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...
...Many are voor...
...And so, traditional enemies on the left...
...And liberals should be delighted with the new China policy...
...I F YOU WANT to know how a politician stands ideologically, runs one oM rule'of thumb, look at the enemies he makes...
...lie's had practice...
...Now Nixon has enemies to the right as well as left...
...And the federal government says it cannot find the money to build sewage treatment plants for the District of Columbia...
...WASHINGTON) - - The following is~a short course on government, liberalism and the new location of an old landmark, Credibility Gap...
...Suddenly there are enemies on the right, most of them supporting conservative Congressman John Ashbrook in the presidential primaries...
...John R. Coyne, Jr., is an Associate of this illustrious journal and a contributor to National Review, a New York based magazine...
...Would I, for instance, really enjoy living in a completely conservative society...
...In other words, just because you favor seating Red China in the United Nations, you don't necessarily oppose Relmquist...
...And Richard Nixon, with enemies left and right...
...the Intellectual Establishment (Arlington House, 1972...
...It's dangerous to relax, dangerous to content yourself with half measures...
...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...
...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...
...He is presently teaching mass communications at Arizona State University and his most recent book is The Impudent Snobs: Agnew vs...
...Seventy-two per cent of all Washingtonlans are black...
...But if I were pressed, I suppose I'dput it this way...
...But you won't find those of us who are ideologically committed admitting that, of course...
...But why, asks a nonideological observer, can't everyone be friends...
...They Called Him "'Tricky" Centrist Nixon, Centrist Nation John R. Coyne, Jr...
...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...
...So, you always fight to win...
...It is important that this pressure be evenly and steadily applied...
...Existing antipeUution laws are not enforced...
...Most of us can live quite nicely in a centrist country...
...If we do, we may lose our leverage...
...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...
...He can live with them...
...But wait...
...Recognition of Red China, after all, has been one of the great liberal goals for two decades, and recognition now seems inevitable...
...The Potomac River, once one of our most scenic natural treasures and a splendid setting for the nation's Capitol, is polluted...
...So, why all the griping...
...And Richard Nixon has made plenty...
...And here is the paradox, for our feelings about winning are ambivalent...
...All Washingtonlans must en12 The Alternative May 1972...
...A centrist president in a country whose unique greatness depends upon a strong center may not really be a bad thing...
...The enemies he makes tend to be committed to some strong ideological viewpoint, both left and right...
...Conservatives, after all, should be ecstatic about the Supreme Court appointments, such appointments being among the most s~gnificant a president can wake...
...The ideologically committed believe they Cannot express gratitude for what they consider half measures...
...It may be too much to hope that Mr...
...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...
...But then comes a'related question: Do we really want to win...
...And so, among the ideologically committed, an odd ambivalence exists...
...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...
...Whild Honeyfoggling Edology...
...A tough question to a n ~ , especially if you're ideologically committed, as I am...
...For the truth is that very few nonfascist, nonMarxist Americans want a true believer in the White House...
...The pollution of the Potomac is caused by two things...
...Nixon's own "strict constructionist" Supreme Court will administer unto Phase II a similarly welldeserved death blow...
...The course concerns a river, a subsidy and this year's political catchphrase -- "reordering priorities...
...As a result, Washingtonians are deprived of a desperately needed recreational resource...
...America is neither a rightist, nor a leftist nation, and most Americans are ideologically eclectic ,picking and choosing among liberal and conservative positions...
...A steady flow of raw sewage oozes into the river from a large pipe jutting from the embankment along Washington's posh Georgetown section...
...Nixon's sympathies, then, lie to the right...
...Both conservatives and liberals believe their constant ideological opposition puts pressure on ~ovemunent from both ends of t h e ideological spectrum...
...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...
...A few want to win very much...
...In fact, public health officials here warn everyone to wash ins if any river water so much as touches the skin...
...and if we lose our leverage, the country, we fear, cannot remain centrist...
...Many others, although .they realize the importance of appearing to desire total victory, would happily settle for much less...
Vol. 5 • May 1972 • No. 8
