Centrist Nixon, Centrist Nation
Coyne, John R. Jr.
competRion within particol~r industries. In that case Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes observed for a unanimous Court: "Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional power...
...WASHINGTON) - - The following is~a short course on government, liberalism and the new location of an old landmark, Credibility Gap...
...John R. Coyne, Jr., is an Associate of this illustrious journal and a contributor to National Review, a New York based magazine...
...In fact, public health officials here warn everyone to wash ins if any river water so much as touches the skin...
...A centrist president in a country whose unique greatness depends upon a strong center may not really be a bad thing...
...Nixon's own "strict constructionist" Supreme Court will administer unto Phase II a similarly welldeserved death blow...
...It is important that this pressure be evenly and steadily applied...
...The enemies he makes tend to be committed to some strong ideological viewpoint, both left and right...
...But wait...
...Nixon's sympathies, then, lie to the right...
...And Richard Nixon has made plenty...
...But you won't find those of us who are ideologically committed admitting that, of course...
...There have been enemies on the left since the early 1950s, when Nixon helped to prove that Alger Hiss, a charter member of the liberal establishment, was moonlighting as a Russian spy...
...And Richard Nixon, with enemies left and right...
...If we do, we may lose our leverage...
...All Washingtonlans must en12 The Alternative May 1972...
...Many others, although .they realize the importance of appearing to desire total victory, would happily settle for much less...
...A steady flow of raw sewage oozes into the river from a large pipe jutting from the embankment along Washington's posh Georgetown section...
...and if we lose our leverage, the country, we fear, cannot remain centrist...
...Would I, for instance, really enjoy living in a completely conservative society...
...He is presently teaching mass communications at Arizona State University and his most recent book is The Impudent Snobs: Agnew vs...
...The pollution of the Potomac is caused by two things...
...Both conservatives and liberals believe their constant ideological opposition puts pressure on ~ovemunent from both ends of t h e ideological spectrum...
...China lights a fire under conservatives already sizzling over the administration's proposed fandly assistance plan and what they regard as America's deteriorating defense posture...
...Many are voor...
...Whild Honeyfoggling Edology...
...Now Nixon has enemies to the right as well as left...
...It's dangerous to relax, dangerous to content yourself with half measures...
...lie's had practice...
...For the truth is that very few nonfascist, nonMarxist Americans want a true believer in the White House...
...Thus, it is never surprising when the liberal left opens up, as it did for instance during the hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of William Rehnquist, a nomination seen by Birch Bayh as proof that rightist Nixon intended to pack the court with Birchers (of the Robert Welch, rather than the Bayh, variety...
...A tough question to a n ~ , especially if you're ideologically committed, as I am...
...But why, asks a nonideological observer, can't everyone be friends...
...the Intellectual Establishment (Arlington House, 1972...
...But if I were pressed, I suppose I'dput it this way...
...And so, traditional enemies on the left...
...So, why all the griping...
...And so, among the ideologically committed, an odd ambivalence exists...
...He can live with them...
...It may be too much to hope that Mr...
...They Called Him "'Tricky" Centrist Nixon, Centrist Nation John R. Coyne, Jr...
...Recognition of Red China, after all, has been one of the great liberal goals for two decades, and recognition now seems inevitable...
...I F YOU WANT to know how a politician stands ideologically, runs one oM rule'of thumb, look at the enemies he makes...
...The ideologically committed believe they Cannot express gratitude for what they consider half measures...
...America is neither a rightist, nor a leftist nation, and most Americans are ideologically eclectic ,picking and choosing among liberal and conservative positions...
...Most of us can live quite nicely in a centrist country...
...The Potomac River, once one of our most scenic natural treasures and a splendid setting for the nation's Capitol, is polluted...
...Seventy-two per cent of all Washingtonlans are black...
...So, you always fight to win...
...But then comes a'related question: Do we really want to win...
...If one side lets up, the other side suddenly becomes dominant, and the result is one-sided ideological hegemony, as during, for instance, the New Deal -Fair Deal -- New Frontier Great Society years...
...And the federal government says it cannot find the money to build sewage treatment plants for the District of Columbia...
...And, if you apply that old rule of thumb, the * ideological extremes represented by his enemies suggest that Nixon is that rarity among American politicians -- a centrist...
...Conservatives, after all, should be ecstatic about the Supreme Court appointments, such appointments being among the most s~gnificant a president can wake...
...We fight for definite causes, but don't always desire to see those causes triumph completely, And what does all this have to do with Richard Nixon...
...Suddenly there are enemies on the right, most of them supporting conservative Congressman John Ashbrook in the presidential primaries...
...In other words, just because you favor seating Red China in the United Nations, you don't necessarily oppose Relmquist...
...And here is the paradox, for our feelings about winning are ambivalent...
...A few want to win very much...
...As a result, Washingtonians are deprived of a desperately needed recreational resource...
...The course concerns a river, a subsidy and this year's political catchphrase -- "reordering priorities...
...And liberals should be delighted with the new China policy...
...In that case Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes observed for a unanimous Court: "Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional power Congress cannot delegate legislative power to the President to exercise an unfettered discretion to make whatever laws he thinks may be needed or advisable for the rehabilitation and expansion of trade or industry...
...Existing antipeUution laws are not enforced...
Vol. 5 • May 1972 • No. 8
