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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
March 4, 1971     Shelton Mason County Journal
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March 4, 1971
 
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r, • The file folder bulges with its obscene load. On the tab, in large red letters, is the word VIETNAM; under that, the smaller, cramped additions: CAMBODIA and LAOS. Its clippings and charts tell the despicable story that the majority of Americans, through a combination of self-imposed and government-encouraged ignorance, refuse to acknowledge. It's all there, from the early meddling of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy through the horrendous excesses of Lyndon Johnson to the deception and duplicity of President Richard Nixon - all there for any citizen to read; put down in black and white by newsmen who died to obtain it and brought to light by a handful of columnists, Senators and Representatives who risked retaliation from high officials who understand the effectiveness of appeals to bumper-sticker mentalities. 0 It's the story of the most powerful nation on earth spending $110,000,000,000 (to date) to destroy a country the size of Georgia - and its people - for a variety of reasons ranging from the initial "'we are stopping the spread of communism" to the present "we will not be humiliated." It's the story of the corrupt corps of bandit generals we have kept in power and have now unleashed on Cambodia and Laos; a regime so unpopular with its own people it needs a police force of 200,000 to protect it from the citizenry. Cambodian Army Major Soeung Kimsea saw at first-hand the results of this unconscionable intervention in the affairs of a sovereign nation. He told a reporter, after South Vietnamese troops helped retake the town of Kompong Speu: "They took everything - furniture, radios, money. They even broke open safes. Now the population has more to fear of the South Vietnamese than of the Viet Cong." It's the story of the "body count" - not only the 150,000 enemy dead per year, but the quarter-million civilians killed and wounded each 12 months. O A Methodist bishop who traveled to Vietnam to determine for himself the morality of America's role in that country, asked a Buddhist monk, "'What can we do to help your people?" The monk replied, "The thing we need most is to be saved from your salvation." It's the story of a Congress so preoccupied with self-serving and special-interest matters that it handed one man the authority to make war; then, when it realized its mistake, found that it is so enmeshed in the web of those special interests that it is incapable of performing its duty. It's the story of the massacre at My Lai, where Vietnamese Bahes-in-arms were slaughtered by young Americans, and which one officer described as "no big deal," after explaining that he and his men killed many civilians in the village. "Every aspect of the war is layered over by mistruth, misinformation, misstatement and silence," wrote Newsman ~.qqicholas V on Hoffmala, "It took a reporter to disclose My Lai and a room full of generals to conceal it." ; ++ ++ J + It's a story in which it becomes increasingly clear we would not be involved if the mounting pile of bodies contained blue-eyed blondes. But they are just "gooks" and "slopes" and, as one veteran of My Lai explained to a newsman, "I figured they were better off dead." It's the story of a presidential candidate who promised to end the war and then created an administration dedicated to cynical manipulation of public opinion through televised" doublethink. War became peace, escalation became winding down, saturation bombing became protective reaction, invasion became limited incursion and failure became success. The administration said we would not invate Cambodia. We invaded Cambodia. The administration said we would not provide air support for South Vietnamese forces in Cambodia. We provided air support for South Vietnamese forces in Cambodia. The administration said we were not committed to the defense of the Lon Nol regime in Cambodia. We were committed to the Lon Nol regime. The administration said we would not invade Laos. We invaded Laos. The administration said we would have no ground combat troops in Laos. This week, the folder marked VIETNAM, CAMBODIA and LAOS was lifted from its spot in the editor's file to receive another clipping. "U.S. TROOPS GET LAOS OK," said the headline. "U.S. combat troops can be sent into Laos to protect search-and-rescue teams trying to save stranded American airmen in that embattled country, Nixon administration spokesmen declared yesterday," the article began. "'At the White House, an official called the practice "protective encirclement' of rescue missions and said they would not constitute any violation of legislative restrictions on the use of ground troops and advisers." "Protective encirclement" - another polished new phrase from the Pentagon designed to confuse the American people and circumvent the law of the land - joins the long list of deceptions. "'None of this lying and hiding has a jot to do with military security," Von Hoffman explains for those who are interested. "The North Vietnamese don't have to read the New York Times to know they've been clobbered by B-52's. It's done to conceal graft, stupidity, bad judgment from our own people; it's done