Spectator's Journal
"Spectator's Journal" Annual Reports, which put the Minority and the full Committee well ahead of many Johnny-come-latelies in academia and the Administration. I never stated, or implied that theJEC had beaten the...
...Apparently the politicians and m i l i t a r i s t s are suffering from self-infatuation with these sophisticated schemes and exotic devices for the annihilation of humanity...
...I never stated, or implied that theJEC had beaten the academic supply-side pioneers to the issue...
...The Pravda logo is the same...
...He picks up the Pravda...
...And yet, h a d n ' t the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Science and Culture that morning acted with the same cold inefficiency as every other morning...
...An article by Vladimir Maximov...
...Why, we would have had to occupy that land up there_9 I t ' s a bit u n s e t t l i n g to think we could be the victims of adults with the power, authority, and money to build and use such fiendish toys...
...But wait...
...And why does he have that terrible look in his eyes ? --JP . January 1981 Dogs bark idiotically in the distance . . . a two-headed, horned babe, covered with spikes of black hair, delivered to a woman of three-score and ten years amidst the din of a hellish thunderstorm, dies at b i r t h . . _ 9 three aged owls perched high upon a limb hum an ancient, mournful s o n g . . _ 9 the stony streets of the capital city run thick with rainwater _9 . . a line of taxi cabs snakes its way through the early morning rush of traffic . . . a special "In Memoriam" edition of the IUashington Post, Page One framed with an inch-wide black border, appears on the morning newsstands and sells out immediately . . . the national leadership of the American Civil Liverties Union announces a noon press conference at which 13 officials formally execute a secret suicide p a c t . . , in a fury of defencstration, State Department employees eject themselves from their eighth-story offices, leaving behind a note stressing that the action should not necessarily be taken as the willful action of a despairing clique, either voluntary, involuntary or with full cognizance thereof, or something like t h a t . . . Gore Vidal succumbs to a case of acute apoplexy...
...I would suggest, rather hopelessly, the world's leaders consider carefully what their next action will be after the holocaust_9 The situation reminds me rather inadequately of the doctor who claims his operation was a success but the patmnt died_9 For another parallel there is the story about the traveling salesman who was helped off the train at a depot in the Deep South by the pullman p o r t e r who asked the salesman how the weather was up north...
...Weren't these writers attacked and expelled from the Soviet Union...
...an effort to extend the legislation to include successful presidental candidates is beaten back under the t h r e a t of an administration v e t o . . , presidential aspirant .Jerry Brown launches his campaign for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination by calling for a constitutional amendment making Capricorn the national sign . . . birds sing, flowers bloom, the heavens shine, President Reagan leaves for his first vacation at Camp David . . . --Frank Bolger THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR OCTOBER 1980 37...
...the style is the same...
...Around him are the hundreds of thousands of tourists, come to see the Olympics and, needless to say, his friendly neighborhood KGB agent_9 He puts his lunch bag down beside him, where sits, not surprisingly, a copy of Pravda...
...Brezhnev and Suslov finding happiness with Pol Pot...
...He reads on...
...If it is, then why are there KGB agents suddenly filling the park...
...Men like Martin Feldstein, Michael Boskin, Norman Ture, Craig Roberts, and, of course, Arthur Laffer have been investigating supply incentives and constraints for going on ten years...
...Elections...
...An odd headline catches his eye...
...He looks again at the front page...
...Poetry by Joseph Brodsky...
...The spectacle of the tourists is wearying to Dmitri...
...What does anyone do a f t e r the radioactive dust settles...
...Stephen J. Entin Joint Economic Committee Washington, D. C. Mter the Afterglow With reference to the article "How to Fail at Being S a f e " by C h a r l e s Horner (June 1980): What completely astounds me is the wild preoccupation with the s t r a t e g i e s of " F i r s t S t r i k e " and "Massive Retaliation," and the use of such devices as the MX missiles, nuclear bombs and chemical warfare gadgets...
...in her acceptance speech, Fonda thanks "the Freedom of Information Act for making this n e c e s s a r y " . . . former P r e s i d e n t Jimmy Carter signs a multi-million dollar deal to host a western anthology "IV series called "Plains, Georgia D a y s " . . . the New York Stock Exchange closes down 119 points, reacting to rumors that presidential aides have purchased a.copy of Why Not the Best~ . . , a ~)oung nymph from Grinnetl, Iowa, earns celebrity when she claims to have bedded with the newly sworn President, but she proceeds to publicly embarrass him and new "Tonight Show" host Hodding Carter III by announcing authoritatively that the new chief executive does not dye his h a i r . . . Muhammed Ali is kayoed in the first round of a title fight by the outgoing president's baby brother, who has since changed his name to Aboulhassan Bani-Carter . . . a team of Stanford scientists earns a Nobel Prize for its discovery that inflation is caused by depletion of the ozone l a y e r . . , the Senate passes an Election Reform Bill providing that the country dispose of nuclear wastes by injecting them into unsuccessful presidential candidates...
