ustxtxb_obs_1968_04_12_50_00016-00000_000.pdf

always makes it easy to identify the establishment liberal is the line in Coffee’s letter where he tries to rationalize the fact that his candidate, Hill, has never fought a single political battle for liberalism in his life, to wit: “A more stormy candidate can do nothing except be a catalyst for the militant opposition of the lobby and the special interest groups.” When translated from the vernacular of the establishment liberal that means that Hill won’t raise hell with the lobby and the corporate establishment, and that Yarborough will. You’re damned right Yarborough will! Apparently establishment liberals think they are being pragmatic when they try and paint a picture to sell to others about enacting a broad range of liberal measures, including a state minimum wage law, tough anti-pollution laws, a corporate profits tax, and cleaning the establishment stooges out of the state agencies, including the UT Board of Regents, all without stirring the wrath of the lobby. No liberal worth his salt who has ever held public office has avoided “stirring the militant opposition of the lobby and the special interest groups,” and of course Coffee’s “leaders” don’t stir their opposition because they are in bed with them. What the establishment liberals can’t seem to understand is that T e x a s needs a governor who will raise hell with the establishment, the special interest groups and the lobby. That is the only way to enact a liberal program of any substance and meaning, the ‘only way to reclaim the Democratic party of Texas and the government of Texas for the people, and the first and most vital step in awakening Texans to the fact that they have been plundered by establishment government for 30 years. All that can be enacted without gutting the establishment or incurring its wrath are token measures which carry a thin veneer of progressivism, like some of those sponsored by Connally, Kennard, and Wilson, and now advocated by Hill. No, Mr. Coffee, there will be no comfortable consensus when Don Yarborough is 16 The Texas Observer governor of Texas. The lines will be drawn, and the establishment liberals will be on one side and the gut liberals on the governor’s side. It won’t be an easy situaiton for all of your establishment liberals in the legislature who are accustomed to labor, playing ball with the likes of John Connally and Ben Barnes, and voting for the Temple Lumber Company, the Hum, Stung to Death A great .president stung to death by political pissants. Let’s hear it for the pissants.Jim Cotten, Weatherford, Tex. Worthy of a George Wallace On the eve of the murder of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Martin Luther King, when the world has once again been shocked and conscientious citizens shamed by the violence of our nation, what is the uplifting appeal to conscience issued by our Governor Connally? Why, it is a statement worthy of a Lester Maddox and a George Wallace. It is that though “Dr. King contributed much to the turbulence and chaos in this nation,” none of us could wish such a fate for him. If a year-in and year-out appeal to the very ideals we profess to uphold of freedom, equality and human dignity causes “turbulence and chaos” in the country, then it is a judgment.2against those of our government and across the nation who wave their assumed superiority like a white banner in the faces of the oppressed and downtrodden black citizens. When non-violent demonstrations demanding the right to be human are viewed with scorn and met with force, it is easy to understand the view that the only thing this nation understands is violence. Dr. King’s message of non-violence and love as forces to overcome the violence and hate that saturates this nation will succeed, or this nation will die of its own poison. If it does succeed against all the violent forces arrayed against it, Dr. King will occupy volumes in the pages of history, while Governor Connally may rate a footnote here and there. Mrs. Lee Dresh, 2200 Midway, Mesquite, Tex. Exodus for McCarthy … [Recently] at the University of Texas the Students for a Patriotic America [obtained] 8,000 signatures petitioning Eugene McCarthy to come to Texas to speak …. [T]here is talk of a pilgrimmage to Indiana to carry the petition to the McCarthy headquarters, if possible to the candidate himself, there. I think such an effort might merit some important ble Oil Company, Brown and Root, and the “better elements” of the corporate establishment. , Establishment liberals will just never understand that fact. Their self-assumed pose as pragmatists is as shallow and as phoney as is their liberalism. They are the Whores of Babylon. Dave Shapiro, 1959 Sabine, No. 105, Austin, Tex. 78705. public attention. Thus, if the plan goes forward, I hope to broaden the base of the mission by launching a similar petition and pilgrimage from Stephen F. Austin State College in Nacogdoches, where ‘I have friends and where there is a small but, I hope, influential knot of McCarthy supporters. I should like to see groups from the venous Texas colleges and universities converge on Memphis briefly to get the sense of the troubled urban situation there, and then proceed to Indiana in a body. With team driving and cooperative endeavor among the participants, such an exodus and the return should cost about four days. John F. Witney, East Texans for McCarthy, 303 last 11th, apt. 101, Austin, Tex. 78701. A Voice of Dissent Since Walter Hall expressed my thoughts on President Johnson [Obs., Feb. 16] . . . my voice of dissent can best be expressed by allowing my subscription to expire. I am entirely opposed to your national political views.Gladys Chadwick, Route 3, Carthage, Tex. 75633. The writer has subscribed since 1954. Ed. Austin Peace Vigils Every week a group of Austin citizens stands in silence for an hour with a sign reading “Weekly silent vigil for peace in Vietnam All welcome.” This protest against the war in Vietnam has been going on for nearly a year. Originally sponsored by a group called STANCE, it is now unsponsored, and participants represent only themselves. Most of the participants are young. For this reason the vigil especially needs the support and participation of citizens who are “over thirty.” If any of your readers are moved to join us in our protest, they will be most welcome. The vigil is held at 1 p.m. every Saturday, at 11th and Congress, in front of the State Capitol. It is my understanding that similar vigils are being held in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Friends Meetings in those cities probably have further information. William H. Jefferys, 907 E. 32nd, Austin, Tex. 78705.