4 Wednesday, March 29,1972 University Daily Kansan Garry Wills KANSAN comment Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the opinions of the writers. 01. 685 Campaign Promise Dave Dillon and Kathy Allen are to be congratulated for winning the recent election for student body president and vice-president. During their campaign they made promises which, if achieved, will be of benefit to the students. Not the least of these is to show "what the Senate is really about." I will be one of the students most eagerly awaiting this piece of information. Student government is a self-perpetuating organization. Even in notably apathetic years there will always be someone willing to fill an office, even if it is just for a joke. There will always be student government but it will not always be the same thing. In years past, student governments could sponsor dances or get women's curfew hours extended. Things have changed and now student politicians have become involved in University affairs from academics to finances in addition to specifically student affairs. The range of subjects the Student Senate is now attempting to deal with makes it hard to determine what it really is about. Perhaps it is time for the Senate to limit itself, thereby giving certain things the benefit of full consideration by senators. Admittedly, one of the hardest tasks facing senators each year would be that of deciding what problems or ideas they would work on that year. Of course, it would be impractical for the Senate to become totally oriented towards a few goals since that might hamper its ability to react effectively to unexpected events or problems that usually arise every year. But such a system would give a direction to the Senate and might eliminate the aimless legislation that is voted on at most meetings. Certainly good things have happened in the past because of Senate action. I think that those accomplishments were due largely to the efforts of a few people who did have an idea or saw a problem that needed to be solved. Those people were willing to take on the task of getting the Senate to do something. I would like to see the whole Senate become task-oriented rather than just a few energetic individuals. I can not help thinking that discussion in Senate meetings with that type of orientation would be more interesting than the endless legislative bickering about finances and parliamentary procedure. All senators could become involved in achieving goals they chose for the University and its students, as well as enjoying more interesting meetings. That would be an achievement. Mary Ward Askew's Crutch for Chicken Liberals Liberals are funny little critters. Right now they are lamenting President Nixon's call for Congressional action against school busing. They only intercept this threeudge to force Florida's Governor, Ruben Askew. Liberals are positively standing in line to nominate Governor Askew for inclusion in the next edition of Pro姨s press release. If you become a kind of loyalty test, as embittered "old liberal" John Roche rushes to assure us: "I want him (Askew) to know that whatever it may be worth—or be known as an Askew Democrat." What brought about this burst of long-distance hero-worship? Well, Jon Nordheimer of the New York Times described it as “an ankie. an Okie from Muskogee who believed—really believed—in the American dream." Those types are getting (quite understandably) rare, Liberals must salute the last few left. But Askew's own action shows why the breed is dying off. When the Florida legislature added an anti-busing referendum to the state's primary vote, Askew—instead of vetting that move, or ignoring it—put a cosmetic second recommendation to the referendum test, a proposition in favor of equal education for all. This, we are asked to believe, put him in a tough man-o-a-mo battle with George Wallace. It matched, as the Times put it, "the idealist Askew against the gufftower Wallace." Good against evil. Our guy against theirs. Actually, of course, what it did was make Askew Wallace's paty. The second referendum immeasurably helped the first. It allowed people to vote in the referendum, assuring others (and their own conscience) that they are not really racists. If anyone doubts this, all he has to do is look at Nixon's request to Congress. The President does not merely ask for a vote on the budget; he also pushes busing; he also pushes intothe meaningless—a law to require that “no state or locality can deny equal educational opportunity to any person amount of race, color or national origin. So Nickham has gladly adapted Aaskew's covering clause. The villain is doing the same thing the hero did—yet liberals are more supportive and applaud the latter. Of course former Aaskew's motives were noble, and Nickham's ignoble. But the effect is the same in both cases—the pious assurance allows men to indulge in the gut issue. In that sense, Aaskew did not want the politician to show them along in his own simpleminded way. The more Aaskew drew attention to the referenda, the more he got out and debated, the more people he drew to the polls—and the more Wallace profited from the public's feelings, the lethargic voters stirred to an unaccustomed literacy of protest. So, a profile in courage? Maybe, but hardly in wisdom, prudence, or political sense. An ally of Wallace can not make much of a defense by saying that he is an incumbent helper—Who needs that kind of meddling on the scene? Copyright 1972, Universal Press Syndicate James J. Kilpatrick Political System Analyzed WASHINGTON—Want a book for rainy-day reading? Try "The Party's Over," by David S. Broder, just published by Harper & Row. It is the best political book of the season—must-read because of government—but it comes on the chill of a January drizzle. Ours is a town of 3,000 journalists. All list of the top ten would include Broder of the Washington Post. For more than 16 years, he has been covering unflappable cool-hand Lake who writes like a man driving nails. Broder's purpose in this perceptive book is to analyze the decline of our two-party system, to urge a return to responsible government and the consequences if the national parties are allowed to fall into further decay. He sees the country paradoxically in a time when the economy is his honestest: He sees little prospect of improvement. He provides enough ammunition, if one were so minded, to shoot himself bright fluttering bird of hope. Political parties emerged almost with the beginning of our Republic—the Federalists of Mr. Adams, the Republicans of Mr. Jefferson. It was one of the unexpected dividends of our election process, a product often incidental to the number of strong major parties came to be fixed at two. With few exceptions, that pattern continued through the time of Harry Trump. This was the period of party loyalty, party discipline, party spoils, and party distinctions. It is hard to remember, but there truly was a time when the parties offered a dime's worth of difference—slavery and abolition, soft money and hard money. silver and gold, free trade and protective tariff. Once there were legions of Democrats who would have supported vote to vote for a yellow dog; members of the GOP, on their side, not were less wedded to cannibalism. What has become of the rock-ribbed Republican, the yellow-dog Democrat? They have gone the way of the grizzly bear and the wheeoping crane. Not yet extinct, but now very rare. The rise of a civil service system in New York has prompted patronage; not even a post-mastership remains today. With no spoils to distribute, party leaders had no spoils to deny; incentive and discipline alike Griff and the Unicorn At his most pessimistic, Brother is filled with forebodes. He sees the specter of a man on a horse. He knows that if he were to be avoided, the people must again become "partakers" in the political process; and through born-again parties, inspired by their leaders, they seek clear and coherent goals. By Sokoloff "Individual citizens feel they have lost control of what is happening in politics and government. They find themselves powerless to influence the course of events. Voting seems a pointless charade. These are the millions of Americans express today, after 16 years of government impasse." as Broder observes, something more subtle was going on. In a pathetic scramble to offer all things to all people, the parties failed to perform their "unifying and clarifying function." They tended to compose their platform on an theme from "Annie" by the composer. Can you do I can do better. What has this failure produced? "Individual citizens feel they have lost control of what is happening in politics and government. They find themselves powerless to influence the course of events." It is a large order, but “if we do nothing, we guarantee our nation will be nothing.” That is Broder’s parting shot. He has written a letter of condemnation to thunder, and to turn the last page is to near the rain falling. dissolved. Then came television, which tended to free an ambitions candidate from dependence on party organization. While these manifest developments were taking place, Broder finds the same disenchantment at every level of government. Unlike many of his fellow liberals, he avoids the error of supposing that all citizens are the only ones and all stupidity in city hall and the state house. His criticism goes evenly across the board. Copyright, 1972 The Washington Star Syndicate, Inc. "Copyright 1972, David Sokoloff. 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