Is the president paranoid?
Or is he using a scare tactic to undermine support for the
nuclear freeze movement?
We had paranoia in the 1950s Sen Joe McCarthy waved
lists of supposed communists in the state department The
United States was subject to months of paranoia and Con
gressional hearings to ferret out the commies in government
That should have been enough of a trial of freedom of
speech and political affiliation for one century
But it wasn't In the 1960s we saw scare tactics This"
administration used the FBI to harass U S citizens protesting
the Vietnam war Time has shown that concern over U S
foreign policy — not communist infiltration — fueled the
anti-war movement
Reagan alienates himself and divides the nation again
with remarks like “foreign agents" back the nuclear freeze
movement
Reagan believes that a hard line and a strong military are
the only ways to negotiate with the Soviet Union To him the
United States has few options
The president would be better served if he questioned
his sources of information about the nuclear freeze
movement He would benefit by discussion with the propon
ents of the nuclear freeze movement — whether he accepts
their ideas or not
If there exists such a "solid base of information (the
FBI) furnished to the White House quite some time ago," as
an FBI spokesman recently said, then let s see it Let the
nuclear freeze initiators, such as Oregon Senator Mark
Hatfield and 4th District Congressman Jim Weaver see who
is duping them.
If the FBI knows of treasonous activity, they are obligat
ed to investigate it
If, however, Reagan and other military and federal
personnel are using their position to scare would-be sup
porters of the movement or color the constitutional right to
support a cause and voice it, then the president better
beware
The nation has been down this road before and the
instigators have been ousted
opinion
Presidential paranoia
joan nylond
suitable for comment
Lech Walesa, recently
released Solidarity leader, said
he is ready to negotiate with the
Polish government "not with me
on my knees, but a fair, proper
agreement "
An impossible, but wonderful,
thought
Walesa, incarcerated since
last April in a supposed govern
ment hunting lodge, cannot
negotiate fairly with a govern
ment that has no sense of
justice — that does not weigh
equally the sides of labor and
government monopoly A
government whose very exis
tences is based on the Red
Army hovering at the border and
totalitarian control of commun
ication
A “proper agreement" is
unforeseeable in light of the
eight months of improper nego
tiations — negotiations in the
street which have forced
Solidarity underground and in
stilled the fear of reprisal
"Break my will, then I'll
agree'' is the most inhumane of
tortures — the Polish
government resorts to such
methods.
They know killing Walesa
would have fueled Solidarity,
producing a martyr and perhaps
civil war Even the Poles, an
unusually strong people, have a
threshhold on how much poli
tical activism they can engage
under conditions of depression
and Polish winter
The government waited for
the national spirit to weaken and
Brezhnev's death to be
announced to let Walesa out
Walesa will be able to help
further the Polish workers by
using his trump cards, internal
Polish government fear of the
Soviet Union under Andropov
and public support The Polish
government takes a risk in let
ting him out, that is, unless he is
"on his knees "
Any reversals by Walesa on
the aims of Solidarity, should be
weighed in the light of eight
months of brain washing and
will-breaking
If it appears that the new
Walesa is collaborating with the
Polish authorities, it is not the
same man who led Solidarity
Regardless, Walesa deserves
world respect for his sheer
ability to "stick it out," as the
Polish underground papers
said
1
Oregon daily _ -
emerald
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Friday
except during exam week and vacations, by the Oregon Daily
Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon Eugene
OR 97403
The Emerald operates independently of the University with
offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a
member of the Associated Press
Newt and Editorial SHe-SS11
Display Advertising and Butsness Mt-3712
Classified Advertising §8«-4343
Production Mft-4381
Circulation •••-§511
Editor
Harry E Steve
Managing Editor
News Editor
