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About What's happening. (Eugene, OR) 1982-1993 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1987)
$ OPINIO N __ Ashes and Diamonds by Alexander Cockburn The Nutty Professor Not the least curious aspect of Bork’s appearance before the Judi ciary Committee was the general ac ceptance by the senators and the press of Bork’s view that it is fine for pro fessors to tell lies. Whenever pressed on some of his more outre views Bork would explain that he had made these remarks in the academy far removed from the real time respon sibility of the courtroom and the bench. In other words he was pro posing the notion that it is entirely in order for a law professor to promote intellectual propositions which he ac tually regards as absurd. The other striking element in the coverage of Bork is the manic zeal with which reporters have emphasized the dimensions both of his intellect and his wit. Phrases like “superlative intelligence,” “immense brilliance” pepper the new reports and the pro files, even though the record discloses no trace of humor and a mind servile to political and corporate power. Bork was supposedly imbued with social ist ideas in his youth but then fell under the influence of Aaron Drictor, the famously reactionary economics professor at the University of Chicago, whose sister married Mil ton Friedman. The best single line about Bork comes from one of his colleagues at Yale who was asked what he thought of him and said simp ly, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Poor Joe It scarcely helped the anti-Bork forces that the chairman of the com mittee was being exposed as a plagiar ist even as the hearings began. Joe Biden, it turned out, had been steal ing bits of his appalling speeches from Hubert Humphrey and Robert Ken nedy and even from Neil Kinnock, leader of the British Labor Party. William Schneider, one of the genre mustered in the Washington think tanks known as “political analysts,” brought back one of Kinnock’s political commercials, made for the British election earlier this year. It was one—made by the director of Chariots of Fire—-in which Kinnock asks rhetorically why he was the first Kinnock in 40 generations to have ob tained the benefits of higher educa tion. Answer: The humane social and economic policies of the British Labor Party. Schneider handed it around and Biden snatched it up and made it his own. Why was he the first Biden in 40 years, etc., etc. I was in England when the Kinnock ads first ran. It was a huge hit with all the political correspondents and so-called “analysts” who declared that this kind of "American-style" per sonal message, so different from fuddy-duddy old-fashioned “doctrin aire” Labor politicking, showed that Kinnock was modern-minded and had a real chance of beating Thatcher. Ex it polls taken as Thatcher trounced Kinnock showed clearly that though the political analysts may have been ecstatic about the commercial, the British electorate considered it win dy rubbish and thought the less of Kinnock for bleating in this fashion about his family’s past. The Labor Party’s candidates who did best were those who were extremely doctrinaire and old-fashioned in saying exactly how they would like to install social ism, a project the oily Kinnock gloss ed over. Since his plagiarism has been a serious reverse for Biden, this must have been one of the more futile po litical commercials of all time. The Blessings of a Free Press “The cause of Allende’s failure to complete his term—a collapse that brought the entire democratic system down with him—is the subject of one of the longest-running controversies of recent history.” —Mark Falcoff, The New Republic, September 7. Translation: “Allende failed to complete his term because he was killed in a successful right-wing coup supported by the U.S.” Falcoff is a visiting fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and director of its study group on Chile. “Mozambique, a fertile, tropical land laced by broad, muddy rivers, and caressed by the sparkling Indian Ocean, is the kind of place that defies easy categories, even though a few things are certain. Among them is that since the country gained indepen dence from Portugal 12 years ago, it has been far from a success. It is devastated by civil war. ... By most standards, Mozambique is less well But joy at the present travails of the Reagan administration in regard to its Central American policies should not obscure a harsher truth: the near destruction of the Nicaragua economy. off than it was when Frelimo, full of idealism and ideology, got indepen dence from Portugal.” Richard Bern stein, “Weary of Marxism’s Heroic Slogans,” New York Times, September 3, 1987. Translation: Of all the victims of colonialism, Mozambique was among the most savagely exploited. The Por tuguese colonizers were brutish and cruel almost beyond imagination. Mo zambique did not “gain its indepen dence;” it won final victory after a desperate decade-long struggle, with the Portuguese fighting to the last inch and the last day. Nor today is Mozam bique fighting a “civil war.” It is en during the assaults of RENAMO, a mercenary force recruited and paid for by South Africa with U.S. back ing and the vociferous encouragement of such politicians as Senator Bob Dole, who recently urged support for RENAMO almost on the day that it carried out one of the most atrocious massacres of civilians in recent African history. For years Mozam bique endured economic ostracism by the west, after independence had left it with a plundered economy, and a literacy rate at independence of five percent. In these straits it was for tunate to have the aid and support of the Soviet Union. Mixed Joy In Nicaragua the right-wing car dinal Obando Y Bravo has been made chairman of the reconciliation com mission; La Prensa is scheduled to re open and neither U.S. politicians nor U.S. press ask whether they are to be trusted. The Reagan administration has be come increasingly frantic at the diplo matic and political foxhole in which it finds itself, following the afore mentioned peace plan and the political maneuvers of House Majority Leader Jim Wright. Most recently Education Secretary William Bennett went on a 24 hour visit to Nicaragua, addressed a public opposition meeting with ring ing cries of support for the contras and then asked to go and see some mothers of jailed Somocista national guardsmen and contras, then proceed to a prison visit. Bennett had per mission for the visit but U.S. embassy officials cancelled it because they said Bennett would have to walk past a picket of wounded Nicaraguan war veterans, thus offering an unpalatable photo opportunity. Bennett denounced this savage infringement of his free dom and on return to the U.S. said Nicaragua was sunk in darkest totali tarian night. The U.S. has made an official protest at the picket. But joy at the present travails of the Reagan administration in regard to its Central American policies should not obscure a harsher truth: The contra war has in large measure succeeded in a central (and traditional) objective nurtured in Washington: the near de struction of the Nicaraguan economy, the erosion of Sandinista economic and political credibility (and social ist morality) by an inflation rate of nearly 1000 percent, hence a huge underground economy, hence the diminution of prospects for the social ist project as a whole. The Reagan administration’s room for maneuver may be constricted, but so is the San dinistas', and while the appointment of Obando and the scheduled re opening of La Prensa may be sound tactics, applauded here also as evi dence of democratic socialism in ac tion, we must also recognize the price paid and the weakness caused by the war and its effects over the last six years. Footnote: All this talk about Ben nett and others about the founding fathers, obscures the fact that if Nicaragua were to introduce today a constitution such as that promulgated , 200 years ago in the United States, it would be instantly accused of virtual Nazism, given the disenfranchisement and kindred injustices with which that sanctified document was saturated. The present Nicaraguan constitution is a much superior affair. (Alexander Cockburn's column is par tially underwritten by the Committee in Solidarity with the Central Ameri can People (CISCAP). Formore infor mation about CISCAP’s work to bring peace with justice to the Central American region, call 485-1755 or visit the office at 372 W 10th.) Park Street be CAFE al Serving Continental breakfast, seasonal salads, soups, quiche, sandwiches with chemical-free meats, espresso and more. 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