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.”

$9.29. .9.%o% Moh ePetete tel
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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

ote eon

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.

,

Vancouver 4, B.C. Phone 685-5288.

Subscription Rates: Canada, $5.00 one year;
North and South America and Commonwealth countrie:

other countries, $7.00 one year. Authorized as second

Ottice Department, Ottawa,

Associate Editor—MAURICE RUSH
Mezzanine No. 3, 193 E. Hastings St.,

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> Pearl porte. es

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