Assistant News Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Photo Editor
Sports Editor
Associate Sports Editor
Entertainment Editor
Night Editor
Associate Editors
Higher Education
Departments and Schools
Student Government
Features
Politics
Community
General Staff
Advertising Manager
Classified Advertising
Production Manager
Controller
John Healy
Marian Green
Cort Fern eld
Joan Nyiand
Bob Baker
Mike Riplinger
Paul Oan/er
Jonathan Stegle
Debbie Hewlett
Debbie Mowlett
Sandy Johnstone
Richard Burr
Sean Meyers
Mm -help MatA*fta
David Brown
Darlene Gore
SaMy Ot|Af
Victoria Koch
Jean Ownbey
miss
kO-^t
OHUlCT
' ...This. UCWW6R SHOULD NOT, IN ANY WAV, BE CONSTRUED AS A CHANGE OP ZOORXICY '
1
letters
Misquoted
In the Friday Emerald I was
misquoted in the following
manner:
I absolutely do believe, and
feel others should also believe,
that the Soviet Union is a totally
totalitarian state. I do not un
derstand how I was quoted as
having said the opposite
Perhaps this stems from a mis
understanding or was taken out
of context
I by no means ruled out the
chances of Andropov becoming
Brezhnev's successor On the
contrary, I maintained that,
unfortunately for the citizens of
the USSR and us, he is the most
likely person to be appointed (at
least in the short-run). I also said
that his appointment to this po
sition would be a disaster to any
human rights considerations in
the Soviet Union That was why I
said I foresaw the Soviets
appointing a more conservative
leader
Aside from these two minor
discrepancies, I would like to
commend the reporter for com
posing a rather good article I
recognize the difficulty inherent
in integrating the statements of
two different individuals into
one coherent article
Ronald Wlxman
professor, geography
Editor's note:
Professor Wixman was
wrongly attributed as saying
that "People in the West ought
to stop thinking of the Soviet
Union as a totally totalitarian
system " The quote is that of
Prof Joseph Fiszman
Grow up
Retorting the letter on jug
glers in the Nov 11 Emerald, I
would first like to ask Joan
Nyland why such a blatantly
fascist letter was printed
Secondly. I would like to ask
Scott how he would respond it
he were to have some snob
nosed petite bourgeoisie come
up to him and say "get a job you
taggot " I think Scott might get a
good taste of his own
redneck-neo-tascism if he were
cognizant enough to acknow
ledge the insult
Thirdly, what possible job
opening can there be for a
journalist who uses run-on sen
tences, is bigoted, and is sexist
and narrow-minded. Really
Scott, grow up
Richard Silverman
On reality
I know I'll feel better if I hear
tjiat journalism junior is major
ing in the study and practice of
libel His assertions regarding
the appearance, character and
skill of the jugglers practicing
on carhpus are only slightly less
ludicrous than his accusation of
physical assault.
What the fuck does he mean
when he writes, "One of those
no-good jugglers threw it at
me
THREW IT AT HIM1? Why?
Why would a paclfist-wimp
hippie-drain-on-society
faggot-long-hair-juggler throw a
club at a student who aspires to
inform the world of reality?
Love, man
Hilary Anthony
Corrections
R Carl Cole's letter entitled
No Communist" in the Nov 11
Emerald had a typing error The
Register-Guard ads, referred to
by Cole, were printed on Nov 1,
a day before the election
Another error occured in Kyle
DeBord s letter Against grain
The last sentence should have
read, "A draft resister does as
much to preserve our way of
life' or defend freedom in the
western world as any U S
Marine,"
letters policy
The Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing fair
comment on topics of interest to the University community
Letters to the editor must be limited to 250 words, signed
and the identification of the writer must be verified when the
letter is turned in to the Emerald office The Emerald reserves
the right to edit any letter for length, style or content
"Your turn" is an Emerald opinion feature submitted by
members of fhe University community Your turns" must be
limited to 500 words and typed This editorial column will not
be edited by the staff, but selection will be based on appro
priateness
letters to the editor and "Your turns' should be turned into
the Emerald office, Suite 300 EMU
Unsigned editorials appearing in the Emerald are based
upon the majority opinion of the editorial board