i £frlligan Dai1s 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Mich. Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints. Thursday, July 15, 1971 News Phone: 764-0552 NIGHT EDITOR ALAN LENHOFF Rejectinag peace THE NIXON administration's rejection of. the peace plan offered by the South Vietnamese Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) is simply a natural continuation of policies thus far followed both in Indo- china and around the world. The PRG plan would allow for simultaneous release of U.S. prisoners synchronized with the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Nixon's policy has been that every U.S. prisoner must be released before the troops are all pulled back. In addition, the new PRG plan would set up a neu- tral coalition government - not necessarily controlled by the PRG - to replace the "freely elected" Thieu re- gime. The "freedom" of the elections is in serious doubt; the Communist organization is illegal and may not par- ticipate. The new plan eliminates the emotional impact of Nixon's position that the prisoners must be freed before the troops are withdrawn. His public relations campaign to drum up support for his stand is grinding to a halt as a result. BUT THE PLAN has been rejected. Nixon must have some other reason for remaining in Vietnam than his concern for the POW's. Now that the administration's key reason for re- maining in force, whether air power or ground troops, has been shot down, the American people can ask legiti- mately, "Why are we still there?" And the Nixon regime will be hard-pressed to find an answer which deviates more than a fraction from the old Johnson line that we are fighting communism abroad before it arrives at home. The administration may say there are "certain ele- ments that are unacceptahle" in the peace proposals, and then try to discuss them in secret, unoublicized discus- sions. It may say that the war is "winding down," despite the fact that we are now involved in three countries in- stead of one and the amount of bombing has increased under the Nixon administration. But when the camouflage is drawn away, it will be found that our involvement in Vietnam is not some strange aberration of one president, but rather com- pletely in line with the rest of U.S. foreign policy. THE PENTAGON paners adequately support the first part of this statement. Sabotage of the 1954 Geneva agreements under Eisenhower and contingency plans to bomb North Vietnam in 1964 verify the unfaltering U.S. attitude that South Vietnam must be kept anti-commun- ist at any cost. But what is perhaps more shocking than the con- tinuity of our Vietnam involvement is its relation to other U.S. activities abroad. The sunnort of military dic- tatorships in Greece. Spain and most of Latin America, the overthrow of a democraticallv-elected government in Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pies invasion and the sending of marines to the Dominican Republic are all part of the foreign policy of the leader of the "free world." However, listing a string of interventions, coups and planned overthrows says nothing ahout why they occur with such regularity. Why is the United States motivated by a compelling urge to plot counter-insurgency plans and break up guerrilla movements? What is it about these movements that is so threat- ening to the most technologically advanced country on earth?_ NATIONAL LIBERATION movements overseas first of all threaten American investments. When Castro came to power in Cuba, he nationalized U.S. interests in sugar, utilities and other industries. Obviously, the U.S. will try to protect private American holdings in any way possible. The U.S. government has always seen in national liberation movements the seeds of its supposedly deadly enemy, communism. It labels a band of guerrillas "com- munists" and thus holds the prerogative of using all the weapons at its disposal to smash this vicious foe. It does not pay attention to the fact that by smiting down a popular movement it is supporing an oligarchic dicatorship. That is not the issue. At question is whether the U.S. will be able to support its economic position over- seas or whether it will eventually succumb in the strug- gle. This point will only be decided in the future. -ZACHARY SCHILLER Women's caucus? Burlesque! SAN CLEMENTE - President Nixon and his top diplomatic ad- visers aren't so busy trying to end the war that they don't have time for a few jokes. Since it isn't nice to laugh it up over blacks or other oppressed minorities (at least not where peo- ple can hear) Dick and his bud- dies turned to an old standby butt they. knew wouldn't offend any- body important. Secretary of State William Rog- ers started it all during a picture taking session at the beginning of a meeting with photogenic Henry Kissinger, just back from Paris, and Nixon. While ego-tripping merrily be- fore the photographers, Rogers mentioned last weekend's women's political conference. With a sly grin, Kissinger said that writer Gloria Steinem was there. "Who's that?" asked Nixon, as Kissinger snickered lustily. "That's Henry's old girl friend," leered Rogers. Then Rogers described a newspa- per photograph of four of the mili- tant women who spoke at the cau- cus, which aims at getting more women into high office. "What did it look like?" giggled Nixon, who apparently has never seen Steinem, Betty Friedan, or Representatives Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn and Bella Abzug of Manhattan. "Like a burlesque," guffawed Rogers. "What's wrong with that?" the President asked, showing that he's just one of the boys after all. i - Letters to The Daily The real Taylor? To The Daily: A CONTEMPTIBLE note from far-right SGC member Brad Tay- lar deserves critical attention. He sneers