Well-fitting garb

PS Johnson’s Christmas and New Year messages were, as ever, well garnished with the word “peace.” Even as these messages were being given, the smoking ruins of Hanoi homes and the shattered bodies of their occupants cried out in agonizing protest. This profaning of the word “peace” while new thousands of U,S, marines withnew weapons of genocide were at that moment landing in Vietnam — to intensify their “message” of mass murder,

For the tortured and living of Vietnam the Star of Beth- lehem was and is a U.S, superfortress jet bomber raining down all the latest U.S. techniques of death and destruction — the U.S. warhawks’ concept of “victory” and “peace!”

While president Johnson was busy profaning the word “peace,” Southern Dixie-Democrat Mendel L, Rivers, chairman of the armed services committee of the House of Representa- tives was calling upon the U.S.” . . . to flatten Hanoi if necessary . . . and let world opinion go fly a kite... to use to the fullest the potential of our great airpower upon Viet- nam,”

Topping off this monstrous Yuletide display of deception and sabre-rattling another prominent U.S, labor-hater and war- monger journeyed to Saigon to bring U.S, “cheer” to its murder legions, Cardinal Francis Spellman, Archbishop of New York, Prince of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, vicar of the U.S. armed forces, and Yankee war jingoist with few peers among Pentagon war maniacs,

On this shameful assignment, and in sharp opposition to all of the magnificent and courageous efforts of Pope Paul to win Peace on Earth, Cardinal Spellman performed one decent rite, He hung the symbolic robes of his Christian calling on the hook, and did his jingoistic warmongeringin the uniform of a GI, :

To the U.S. aggressive legions the Cardinal gave carte blanche “blessing” of their crimes against Vietnamese humanity, “I believe that in these circumstances,” intoned this “Man of God” (?) “you are not only serving your country but you are serving God because you are defending the cause of righteousness, the cause of civilization and God’s cause,” The cardinal capped this blasphemy against God and Man with a fervent prayer for an early “victory” with God’s help via the bombing route,

With Kaiser Bill it was “Gott Mit Uns;” with Hitler and his destruction of six million Jews and untold millions of others in his evil death camps it was “Me Und Gott.”

With Cardinal Francis Spellman, who defiles the calling of his office and the cause of his Pope, it is “God and Victory” for Pentagon genocide in Vietnam. And the cardinal wore the right uniform — not to sprinkle Holy Water — but give his . blessing for bigger and better bombs for “victory.”

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Tom | Mc EWEN

e had a lot of it in 1966, “Not in the public interest.”

its ‘silken curtain”.

and there’s little doubt we'll have a lot more of it in 1967!

Just about the time when public curiosity has been heightened to the umpteenth degree, when the Moment cf Truth seems immi- nent, comes the old and well- worn Official clam-up cliche, “Not in the public interest”, or better still its more awesome twin brother, the “national security”. Both serve as a “silken curtain” to cover up a multitude of poli- tical, judicial, and social in- trigues”,

Since Canadians, young and old alike are giving a little more attention to this form of social relationships we call “democ- racy” through the mediaofsemi- nars, educational study classes, mock parliaments, viewpoints on TV and radio programs, news- paper and other literary disserta- tions on the subject, it might be worth considering a similar study on “the public interest” theme, led off perhaps by some of those who most often take cover behind

To get at the nub of this seem- ingly plausable excuse for keep- ing the public in the dark, or slipping some political skuldug- gery over, one must first try to narrow down just who the public are,

Broadly speaking, the public are, or should be, most every- body — “We the people” so to speak. But it just doesn’t pan out. that way in official circles, among old-line politicians, in the judici- ary, nor in the editorial columns of awell-trained “Fourth Estate,” that is the journals which slav- ishly serve the interests of the status quo. To the latter the public embraces only that small segment of reactionary society from whom they draw their sus- tenance, much as a well-to-do prostitute dispenses her charms to an exclusive clientete for asub- stantial retainer.

The leaders and philosophers of a bygone day elevated the public to the highest pinnacle of organ- ized society, placing it above

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praise ee

‘Bombings must stop’

Cont'd from pg. 1

tain and West Germany, are flying to North Vietnam on a fact-find- ing mission, Rabbi Abraham L, Feinberg of Toronto is among them.