in hopes you can execute policies in secret that you wouldn't dare to attempt if they were known." So the most contemptuous chapter in American history continues, and the people, at the mercy of an immobilized Congress and an administration that will not tell them the truth, accept the simplistic, calculated jingoisms of a Vice President who says the persons revealing the truth about the genocide, corruption, stupidity and bad judgment are "agents of Hanoi." Nothing will change for the better in Southeast Asia until the American people accept the truth, horrible as it is. A striking example of what is deemed of importance by politicians 3,000 miles removed from their districts is illustrated by the following telegram from Representative Julia Butler Hansen. During last year's nerve gas fiasco, the Journal received two phone calls from Mrs. Hansen's public relations man - five months after the initial announcement that a trainload of 13,000 tons of the deadly substance was to traverse the length of her Congressional district. This week we received two (count 'em) two identical telegrams, one of which is reproduced below. VOO29(k'# BUA210) HC GOVT PD BU WASHINGTOt ' DEC MAR 2 NFT HL RY fay PUBLISHER SH£LTON MASON COUNTY JOURNAL SHELTO I WASH WASHINGTON-- COI CRESSMAN JULIA BUTLER HAI SEN TUESDAY WAS HONORED BY FIVE OKLAHOMA INDIAN TRIBES FOR HER " GREAT LEADERSHIP AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE* TO AMERICAN INDIANS° COINCIDE TLY I GOV DAVID HALL OF OgLAHOA YESTERDAY PROCLOAIMED TH DAY " JULIA BUTLER HAI SE ' DAY" HIS STATE TO COMMEMORATE MRS HANSENS WORK 0 BEHALF 0 F THE TRIBES. AT A SPECIAL LUNCHEOI V IN THE HOUSE SPEAKERS DINIIcC ROOM IY¢ THE US CAPITOL MRS HANSEh' WAS PRAISED REPEATEDLY ;'OR HER WORK AS CHAIRMAN OF THE INTERIOR APPRPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE BY OFFICIALS OF FiVE INDIAN NATIO ,S IN OgLAHOMAC. THE FIVE TRIBES MADE MRS HANSEDT AN HONORARY MEMBER OF THEIR INTER-TR IBAL COU ,C IL. " YOU ARE TYPICAL OF THE ANCIENT WARRIEES OF THE CHICKASWA TRIBE" SAID OVERTON JAMESt GOVERNOR OF THE CHICKASAW NATION. " YOU HAVE NEVER LOST A BATTLE." W W KEELER CHIEF OF THE KEROKEE NATION AI D PRESIDEI 'T OF THE PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO,, TOLD MRS HAI SEN SHE HAD " RARE IIVSIGHT, tYOUeVE HAD A GRET PARK IN MAKING OUR LIFE BETTER." HE By: ROBERT C. CUMMINGS OTHER TRIBAL CHIEFS WITH WORDS Og PRIE XXX PRAISE WERE W E MCINTOSHt OF THE CREEK NATIONt TULSA AI D HARRY J W BELVIN OF THE CHOCTAW NATIONt DURANT OKLA. FLOYD HARJOt VICE-CHIEF OF THE OKLAHOMA SEI'!INOLE, N TIONt PRESENTED THAT TRIBE. +: + THE INTER-TRIBAL COUNCIL OF THE FIVE NZXXX giVE NATIONS PRESNTED MRS HANSEN WITH A SPECIAL PLAGUE PAYING TRIBUTE TO HER FOR " GREAT LEADERSHIP AND DISTI 'GUISHED SERVICE" IN INDIAN AFFZ IRS. As the money provided by bond issues runs out, moves are underway in the Legislature to increase or expand the special taxes which originally were provided to fund the bond issues. A Senate bill would add another ½ cent to the gasoline tax to fund another bond issue for the urban arterial fund. It would increase from 5/8 cent to I 1/18 cents the amount of motor vehicle taxes earmarked for urban arterial bond retirement. This would fund an additional $160 million in bonds. All proceeds from the original $200 million bond issue either have been exhausted or are committed. In the House, there is a bill to extend the gasoline tax to all pleasure boats, and funnel the Page 4 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, March 4, 1971 " WE COUNT ON XXX COUNT YOU ON OUR $IDE " SAID BELVIN. -HOUSE SPEAKER CARL ALBERT VHO IS FROM OKLAHOMA t SAID THE HOUSE IS " PROUD" OF MRS HA SENS WORKI " SHE HAS A HEART AND SHE HAS A MIND." OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AT THE LUNCHEON WERE OKLAHOMA SEN PAGE BELCHER AND REPS JOH HAPPY CAMP AND ED EDMODSO t WHO DESCRIBED MRS HANSEN AS" Olqg OF THE FINEST CHAMPIONS OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN YOU WILL EVER FIND IN THE PAGES OF HISTORY°m MRS HANSENt WHOSE SUBCOMMITTEE FUNDS THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS- ALL INDIAN HEALTH? D EDUCATION WELFARE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS-- SAID SHE WAS GRATEFUL FOR " THE PRIVILECEXXX PRIVILEDGE OF COMING HERE AND SERVINCo THIS IS THE ONLY REAS01 YOU COME HER -- TO SERVE." JULIA BUTLER HANSEN MC + __ proceeds into tl e outdoor recreation account. " At present, only unclaimed refunds of this tax go into the recreation fund. Different Climates The two proposals face different climates. Current anti-tax sentiment presents a rough road for another boost in gasoline taxes in a state which already has the highest tax in the continental United States, even though its cities would like more urban arterial money. Opposition to more urban arterial construction from certain environmental groups is another factor, but there also is the argument of more jobs, and stimulation for the sagging economy. The tax on marine fuel is in a better position, because pleasure boat operators are in the minority. Many don't bother to collect the refunds. Those who do are more occupied with the various bills designed to regulate them, and a measure which would require them to be equipped with holding tanks. More serious opposition could come from operators of marine service stations, who would have to keep separate books on sales to commercial craft, exempt from the tax. Hot Spot Cools When the State Patrol asked for authority .to conduct spot checks on the highways a couple of sessions back, it was a hot issue. It got through the Legislature only with extreme difficulty, and only after safeguards were included against checking after dark etc. Now that the patrol is asking authority to extend the law to permit night-time checking, it hasn't created much of a wave. The measure already has passed the House and seems reasonably sure of passing the Senate. One of the factors which has cooled the opposition i.