at striking janitors, gar- bage men and others who work hard for next to nothing, calling them "looters" and "destroyers" of the bankers and industrial oli- garchs who (he quotes from Ayn Rand) "have carried the world on their shoulders, have kept it alive," and so on ad nauseum. He probably knows as well as the rest of us that the "pity the poor robber baron" school of warmed-over Social Darwinism only conceals the ugly reality of the American past - nearly all the rich and powerful got that way by inheritance. Their ances- tors enjoyed the government's policy of crushing labor and soc- ial unrest in the name of laissez faire while subsidizing the rail- roads (among others), and toler- ating monopolies. fraud and t h e corruption of the democratic pro- cess. PART OF Taylor's nonsense is explained, of course, by the like- lihood that he fantasises that he is an entrepreneurial Nietzschean Superman. But it is also further evidence that this self-styled Uebermensch has political pur- poses unknown to many of those who elected him. Taylor ran for SGC on the moderate-to-conser- vative Student Caucus platform, which stressed such moderate themes as political neutrality for SGC, fiscal responsibility. etc. But he boasts of spying on the Peo- ples' Peace Treaty convention - whether he is a paid police spy or not, cannot be determined - and says he'd like to tell the House Internal Security Commit- tee all about it. I accuse Taylor of deceiving the electorate about his real political opinions and of threatening the democratic left on this campus with the spectre of government repression. Far from being a li- bertarian, he is more than will- ing to use the power of the state to intimidate people whose poli- tics differ from his own. Now that his role as a reactionary and a government flunky is out in the open, students should be able to decide if he is unfit. b-- cause of his deceptions and his willful entanelement with govern- ment repression, to serve on our student government. The All-Campus Constitution provides that SOC or the student body can recall SGC members, and perhaps they ought to do so - that way the students them- scelves, at the next campus elec- tion, may make the final judg- ment. Bob Black, '73 July 7 Have you heard .. . To The Daily: WE WOULD LIKE to suggest that The Daily publish a community news column twice a week similar to that of a small-town newspaper. Organizational notices (when print- ed), ads, and calendars do not cover everything that is happening. The column might include things like: "The grapevine has it"that Peter Pick, formerly the yoga teacher for the Free University, is in town staying with so-and-so, phone no. such-and-such." Or, "Have you heard that Randy Smith was in an accident and is at the U Hospital?" Or, "It looks as though Peter Jackoff has finally found his fate-mate. Congratula- tions, Pete." Such a column could be of real service to the people of the Ann Arbor community. Terry Moers, Office of Student Fublications Judy Blender, Office of Student Publications Jim Toy Gay Liberation Front July 12 Teenyboppers? To The Daily: WE ATTENDED the John Sebas- tianconcert. Until we read your courageous article, we thought we dug it. How naive were we! Leave it to The Daily to penetrate to the very core of reality while scatter- ing our sugar-coated illusions. Little did we know that all the nice people around us were "delin- quent teenyboppers." Leave it to The Daily to separate the "delin- quent teenyboppers" from the rest of us. For a time it seemed that John Sebastian was enjoying himself and that the people around us were en- joying themselves. Thank you, Stuart Gannes, for sacrificing your enjoyment for the sake of eternal vigilance. And as for you John Sebastian-no more Mr. Niceguy! Ken Wilson Nancy Wilson Mark Kinzer Dan Hausrath July 10 Help the lady To The Daily- WOMEN S RIGHTS, Queen Jane revisited (Ma Kettle?); air pollu- tion; Vietnam, yes but no;-but this is all a meaningful digression but with hope to impress that oc- casion is but in tthis hour. For at hand we have Don Quixote without his Sancho, Prometheus bound again in chains, Cyrano with not but a nose to be downcast of. In search of work and place of habitation, I came once again to that tranquil city where those peo- ple are undaunted by the tran- sports of the day. Needful of a place at weary day's end to rest my head and sore-felt feet I came upon the domicile where in earlier years I labored far into the night in small and modest room typing strenuously details of laboratory procedure. Remembering that the lodging was kindly outfitted to my tattered state of affairs this being accounts, I consented within myself to ask the kindly elderly matron, who with meticulous care kept this lodging, for room thereat. Asking this of her I was informed that in their fashion the authorities, or those said being in charge of said matters, had seen fit to condemn a part thereabout of this dear lady's premises, nothwithstanding these grounds are in a very fit manner of condition, and but in them lack the modern convenience of air condi- tioner and the like that hardier souls abhor. I SHALL forego mentioning this lady's long service to her commun- ity in appointing of fit conditions whereby a student may study and become but of at least of the light of wisdom. I shall forego mention- ing that the small stature is the foundation of society itself. I shall forego mentioning that many are the transgressions of the large- concern university on the spirit which it seeks to uphold. I shall say in this righting of a wrong, in this right but paltry in- stance a huge institution with big feet would be taking a small best step forward. Albert A. Pontello July 12 ;. } ' ' "Where are you, Daniel liisberg, now that we need you?"