The other three members of the groups are Rev, A.J. Muste, a Presbyterian minister from New York, Bishop Ambrose Reeves, a former Anglican bishop from Johannesburg and the famed anti-Nazi Pastor Martin Nie-

moller from West Germany,

In a press conference in Lon- don the delegation roundly con- demned the American bombing of the Vietnamese people, They said they were going to Hanoi to show their opposition to the Am- erican military attack and in par- ticular to the U.S, bombing raids. They urged the withdrawal of American and other foreign troops and recognition of the right of the Vietnamese to decide their own future,

and superior to government... the one and only source of demo- cratic government “ofthe people, by the people, and for the people”, (Abraham Lincoln), All that of course is now reduced to little more than a fairy tale, Govern- ments when elected, cease to be the “servants” of the people, and daily assume more and more the characteristics of ‘‘master’’, de- termining as it best suits poli- tical and partisan interests, what is and what is “not in the public interest.”

For instance it certainly wasn’t in the public interest to know (or care) how often of how many Tory ministers climbed into bed with the glamorous Gerda. But it would have been very much in the public interest and with no loss to na~ tional security, had the taxpayers dollars wasted on this political bedroom debacle, with our “Scar- let and Gold” boys serving as Peeping Toms, had the time and money been spent in boosting senior citizens’ pensions or im- plementing medicare, or doing a dozen other things in the public interest instead of squandering public funds,

As a Liberal counter-attack to offset the after math of the Spencer “espionage” fiasco, in which the excuse of national se-

curity was trotted out ad infini- -

tum to cover up exactly nothing,

In a letter to Arthur Gold- berg, U.S, delegate to the U.N, last Saturday U Thant again called for support for his three-point program to bring peace to Viet- nam: cessation of all bomb- ings of North Vietnam; scaling down of military activities by all sides in South Vietnam; and “willingness to enter into dis- cussions with those who are ac- tually fighting.”

In France, President de Gaulle, in a New Year broadcast blamed U.S. intervention for the unjust and detestable Vietnam war and demanded that the Americans withdraw,

On the eve of the New Year William Kashtan, national leader of the Communist Party of Can- ada, sent the following wire to Prime Minister Pearson:

“How can your Government continue to remain silent in light of world-wide condemnation of

the senseless and criminal U.S, air bombing of civilian popula- tion of North Vietnam? Theseare ~ an essential part of further U.S, escalation of its war with all its threats to world peace,

“Suggest best way to bring New Year in is by your Government calling upon the Johnson Admin- istration to unconditionally stop its air attacks on North Viet- nam preliminary to cessation of hostilities and withdrawal from Vietnam in line with Geneva agreements,”

The Vancouver Peace Action League, representing many city peace groups, wired the Prime Minister and External Affairs secretary Paul Martin last Sat- urday expressing “shock” at the American action and protested Canada’s “failure to use its utmost influence towards a ceasefire and withdrawal of for- eign troops,”

_ Then there were nine .. .

the public interest sure took qa beating, and one might add so did official credibility,

4

We recall a well-known Van- couver Sun reporter a few years back on safari in the USSR re- lating in one of her columns of doing a stint of ‘‘peeping” into: Moscow windows after dark, just to see how many Russians climbed into bed together. We don’t think the Russian national security suf- fered any setback from this un- ladylike snooping, but Canada’s national dignity sans security sure as hell did,

Generally speaking, all so- called spy cases are invariably loaded with “not in the public interest” and “national security” verbiage, much of it designed to diddle the public into accept-

ing an abundance of fiction in lieu of a paucity of fact,

Any seminar or educational on the subject of the public interest or national security would ulti- mately draw the conclusion that both would be immeasurably strengthened, not by using them as a gag to stifle public opinion, _ but as a public lever to stand _

democracy ‘on its feet instead of its head! ;

The greatest “security risk”

_ Canadians face today inthis Cen-

tennial year of Confederationisa

plethora of politicians and pun- dits of one brand or another, — who seek cover behind the silken q

curtain of their own creation — |

“not in the public interest” — a q most fitting label for their own — mediocrity!

Editor—TOM McEWEN Published weekly at Ford Bldg.

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