DePugh and the minutemen
From joke to nightmare
A funny joke that became a .50 calibre nightmare met with federal justice this week in Kansas City and lost—temporarily.
Robert Bolivar DePugh, leader of a gang of super patriots called Minutemen, was sentenced to four years in prison for violating the Federal Firearms Act.
DEPUGH, A RELATIVELY harmless man who nevertheless dwells on violence and likes to talk about it, is the symbol of a group of Americans who have gone sour on our post-war society in a most undelightful way.
Instead of turning to dirty beards and pot as other members of the Disenchanted sometimes do, DePugh and his collection of wistful fascists have cached machine guns, made napalm grenades and waged the most vengeful-if not fruitless—war on all things and people left of the Birch society.
Their danger, their threat to our experiment in civilization cannot be minimized, cannot be tolerated.
AND THEIR DANGER IS REAL, for it is the DePughs of this world who exploit the occasional simplicity of men, who can promise expediency in dealing with the complexities of the state.
Left alone, DePugh and his ilk could be the Pied Pipers of an American death march.
It is to our credit, however, that he and the others are not left alone to propagate their sniper-scope justice.
It is to our advantage that law and reason can still whittle the anarchy of the right down to size.
—Dan Austin
BOOK REVIEWS
YOURE A WINNER, CHARLIE BROWN!, by Charles M. Schulz (Crest, 40 cents)—Another collection of "Peanuts" cartoons. Mostly from the pre-Red Baron days, these will recall some laughs and some thoughtful moments, and you can follow the episodes when Charlie Brown was blessed—more or less—by the arrival of a baby sister.
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APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH, by Agatha Christie (Dell, 50 cents); BATS FLY AT DUSK, by A. A. Fair (Dell, 45 cents); THE RED LAMP, by Mary Roberts Rinehart (Dell, 50 cents); THE PROMISE OF MURDER, by Mignon E. Eberhart (Dell, 60 cents)—Four for the mystery fan. Rinehart is pretty old-fashioned, and Eberhart's heroines are pretty stupid, but the books of these old-timers have held up for a long time. As for the others well, Donald Lam and Hercule Poirot are always good.
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SELECTED SHORT STORIES OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, edited by Alfred Kazin (Premier, 75 cents)—Though there are obvious duplications with stories in other selections, such as those in "The Celestial Railroad," most of the standard tales are in this new volume. For example—"The Minister's Black Veil," "The Maypole of Merry Mount," "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," "Young Goodman Brown," "Rappaccini's Daughter," "Roger Malvin's Burial" and several others.
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OLIVER TWIST, by Charles Dickens (Premier, 95 cents)—Still another reprint of the famous tale. An attractive volume, too, that looks as though it will last you, though not as long as the novel has lasted. A mass of stereotypes and contrivances would mar this story, if it weren't that such things were the trademark of 19th century romanticism—and of realism, too. This little kid had more trouble than almost anybody.
"Would You Care To Join The Movement, Brother?"
It's colder than —
TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. — (UPI) -The city was deluged by snow and frosted by subzero temperatures, and the lead on the storm story in the Traverse City Record Eagle read:
"This is a family newspaper and we are thus restricted as to what we can write about the weather today."
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT TH' CHAPTERS WE SKIPPED — I BELIEVE I VE COVERED THEM ADEQUATELY IN THE FINAL."
You think LBJ has problems don't forget President Clarke
The war that had gripped the campus for almost five years was the only hope of political salvation for President Clarke.
When news came that the president's other war—his domestic war on ignorance—had suffered a dramatic financial cutback at the hands of the powerful opposition, the president and his cabinet of Strong Brains were thrown into panic.
IT WAS SECRETARY OF State James who saved the day.
"If we can't win on the domestic front, then let's escalate our foreign commitments—let's wage all-out war on the cultural front."
"Good idea," said President Clarke, "if we can't feed 'em with classrooms, then let's blast 'em with an amphitheater or two."
TREASURY SECRETARY Ray and defense secretary Keith looked at each other with raised evebrows.
Keith was the first to speak.