...a taxidermist stuffs him with back issues of Proctology Today, and he is ritually displayed at trade c o n v e n t i o n s . . . J a n e Fonda, Warren Beatty, and Shirley MacLaine secure financial backing for a scathing and controversial documentary about the Central Intelligence Agency's secret plot to overfeed Cambodians...
...Russia has overcome the demons--no union, no socialists, no soviets, only republic...
...It was on the work of these pioneers and others that the JEC discussions were based...
...And why, pray tell, is one advancing upon Dmitri, as other agents are advancing upon other citizens with newspapers, h i s hands no longer in his pockets but held rigidly at his sides...
...The porter replied: "Sure glad we didn't win that War...
...The lead editorial reads: "The first decision of the provisional civilian government was to announce free elections...
...The agent does not seem suspicious, so Dmitri reads on...
...Will they be more secure...
...What goes on here...
...But.surely it isn't true, Dmitri continues to think to himself...
...He suddenly feels frightened...
...Hadn't he seen their names vilified in this very paper...
...it is subsequently nominated for an Academy Award...
...He glances around, seeing the KGB agent placidly strolling, his hands in his pockets...
...He decides to catch up a bit on the news...
...he has seen them milling about all week...
...the type is the same...
...Are there winners or losers...
...I main: tain the politicians and the brilliant strategists have a mental block about the usefulness of such actions...
...And this final detail: Comrade Brezhnev and Comrade Suslov flee to Cambodia in search of exile...
...The salesman told him it was awful, it was snowing and cold...
...Five thousand copies of the fake issue were smuggled into Moscow at the time of the Olympics by professional smugglers and tourists...
...wiet citizens like Dmitri found their copies on park benches, around drinking places, and on buses in cities all over the Soviet Union...
...Weren't these enemies of the State...
...After a nuclear holocaust what does the perpetrator do next...
...Will the "winners" have been successfully defended...
...What Dmitri doesn't know is that this is not an official Pravda, but r a t h e r a fake issue printed in Italy under the auspices of the satiric weekly, IlMale, and written not only by Maximov and Brodsky but also by Vladimir Bukovsky, who contributed "Critical Masses" to the August issue of this magazine, Leonid Plyushch, the mathemetician, and Natalya Gorbanevskaya, the poetess...
...Dmitri shakes his head in bafflement...
...Douglas L. Saunders Marathon Shores, Florida n O Q Q O O Q O g Q Q I Q O q O O Q O Q O O m m Q O q g Q q O Q O O O Q Q 6 Q O ~ Q Q Q Q Q O Q Q Q Q @ O 4 m o o g o o m g Q e O D o . . . . . ~ 0 0 0 o ~ 0 g 0 g g 0 Q Q Q o I Q g Q Q 0 Q 0 0 O O Q ~ o ~ 0 O Q o Q 0 O Q 0 O O Q 0 O Q Q 0 g 0 0 g O Q D O ~ g 0 q g Q g Q Q Q 0 4 0 Q ~ 8 ~ Q ~ 0 0 ~ Q ~ 0 0 Q I S P E C T A T O R ' S J O U R N A L . . . . . . . . . ' ' ' ' ' ' ' . ' . . . . ' . . . ' . ' . . . • . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . ' . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . ' . . . . ' . ' . . ' - . . . . . ' . ' . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . ' . . . ' . . ' . . . . . . . ' ' . ' • . • • . . . . • . ' • • ' ' . ' • . . . ' . . . . . . ; . ' . . . . . . . . Faking I t One can easily imagine it...
...His appointment at the Ministry of Science and Culture having been postponed yet again, a Soviet citizen (let us call him Dmitri) wanders through Moscow's dreary s t r e e t s , finally sitting on a park bench to eat his lunch...
...Who's going to clean up the mess...
...These are the f i r s t free elections in Russia in 63 years and a great event in the history of our count r y . " Not being a Party member, Dmitri is confused...
...Will the losers have anything the winners want...
Vol. 13 • October 1980 • No. 10
