ustxtxb_obs_1964_09_04_50_00005-00000_000.pdf

President Johnson and His Program San Antonio In the early Greek democracies, every man had his public duties to perform . . . . sometimes as a soldier, sometimes as an office-holder, sometimes as one participating in an organization. To those of that era who would not concern themselves with politics the name “idiot” was applied, and so, interestingly enough, the original meaning of the word idiot, both in Greek and later in early English, meant a person not holding public office or not participating in public affairs. When we participate in a political organizationwhen we involve ourselves with the politics of our home town, history says that this is an honorable endeavor. People have to understand that they are not always right, be they rich or poor, black or white, you or me, Good Government League or the Democratic Coalition, organized labor or the business community. Everywhere in America, and at every level, a loyal opposition is needed. This is what Walter Lippman meant when he wrote. “The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters. . . . In a democracy the opposition not only is tolerated as constitutional, but must be maintained because it is in fact indispensable.” The late Mexican muralist Orozco said the same thing another way: “Without conflict there would be no films, no bullfights, no journalism, no politics, no free struggle, nothing. Life would be most boring. As soon as anyone says yes it is necessary to answer no. Everything should be done against the grain, against the current, and if some foolish fellow proposes a remedy that would do away with the difficulties, we must rush him at whatever cost . . . . for civilization is at stake.” In San Antonio, the Bexar County Democratic Coalition has made its greatest contribution by significantly helping to pro. vide that X factor which, to date, has kept this community from being completely controlled by an oligarchy such as that which runs Dallas. With these background thoughts provided by Lippman and Orozco, I say it is time for Texas Democrats to gird for the Maury Maverick, Jr., of San Antonio is an attorney, a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee of Texas from San Antonio, and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, where he fought the battles of liberalism when it was lonely and hard to do. Maury Maverick, Jr. biggest battle of all, the coming battle for the White House. We shall go to the polls and vote for all Democrats from the Courthouse to the White House. We will do this partly because we are for the announced national program of L.B.J., and certainly we are for it more than his best friend, Governor John Connally, or his national Democratic committeeman, Frank Erwin. In short, Mr. Johnson is now the President, his record in tha’t office is extra good, and as people who have a special obligation to dd the positive, we ought to go to bat for a Johnson victory. If we fail on the grass roots level, L.B.J. will fail nationally. President Kennedy’s choice for vice president, Harry Truman’s good friend, Lyndon Johnson can stand as a welcome visitor at the graves of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and we must fight for him in the weeks ahead. It is time to strengthen friendships. It is even time to shake hands with political enemies if they will shake on medicare, if they will shake on civil rights, if they will shake on the war on poverty. In some Texas circles, the President is praised in meaningless phrases along the lines that it is good to have a Texan in the White House. Only that and nothing more and don’t mention his program for America, and maybe even sabotage it a little. Oh, I can hear them now. We like the tall Texan, they .saybut not medicare or civil rights. But my friends, that’s not the package. The package is L.B.J. and civil rights, L.B.J. and medicare, L.B.J. and world peace, L.B.J. and the war on poverty, and those Texans who would have it otherwise are not only going against the vast masses of the people, they are plunging a political dagger into the heart of Lyndon Johnson. Of course, it is nice to have a Texan in the White House, but he can’t win by being a -South of the Mason-Dixon Line provincial Texan, and those who would try to put him in that position are only hurting him in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. LYNDON JOHNSON’S political emancipation from the confines of this state will not be as easy thing. Conservative Democrats in Texas can be unfair in insisting that he be a Texan first and an American second. Liberals in the East can be equally unfair by writing him off as they once did Hugo Black when Senator Black was appointed to the Supreme Court. Thereafter, you will remember, out of the Southlandwith all its glory, ignorance, and agonyHugo Black became and still is the greatest jurist in this precious land in the field of human rights. In the final analysis, however, it is up to the President himself, for there will be those moments of truth when he must stand alone like a Lord Jim out of a Joseph Conrad novel. The world then is Mr. Johnson’s oyster, and his statements as President demonstrate that he understands this, for they illustrate national appeals by an American who is at home in all 50 states . . . suggesting a Paul Douglas reaching out to a Martin Luther King for a better tomorrow . . . a George Norris talking the merits of T.V.A. or a John Kennedy reminding us that Massachusetts Avenue is no longer a local thoroughfare, but a street which encircles the globe. And how is the President talking? I tell you he is talking good. Listen . . . . listen . . . . to his words delivered to a joint session of the House and Senate on January 8, 1964: “Let this Congress be known as the session which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined; “As the session which enacted the most far-reaching tax cut of our time; “As the session which declared all-out war on human poverty and unemployment in these United States; “As the session which finally recognized the health needs of all our older citizens; “As the session which reformed our tangled transportation and transit policies; “As the session which achieved the most effective, efficient foreign aid program ever; “And as the session which helped to build more homes, more schools, more libraries, and more hospitals than any single session of Congress in our nation’s history.” Mr. Johnson has established the President’s Committee on Consumer Interests and recommended the following legislation for the individual consumer who has no lobbyist in Washington: Additional testing authority for the Food and Drug Administration not only for prescription drugs but for over-the-counter drugs as well. Legislation to require labels clearly warning the consumer of possible dangers. Legislation to grant the Federal Trade Commission authority to issue temporary September 4, 1964 5