Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-25
To SaYe Our Bacon

one OF the main diversions
Of the American electorate
has become the art of vaca-
tioning from its own frustra-
lions. One such Illustration Is
the inability to cope with the
possibility of the human race
becoming so much bacon in
the frying pan of stupidity.
Another is the Illustration in
not being able to fully I'M
derstand the drift and scope
Of American politics.
AS a prerequisite to the
successful campaign, candi-
dates for the Presidency are
required to remove two or
three planks from the party
platform and use them to
beat the American electorate
over the head. One such
plank in the 1860 campaign
was the missile gap. another,
the starving American. In
1864 the peace and prosperity
planks have been selected by
the party in office.
To assure to these tissues"
the necessary prominence,
the long sought test ban
treaty and tax cut are re-
quired. The Importance at
tached by the executive to
these campaign planks Is
evidenced by its insistence
that the tax cut go through
by election year, even at the
expense of civil rights legis-
lation.
SO a vacation is planned
for all of America. The
statesmen Of the country are
successful in obtaining the
elusive test ban treaty from
the Russians. The political
problem Of peace is solved.
All that remains is a tax re-
duction to spur the economy
on to greater deficits, that
is, prosperity. The appropri-
ate calculated result, eupho-
ria, is achieved.
But the vacation has been
threatened by forces that,
for some reason, seem not
to be amenable to this gov
ernment's control. On the
very day that the test ban
treaty becomes effective,
trouble begins in Germany,
Khrushchev's pet battlefield
in the Cold War. Rationales
are many and varied. 1t is a
protest to the presence in
Berlin of a certain prominent
German politician. 1t is evil
dence of the Russian mill
tary's hostility to Khru-
shchev for allowing the
United States such a total
victory as the partial test
ban treaty. The State De-
partment admits confusion.
1t is all an isolated mistake.
KhruShchev in his test ban
speech called for a settle
ment of World War II prob
lens, which according to the
State Department means the
settlement of the disputes
arising out Of the Russian
controlled German situation.
I post that Khrushchev has
achieved a most remarkable
bargaining position to carry
with him in his grab bag of
tricks to the negotiation
table. Simply by exploding
an H-Bomb prior to election
day 1864, he can blow up one
plank, or half Of the incum-
bent party'S platform. He is
now in a position to exert
a direct, even deciding, in
fluence on the politics, and
thus on the policies, of the
country to which he has re-
peatedly vowed to extend his
influence. By creating minor
crises in Germany he will OBJ
tain minor concessions. BY
obtaining minor concessions,
the door is opened to major
concessions. And while
counting the days to the
American presidential cleo
ton, he will move his threat
ening pin ever closer to the
bubble of prediction eupho-
ria, obtaining by tscit polit-
ical arguments rationalized
national concessions.
AS negotiations with the
Russian leadership in the
present circumstances would
amount to a conflict of po-
litical interest with national
interest, I contend that the
only course that the execu-
tive can safely follow in the
national interest is to make
clear to the world that fur
ther actions such as the So
called accidental detention
of American troops in East
Germany on the effective
date of the test ban treaty
will constitute a factor such
as will render this country in
a justifiable position to give
notice of withdrawal pur-