LETTERS
LETTERS Billboards William Steif is certainly correct about the lack of zealousness by politicians and bureaucrats in enforcing the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, as he points out in "The...
...I'm especially surprised that Editor & Publisher magazine would be relied on as a source without further checking...
...Margaret Mazzanini asks "what is so wrong about" an anti-abortion ordinance which impinges on women's rights by requiring consent of parents, notification of husbands, showing pictures of fetuses, and describing risks of physical injury and death (even though medically safe abortion is statistically safer than childbirth...
...And publications which do not let this other humane side be known don't deserve to be heard either...
...Evelyn Johnson Franklin, Indiana As a regular reader of your magazine and former member of a military security organization, I applaud your stand concerning Howard Morland's article on so-called bomb "secrets...
...Arthur J. Katzman Forest Hills, New York We at The Libertarian Review would certainly find ourselves in agreement with the statement supporting The Progressive on page 15 of your May issue, and will be supporting you editorially in our next issue...
...They say in the book that "this is essentially the inside story of the most formidable weapon ever devised...
...Robert C. Toth Los A ngeles Times Washington, D.C...
...It's untrue, of course...
...And indeed, the Federal District Judge who imposed prior restraint on The Progressive took self-justifying note of the division in the press concerning the magazine's First Amendment rights...
...Joseph Dawes Big Spring, Texas It seems as if the big "secret" of the H-bomb is that it is not a secret at all...
...Ada M. Carter Morrisville, New York After reading the May issue of The Progressive I was quite frightened by the strong negative opinions expressed by some of your readers on the issue of your H-bomb story...
...The struggle facing The Progressive was foreshadowed in an article entitled "Hell Bomb," by Pulitzer Prize winning (then) New York Times science reporter William L. Laurence...
...Please continue your fine work...
...Lt...
...Most of the journalistic coverage of the story seemed to sustain the implication that the article was on "how to make an H-bomb," and would enhance the danger of nuclear proliferation...
...To require appropriations to buy signs is to place the enforcers under doubly difficult circumstances, and means that the advertisers are way ahead in the race even before it begins...
...I said I thought that Judge Warren acted quite properly in issuing a temporary restraining order, since publication of a story that might violate federal law and endanger national security certainly warranted further exploration...
...In any case, individual rights must be guarded against intrusion by a minority or a majority...
...Bernard A. Weisberger New York, New York Why should an American publication tell the rest of the world how to make a hydrogen bomb...
...Craig McDaniel Williams AFB, Arizona Thank you for the "Born Secret" issue of The Progressive, containing the lull story of what Howard Morland's article was attempting to do...
...My hope is that people like yourself, I.F...
...by Bob Bale...
...Sorrows asks: "How can those who marched against Vietnam support abortion...
...Helen Moore Framington, Maine Wrong Byrd Allow me to call to your attention an error in the June 1979 issue of The Progressive (the box on page 36...
...John Ha Viland San Rafael, California I'm amazed that your magazine and Nat Hentoff would label editors "The Cowardly Lions of the Press" without finding out from them personally what their feelings are about The Progressive's publication of the hydrogen-bomb story...
...The penalty for being restrained from publishing your side of the story is immediately evident in the many letters from readers which condemned you for trying to print an article about which they knew nothing...
...Roy A. Childs, Jr...
...authorities are liars...
...Nor did 1 say that I would not push the case through the court system...
...One section of the book is called "The Theory of the H-Bomb...
...By way of my two cents worth, have a look at a book called Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley, for what seems to me a relatively explicit description of bombs and the chemistry, technology, and physics involved...
...Francis J. McGarr Fort Lauderdale, Florida Cheers, cheers to The Progressive for sticking by your right to publish the results of your investigations...
...Stone, and other prominent Jews will make it easier to openly criticize Israel...
...How can any intelligent judgment be made without full knowledge of the facts...
...Actually, forcing all types of chemicals on millions of animals is big business and is largely subsidized by the Government...
...Other speakers and entertainers will include Nicholas von Hoffman, Sidney Lens, Harvey Wasserman, Tracy Nelson, Charley King, Morton Halperin, Pam Solo, David Dellinger, Howard Moriand, Ada Sanchez, John Trudel, Pete Seeger, and representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is defending the editors of The Progressive...
...You wanna do me a favor, tell me how my [deleted] lawn mower engine works...
...That to me was "genuflecting before 'national security,' " particularly since Clark gave no evidence of knowing anything about the other side of the case...