"Well, our Masterful Leap Forward certainly is flexible enough to downgrade the domestic scene and uplift our Cultured Man's Burden if we have to—but it's mighty tricky."
"Can we afford it," shot back Treasurer Ray, "a shift from butter to guns is not only unpleasant. it's damned impossible."
HIS BROWN EYES sparkling, President Clarke took the stand.
"I've got a plan. First, we'll give the people margarine instead of butter—they'll never know the difference. Then we can send advisors—not armed men—into the camps of Learned, Spencer and Mary Pickford. Without firing a shot, we can get them to keep the libraries and amphitheaters pouring in. After all, we've got . . ."
The others picked up the chant.
The atmosphere bristled with confidence as the president and his brains snapped to attention.
WITH A CHORUS of unanimous "yeas," the men pledged themselves to escalation in the never-ending struggle to shoulder the Cultured Man's Burden.
And over in the Office of Campus Research in Sanitation Engineering, the men who paint amphitheaters and sweep out libraries cried out, "And by jingo, we'll win."
And what we ain't got, we'll get just the same!"
Dan Austin
Official Bulletin
"We've got football and Jim Ryun and other dandy games,
Foreign Students: Feb. 17 People-to-
People tour to U.S. Prison in Leaven-
worth. Kan. Leave at 12 noon, return
this date from your calendar.
now.
Graduate Students: Reading Exam in German, Sat., Feb. 4, 9:30 a.m.
101-2 Carruth O-Leary. Register at Grad. School office; blue Register a ion cards may reach German Dept. by 5 p.m. Tues., Jan. 31.
TODAY
Computation Center Lecture, 3.30 p.m. Dr. Earl Schwoppe, U. of Maryland. "On the Structures of Computer Languages." 303 Su.
Signa Xi Lecture, 7:30 p.m. Dr.
Henry K. Boecher, Harvard Medical
School. "Disease & Pain" Dyche AuL.
SUA Religion Forum, 3:30 p.m. Rev. Ronald L. Donald Church in Room B674, Room B674, Room B674, Room B674
Popular Film, 7 & 9:30 p.m. "B- hold A Falsa Horse" Dyche Aud.
Chamber Music Series, 8 p.m. Bartok Quartet, Swarthouh Restorial tital.
Daily Kansan
Thursday, January 19, 1967
Serving KU for 77 of its 101 Years
KANSAN TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Newsroom—UN 4-3646 Business Office—UN 4-3198
The Daily Kansan, student newspaper at The University of Kansas, is represented by National Advertising Service, 18 East 60 St., New York, N.Y. 10022. Mail subscription rates: $5 a semester or $9 a year. Published and second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except Saturdays and Sundays, University holidays and examination periods. Accommodations, goods, services and employment advertised in the University Daily Kansan are offered to all students without regard to color, creed or national origin.
The opinions expressed in the editorial column are those of the students whose comments are signed to them. Guest editorial views are not necessarily the editor's. Any opinions expressed in the Daily Kansan are not necessarily those of The University of Kansas Administration or the State Board of Regents.
EXECUTIVE STAFF
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Managing Editor ... Robert D. Stevens
Business Manager ... Gary Wright
Editorial Editors ... Jack Harrington, Eric Morgenthaler
2
NEWS AND BUSINESS STAFF
NEWS AND BUSINESS MEDIA
Assistant Managing Editors
Judy Faust, Jack McCabe,
Barbara Phillips, Steve Russell
City Editor ... Emery Goad
Advertising Manager ... Tony Chop
Feature Editor ... Nancy Curttright
Nat'l. Ad. Manager ... Gayle Schooler
Sports Editor ... Jerry Klein
Promotion Mgr. ... Robert R. Basow
Wire Editor ... Cheryl Hentshse
Circulation Mgr. ... Howard Pankratz
Photo Editor ... Bill Mauk
Classified Manager ... Joe Godfray
Asst. Photo Editor ... Earl Hazlil
Merchandising Mgr. ... Steve Straight
FACULTY ADVISERS
Business: Prof. Mel Adams; News: Malcolm Applegate;
Editorial: Prof. Calder Pickett
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