ustxtxb_obs_1966_08_05_50_00010-00000_000.pdf

the dragon, that is, a White House plot whereby it is “decreed” that the governor, the senior senator, and a little old congressman attend a political rally for Waggoner Carr. A month later, the Observer bravely slays its own dragon by reporting that the senator and the congressman did not attend the rally, and without so much as a blink, a. blush, or a nod, it matter-offactly suggests a second plot to explain why the first plot did not come off: the story was started by Carr’s office.* The Observer states in the second. story that it had reported only that the senator and congressman “might be” present. But the first story does not say “might be.” It says the President has “decreed” that they be present. Oddly, both stories are printed in the section titled “Political Intelligence.” Similarily, Sherrill writes of a JohnsonGonzalez-Patman plan “to kill” the government loan programs, many of which Congress recently created. *Editor’s Note: The May 27th item that Congressman Gonzalez objects to was true, explicitly gave the source of the report, and left it to the reader to evaluate the report in light of its source. The 10 The Texas Observer. WHAT CAN ONE MAKE of Sherrill’s hysteria and the Observer’s inaccuracies? The question raised is important because it exposes what I consider to be a rather widespread malady in Texas’ liberal circles. For the common element in the Carr-rally case and the Sherrill-government loans case is the vision of devils and dragons, ghosts and goblins. In short, the conspiracy theory of politics. It is not only the liberals, of course, who see plots and conspiracies in every devel item was a statement that the Observer had “been told by sources close to Carr’s campaign leadership” that the President had so decreed. We did not know whether he had or not, but we did know that the statement we published was true. The second item cited by the Congressman refers back to the first item, again tying it to a source in Carr’s camp. `In saying that the Observer in the second item “suggests a second plot to explain why the first plot did not come off: the story was started by Carr’s office,” the Congressman ignores the fact, which he included in his quotation of the first item, that this first item cited “sources close to Carr’s leadership. cipment not to their liking. But certain selfstyled liberal leaders in Texas seem to me to be particularly prone to pollitical paranoia. They may be sincere, but in their delusions they are carried away by the nightmare that their enemies are day and night conspiring, plotting, intriguing, and that whatever happens that does hot appeal to them is the result of a conspiracy, a plot, and an intrigue. And behind it all, manipulating all things and all men \(except Oil and Gas lobby, the “power structure,” etc. The chief villain changes from time to time but the play is the same. On a less sick level, these liberal leaders indulge themselves in pop politics. This is the type of political analysis which sees things as all black or all white, the good guys and the bad guys, if you don’t hate my enemies you’re no friend of mine, liberalism vs conservatism -that sort of thing. The object is to learn the proper terminology, use the cliches, see things in stereotypes, pick up any old idea that happens to be laying around so that one does not have to actually think about the issues for himself. It is time for the liberal community to look at the wreckage around them and ask themselves, why have we succeeded so little and failed so much? The superficial explanation for defeats at the polls is that the moneyed interests conspire and dominate everything. “This is what we have come to: money wins” \(Observer, May 13, for the simpleminded. It should raise doubts for the thoughtful, liberal community. And we should ask ourselves, how is it that we have fallen for the same tired arguments from the same tired leaders for so long? We must answer these questions, and face the truth about our present situation, and demand that our leaders demonstrate the courage of their professed convictions and that they talk about the issues that are of concern to the people instead of generalities, and learn the true qualities of liberalism: the individual’s freedom to think for himself, to express his views, and to form associations and act in such a way as to bring about political liberty and economic progress. A dogma has settled on the Texas liberal movement, a sort of inverse cult of personality, antithetical to the liberal concept. And one of the proofs of it is the all too familiar election returns of recent years. HENRY B. GONZALEZ Congressman Patnian’s office responded to the Observer’s inquiry by calling attention to his speech to the House on. July 11 about “the ugly facts about the destruc tive nature of high interest rates and tight money.” Patman, the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and the House banking committee, said in this speech that the action and inaction of the Eisenhower administration as the Federal Reserve Board seized its independence from the President in 1953 has led to the current high interest rates. 0 AMERICAN INCOME LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF INDIANA Underwriters of the American Income Labor Disability Policy Executive Offices: Waco, Texas Bernard Rapoport, President