...Jan B. Tucker Banning, Georgia I just finished reading your May issue and it is one of the best issues of a magazine I have ever read...
...Eugene Trice Lee's Summit, Missouri Soviet 'secrets' I learned only today that The Progressive carried a letter last November claiming Shcharansky gave me defense plant secrets which I then gave to the Defense Intelligence Agency...
...It was published in 1951 by Frederich Fell, Inc...
...Art Hicks San Jose, California If anybody, especially readers of The Progressive, still believes the Government, they should return to "GO" and throw the dice again...
...Also, it should be emphasized that ASNE waited a long time to finally support The Progressive's freedom to publish — hardly a courageous action by that point...
...We have already paid too high a price for a secrecy that now turns out never to have been secret after all...
...Please refrain from slandering our state in your future issues...
...It seems these people would have The Progressive hanged first and would ask questions later...
...It's hardly an act of praise io proclaim that it's okay to suppress publication...
...Leon Hurvitz Vancouver, British Columbia I protest your projected article on how to make a hydrogen bomb...
...My pilot training has just started and already I'm plagued by disturbing thoughts of our ill-advised defense policy, especially nuclear policy...
...Michael A. Prusak Turtle Lake, Wisconsin Who gives a [deleted] how the [deleted] hydrogen bomb works...
...of New York...
...The economic structures of our country are based on a global system of exploitation and oppression, with its foundations entrenched, among other things, in white racism...
...Robert C. Johnson Summersville, West Virginia Anyone seriously contemplating bomb production hardly needs a copy of The Progressive to do it...
...But aside from this expression of poor taste, I cannot condone an editorial writing which concludes by saying: "Me, I want to go out like Rocky — with...
...Finally, one very interesting book was one which is critical of many defense (offense would be a belter choice of words) policies including nuclear policy...
...For details, see the back cover of this issue...
...he is a Virginia Independent...
...The Federal authorities have been suing us for years, unsuccessfully, to get us to admit that the Federal principle isjust, which it is not...
...It is quite beyond my level of comprehension to figure out how anyone who claims to be informed and aware of the situation could possibly deduce anything less than a pro-Progressive opinion on such issues...
...Too many people, including our Defense Department, know how...
...Bob Christoph San Francisco, California Once the freedom of the press is denied, we no longer can call this a free nation...
...Hentoff's by-line...
...Senator Harry F. Byrd is not a West Virginia Democrat...
...a mild taint of scandal...
...Paul R. Anderson and Lois I. Vickland Los Gatos, California After reading your May issue, I realized how much we need Howard Morland's article "The H-Bomb Secret...
...the Government's policy of secrecy, censorship, and deception...
...And it is unnecessary and unscientific...
...Although I appreciate Oldham's sensitivity, his questioning as to why white middle-class citizens should not also "share the burden until it no longer exists" by accepting the draft is wrong...
...The Government's secrecy has allowed it to claim sole expertise on all nuclear matters, from the economics of production to disarmament, and many people believe it is true...
...Yet facts are facts, and they have been known to scientists for a long time...
...LETTERS Billboards William Steif is certainly correct about the lack of zealousness by politicians and bureaucrats in enforcing the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, as he points out in "The Billboards Are Back," in the June issue...
...Doug Bradley Madison, Wisconsin The draft I would like to comment on a letter in the April issue written by Davis Oldham in response to your editorial of March on reviving the draft...
...Maurice D. Arnold Whiting, Vermont Israel I was moved by your "O Promised Land" article in the April issue...
...The most interesting title was "How to Make an Atomic Bomb in Your Own Kitchen (well, practically...
...I was glad to have you on our American Society of Newspaper Editors program in New York, of which I was program chairman, and I voted with the ASNE board of directors in deciding that we should support The Progressive in appealing its case...
...Another interesting selection was one published in 1950 by Didler Publishers of New York entitled "The H-Bomb...
...Because of Israel's intransigence on the Palestinian question and its indefensible position on many issues (e.g...
...I told your reporter that I did not know whether the story should be published or not...
...Workshops and general sessions will deal with the dangers posed by the nuclear arms race and nuclear energy...
...Senator Robert C. Byrd is a West Virginia Democrat...
...Only if The Progressive refrains from allowing such an article to be printed will I want to support the magazine...
...apartheid, Somoza, Iran), many American (leftist) Jews have had to stand in place, for to openly criticize Israel would be tantamount to treason...
