and again for four years. The AMRC was the principal target of anti-war protests for several.years and the movement against it reached a peak of in- tensity (with over 10,000 participants) dur- ing the Cambodia resistance of May, 1970). WHAT WERE the results of-the work car- ried on at AMRC? Was it the Fire Bombing program which dropped magnesium fire bombs with the intent to burn large sections of forest? Was it the Defoliation program which burned 6 million acres of trees and crops - an area the sixe of Massachusetts in a country whose total size is the equival- sensitive tracers, designed to pinpoint and target anything that moved; planted on ent of Florida? Was it the small warmth highways and in forests. Or was it the Land .Clearing Program which designed the dropping of 15,000 pound bombs which could obliterate a three-acre area without dis- criminating life unseen at 30,000 feet. The applied mathematics, developed at AMRC made possible the withdrawal of Americanntroops while computers and elec- tronic sensors carried on the programs which continued to cause the devastation of Indochina, the deaths of thousands and the injuries to millions. IF WE COULD have known this as it unraveled what would we have done? If we had known it, what could we have done? All precautions possible were taken i the assault on the Army installation in Madison. Those who acted selected this building be- cause of its involvement with the Army, with murder, with the destruction so hor- rifying to all of us. A life was lost in the attack. An action carried out in the name of humanity in- advertently killed a man. The bombing was a political act, one in which the government is the victim. Every year brings more political "crimes," be- cause every year brings consciousness to people who decide that they must act against the government in the name of hu- manity . . . and this constitutes acts against government policy . . . acts which restore power to people, victimizing the govern- ment. IN MADISON, on Sept. 28 of this year, Karleton Armstrong assumed the respon- sibility for the bombing; he has acknow- ledged that it was, in fact, he who attack- ed the building. He does not by himself assume the re- sponsibility for the death of Robert Fass- nacht. Though sorrowful, Karl, with other anti-war activists here, realizes that the loss must be shared by those who carried out the war, in Indochina, setting the context and the imperative for acts of resistance against their policies. By pleading guilty, Karl admits the facts, but, now more than ever, he denies the premises of the government charges. A Far from being a criminal, we feel Karl to be just one of many who took actions when they' saw the results of our, the peo- ple's, powerlessness. A GENTLE and courageous man, Karl is AP Photo Another kind of violence America exert countryside of point to places growing control on the southern Vietnam. They where they want to build TODAY'S STAFF: News: Gordon Atcheson, Chris P a Cheryl Pilate, Gene Robinson, Schuster, Sue Stephenson r k s, Jim Editorial Page: Marnie Heyn, Zachary Schiller, Chuck Wilbur, David Yalowitz Arts Page: Sara Rimer Photo Technician: Steve Kagan admitting the facts to avert the example he feels that the government would make of the case and, most importantly, he is doing it so that at his hearing to determine sentence the facts of the war will them- selves be put on trial. In the two to three week sentence hear- ing, the movement in Madison plans to do what has been so difficult in all of our previous trials, put on the evidence against th government. Unhindered by legalities and the rules of evidence, we have the un- parallelled opportunity to call in witnesses to war, to present the history of resistance, to expose publicly the war crimes commit- }, as well as the crimes of deceit and secrecy committed against the American people by their own government. Karl deserves your continuing support not only because his actions were motivated by deep feelings of love and sorrow, but be- cause he is continuing to resist the govern- ment now and in the coming weeks and years. WE FEEL we must stand by him now be- cause our own integrity is at stake; we have protested this war for so long, in all of our different ways and it is Karl who is shouldering the responsibility and the re- pression now. For the survivors of Indochina, the war is not over till their homes are rebuilt, until their limbs are mended, until their people are released from prison. For us at home, the war is not over until the lessons are revealed and learned, until justice, real justice is granted the people involved ... both those who made the policy and those who fought it. We plan to continue to reveal these les- sons, to support Karl in all the ways open to us; principally through the coming hear- ing. Your concern is still needed, your s~upport is still needed. In the name of humanity and dignity we urge you to help us pre- eent the evidence against the military, against the policies of war. Approval of Karl's act is not being asked for, but understanding of why it;seemed so necessary and why we have to continue our struggle now, to bring justice to the couirageous people of Indochina and to those who planned the war. The Karl Armstrong National De- fense Committee includes Ruth and Donald Armstrong, Phillip Berrigan, Noam Chomsky, David Dellinger, Staughton Lynd and Anthony Russo. %Alk ,., t . f *' A tp f" f Y 't f If t j q" w 03 f i .....- ~4 Pft* PLEASE USE 0 Letters: Readers ask Nixon eviction To The Daily: AMERICA is in the midst of the most destructive event to occur in this nation's history. Even the War between the States didn't destroy democracy. Unless action is im- mediately taken for the impeach- ment of President Nixon the an- swer to whether a democracy could survive this crisis may very well be that it could not. During the five years of the Nixon administration we have seen an upsurge of presidential power as it was unconstitutionally wrest- led away from Congress. The pow- er to make treaties, which belongs to t'nr.c- w selimnatd b anti-war protests of the early 1970's he felt that the people were out to get him. This feeling clearly came out during the Watergate hearings. For the election itself, Nixon felt that the Democrats were all evil and out to get him so he instituted a plan of political de- struction in an attempt to elimin- ate his competition. Can there be any higher crime in a democracy? On Saturday we found that the answer was yes. Now Nixon has also tried to eliminate the judicial system that this nation is found- ed upon. Nixon, supposedly a strict constructionist of the Cnstitution, has obviously forgotten the mean- iate on. impeachment of President Nix- -Guy Cavallo College Young Democrats of Ann Arbor Oct. 23 unacceptable To The Daily: I SENT the following letter to Rep. Marvin Esch: I find Mr. Nixon's action of Sa- turday night regarding Cox, etc., to be unacceptable. I do not feel Nixon is discharging his presi- dential duties adequately. T tsn Rmnn o h imn-'t comfort? Wil you vote yes for impeach- ment? I will be quite upset if you answer me no. If no, I ask you what in heaven's name will it take for you to impeach? Please answer. Thank you. -John Stafford Oct. 20 levity To The Daily: THIS PAST week I sat in the student section at the football game and watched the girls being passed up on the hands of the Would yod be the matter? -Samuel Oct. 23 willing to consider D. Marble unalnimously To The Daily: WE, THE first year PhD. can- didates in the American Culture Program of the University of Mich- igan, unanimously call for the im- mediate impeachment of Richard Nixon. -John P. Beall Marvin Olasky John Reiff A