~ its delaying effect on compulsory annual motor vehicle inspections; extremely unpopular, but required for conformance with the federal safety act. Night-time spot checks would give the state another two years in which to determine exactly what will satisfy the feds. Blank Title, Blank Check Money is involved in at least two of tbe 254 bills which have been introduced by title only. Editor, The Journal: m e m y In response to your Letterhum Box dated February 25, 1971: would like This is my first letter in regard apologize to to any worldly situation. I, like shortsi the rest of the busy people, have takes one not taken time to be concernedto admit that with the complex problems of to offer youth, publicly as But the letter to the editor by Margaret Chapman, No. 653838, This has touched me deeply, humble I have known of this lady and fine person her plight for some years, and I something figured her problems were damn short. self-inflicted. 1 really felt no God remorse or sorrow, efforts. But after reading her letter, which was very enlightening for ,curse Editor, The Journal A quick glance at the "She started life innocent like your child and all others" was enough to give me a summary of the general content of the story. A girl goes 'bad', despite the efforts of 'her family trying to live today by the known rules yesterday.' It sounds melodramatic. The Editor's introduction indicates the need for a solution to this father's problem. The problem is seen without a great deal of effort in the first paragraph. It includes condemnation of teenagers, those lazy, disrespectful and selfish creatures with seemingly insatiable appetites for drugs, alcohol, sex and communist philsophies. (CP's, by the way include all ideas directed at them during the midst of a losing argument concerning their traditional values.) I wonder if the father ever asked his girl why she did the things that the law, through its protection of her gave her the opportunity to do? (He may as well blame the law, he won't blame himself). An answer might be found in his introductory question, "What is the goal of most of today's teenagers?" The key word is goal. Now if I may I will speak of tw6 types of people. The first are those mechanical dolls following rules drilled into them by parents anxious to show themselves .capable of sculpturing people able to perform in a society that made laws allowing them to enjoy sex, drugs, and drinking free of punishment. The second type of person at some point or other in his life stops and asks himself if the game is really worth playing. Are the rules he is now playing under valid, and what is tha nature of the game itself, anyway? He asks himself what his goals are, and can he justify them? He builds a philosophy of an approach to life, and at times circumstances included in 'the normal crisis occurring in life make the turn to the "frightening three" very easy. The difference can lie in other people. In a tough situation, knowing that other people are willin~ to help the major the game." have this I hate father, but as They don't for nothin "r e b ellion defiance realize that things they through and the self get them The 'st~ cop-out arrive. understa~di receive c, for an adet can lead to the problem. If this defending a faulty blaming arrive at any ideas) problem. He law permits run the otherwise?" 1 wonder would daughter tc boy' after a little her drug e~ Come yourself. not the law.~ may make na all do but by the problez In example can say. we are given the things wishes opportunity wrong. pay for learn from If we our world, we will paY. the from punishments Editor, The Journal Everyone, please hear my plea ! If you see an animal lying in the road that has been hit, please take time to remove it from the 'road. If you also have the time, see if you can't find the owner. Many of you, I am sure, have pets of your own and would like someone to take the time to do this for you. I had to me. I grateful to me know I have left in the they were So, feeling a~ remove the Editor, The Journal A lot of us teenagers seem very upset when our parents ask us where we've been after a Saturday night out d~ the town. I sometimes wonder if any of us ever stop to think that maybe they just wanted to know if we had a good time. And some parents say they don't like the music we play. Have we ever stopped to think that maybe they can't understand the words? The clothes we wear seem to exist mostly of faded blue jeans and old shirts. And a lot of parents don't like it. But maybe they something :1 while. We parents seem to Somehow I' the last So your yell at yoU, yourself, trY They may love you Besides jt you be Mailing Address: Box 430, Shelton, Wa. 98584 Published at Shelton, Mason CountY, weekly, except two issues during wee~ Entered as Second-Class Matter at the EDITOR AND PUBLISHER .............