...He wrote: "The effects of the radiations from a hydrogen bomb are so terrifying that by describing them I run the risk of being branded a fearmonger...
...Even if I had said that 1 would not publish the H-bomb article, which 1 did not say, I would not have gone far beyond that and characterized my position as "genuflecting before 'national security' and censuring The Progressive," as Nat Hentoff writes about me (Page 25, The Progressive, June 1979...
...William A. Fraenkel Lexington, Massachusetts What we need is a public uprising to divest ourselves of dangerous rubbish — and start returning the control of our lives to a democratic form of government, rather than being controlled by military dictatorship...
...To enlist in the armed forces to "share the burden until it no longer exists" would only serve to strengthen the very structures of society that have created the problems to begin with...
...Vermont has paid nothing, to my knowledge, for banning billboards and advertising, on and off highways...
...It is clear now, however, that the issue is nothing less than the continuation of the Government's calculated program of mystification and obfuscation, designed not to protect us from foreign enemies, but to deny us the right to make our own decisions about our future...
...Grace Young New York, New York As a result of the judge's thoughtless court order and governmental bungling, stupidity, and restriction placed on The Progressive, one wonders how safe and sane and sure their judgement would be were it ever required that this country had to consider deployment of the H-bomb...
...The U.S...
...A world which condones the continuous wanton torture of creatures is one where might is right and is hardly worth saving...
...Jane Sorrows "resent(s) being lumped with the right wing" because of her anti-abortion beliefs...
...Leonard Benowich New York, New York It may soon be an offense, punishable by law, to say, or to write, "The facts of nuclear power are a matter of public record, not a secret...
...I enclose for your information a copy of a letter I wrote to Editor & Publisher on March 21 protesting its reporting of my remarks in an interview, and also a copy of Editor & Publisher s publication of that letter on March 31...
...T. Bailey Beckley, West Virginia Korea We want to congratulate you on your excellent article in the March issue entitled, "A Bundle for Korea...
...LETTERS Free Press I was shocked to find in the Letters section of the May issue that so many people are willing to abrogate their First Amendment rights by accepting the Government's unproven claims that Howard Morland's article contains classified information unavailable to the public...
...Editor, The Libertarian Review San Francisco, California There is no excuse for governmental intervention seeking to enjoin the publication of any idea which is communicated between willing speakers and willing recipients...
...And that indeed was censuring The Progressive for having attempted to go into print in the first place...
...Is not the increasing armament of the world frightening enough...
...John W. Coursell North Fort Myers, Florida After reading the May issue, I'm sure proud I've been one of The Progressive's "little angels" these past years...
...But I am certainly dismayed at the quality of reporting that I see appearing in your pages under Mr...
...Comparing the passing of Nelson Rockefeller to that of Hubert Humphrey as being "admirable" and "exemplary" is certainly inept...
...It is a Center for Defense Information publication edited by David T. Johnson titled "Current Issues in U.S...
...Scandal I was shocked by "The Last Word" comments of Richard Lipez entitled "Way To Go," in the April issue...
...Lora Lee Doss North Fork, California The May issue of The Progressive raised our opinions of your magazine 1000 per cent...
...If the Government says The Progressive is telling nuclear secrets, then the Government must be right...
...The fact that the public pays anything to outdoor advertisers to bring down their signs is evidence of the power of advertisers...
...Margaret Tank Sheboygan, Wisconsin Quite a good row you are having with Uncle Stupid...
...I still grimace in disbelief when I recall (but never discuss) all of the tripe which was cloaked in ultra-secret guise in the name of "national security," while I was cleared for such information...
...Mark Wendorf Church Committee on Human Rights in Asia Chicago, Illinois...
...Bill Robinson Nairobi, Kenya (More letters on Page 60) Memo NUKEWATCH, a Midwest symposium and rally focusing on the issues raised by The Progressive's First Amendment case, will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 13, 14, and 15...
...Robert P. Clark Nat Hentoff replies: First, it is a dismaying matter of public record that a good many editors at first believed the Government's story without checking with The Progressive — a slant their initial editorials reflected...
...We hope many of The Progressive's subscribers will want to join in NUKEWATCH...
...Blacks and other minorities are victims of poverty...
...Chuck Bauer Madison, Wisconsin I have little knowledge, other than that acquired through reading, seeing, and hearing, of the hydrogen bomb but from reports in The New York Times and your May 1979 issue it seems to me that the article contains information which is in the public domain, available to anyone who wants to make the effort...
...Susan Sites Los Altos Hills, California There cannot be any constraint of a free press — especially in an issue of the ultimate survival of humankind...
...Charles G. Santora Ventnor, New Jersey Abortion I would like to comment on statements regarding abortion made by Larry Brixius, Mary Mazzanini, and Jane Sorrows in the Letters section of the May issue...
...But in that very letter, Clark, the First Amendment notwithstanding, applauded Judge Warren's issuance of a temporary restraining order since "national security" might be endangered...
...An illustrated chapter of that section was written by "The Editors of Time" The chapter is called "A Touch of the Sun, an explanation of the probable workings of the Hydrogen Bomb...
...The Progressive is our beacon of truth which we must support if we are to keep what freedoms there are left...
...It really wasn't that detailed...
...Her point was clear — a powerful minority which seeks to deny the rights of others should be respected because of its power, but seen for the actual numbers that it represents...
...Camera 1952...
...It would be a disservice to the people if the facts were further denied them...
...Yet, there are some interesting wrinkles that might offer hope and sorrow...
...Second, as to Robert Clark's personal complaint: Nowhere in my piece, "The Cowardly Lions of the Press," did 1 write that Clark had taken the position he would not publish the Morland article...
...Not even the Soviets, so far as I know, have charged that, although they said I worked for the CIA, which is also a lie...
...Animal torture "The Politics of Cancer" item in the May issue glibly espouses "animal testing" as the alternative to "count human bodies" and states that big business has criticized such tests...
...Right-wing groups have enthusiastically espoused anti-abortion, anti-ERA, and anti-affirmative action stands as part of their political efforts to prevent as much change as possible...
...On a lark I went to the Williams Air Force Base library to see what books they had on the subject The Progressive article addresses...
...Only through courageous investigative reporting have we been able to learn of bribes, corruption, greed, and outright lies and cover-ups from those in power...
...That is all there is to it when one has the needed political will...
...John Henry Faulk, who was hounded off the airways during the McCarthyite witchhunts of the 1950s, has agreed to serve as master of ceremonies for NUKEWATCH...
...the role of the media, and strategies for community organizing around these issues...
...Larry Brixius misunderstands the meaning behind Barton's statement, "the right to life movement is a powerful minority, but it is important to remember that it is only a minority...
...Defense Policy...
...I think you summed up well the paradoxes and ironies of the Jewish dilemma with regard to Israel and the Middle East...
...I would have had no reason to say that I would not push the case through the court system...
...Pat Moyer Chemainus, British Columbia The entire process should be titled "The Mushroom Syndrome" since the Government apparently does best if we are kept in the dark and fed lots of bullshit...
...Written in 1950, it appeared in U.S...
...This set-up is perpetuated by, for one, a two-tiered educational system, which is racist in content and of markedly inferior quality for the majority of the minorities who live in the slums or the undeveloped boondocks...
...I might or I might not push it, after seeing the article and considering the pros and cons, legal and otherwise...
...Richard Jenkins Glenview, Illinois I have a deeper interest than most in the piece on the hydrogen bomb since 1 might be required to drop or launch that bomb one day as an Air Force pilot...
...Robert P. Clark Executive Editor The Courier-Journal The Louisville Times Louisville, Kentucky On March 21 Robert Clark sent the following letter to Editor & Publisher: Let me set the record straight...
...We hope you will continue to cover the struggle for a democratic Korea in such an enlightened manner...
...As for the list of secret defense plants Shcharansky supposedly gave me, I wrote a story about some institutes where Western computers were used or sought, institutes which the Soviets claimed were "open" when they wanted to buy high technology equipment, but "secret" when they denied Jews permission to emigrate because they had worked at such places...
...The thought is too awesome and frightening for me to contemplate...
...This book was published by Macmillan in 1966, second printing 1974 by William Morrison in Los Angeles...
...I am glad to be put in the company of Ben Bradlee and Reg Murphy, but I did not tell E&P (March 17) that I would not publish The Progressive story about hydrogen bombs...
...I'd like to briefly tell you what 1 found...
...In his letter, he points out quite correctly that blacks and other "poor" people are forced to enlist as victims of economic oppression...
...After the sign has lived out its economic life, it must come down, and cannot be replaced...
...American Jews need models to follow, as do "doves" within Israel and we must present those models for them to follow...
...Being a more careful reporter than Clark is a reader, I had seen his letter of correction to Editor & Publisher denying that he made that statement...
Vol. 43 • July 1979 • No. 7
