A Time to Choose

WHETHER PRESIDENT NIXON believe his policies serve the interests of the American people these last few weeks in his bid for re-election have only re-emphasized the cynicism of his four years in office. Refusing to meet his opponent head on at home Nixon has waged his campaign at the negotiating table through the machinations Henry Kissinger Promises of an imminent peace while the details of a settlement remain uncertain is an obvious attempt to obscure the four years of death and destruction in Indochina while Nixon has been commander-in-chief. Honor clearly recognizes Nixon's position. North Vietnam revealed the tentative agreement hoping to prevent him from reneging once election year pressure is eased. Should a treaty be signed recent news dispatches have already disclosed plans to allow army trained civilians and private corporations to maintain the American military advisory role.

This pattern of self-centered of America and of the world at stake is nothing new to the Nixon Administration Nixon's assertion that America's unlike Cambodia did not represent an invasion was a blatancy lie as was his insistence that no American ground troops were fighting in Laos of anti-Southern bigotry in the Senate failed to minimize the mediocrity of two consecutive nominations hand-picked by John Mitchell to take seats on the Supreme Court. Repeated assurances that the economy is recovering steadily hardly disguise the persistence of 5.5 per cent nationwide unemployment. Nixon's statements on the Manson and Calley cases show him not to be a judicious lawyer, much less a thoughtful President. He has repeatedly ignored the findings of Presidential Commissions--on drugs, on violence, and on civil rights. Finally, Nixon's willingness to hire, if not actually direct, men deeply implicated in repeated allegations of organized attempts to sabotage the Democratic Party suggests a remarkable lack of principle or an incredible lack of judgment.

George McGovern offers America a choice. Although his welfare and tax proposals stand in need of further study, McGovern's position for peace and for the preservation of civil liberties is unmistakable. That some have been disappointed with elements of his campaign only underscores how high hopes ride on the quality of leadership he is thought capable of providing. McGovern has shown his determination at least to begin reordering this country's distribution of resources, and he is running with a man so far ahead of the current Vice President in imagination and in compassion that the U.S. can not afford to be indifferent to the political and economic implications of the Presidential election.

Voters must use today's opportunity to make a choice--a choice between cynicism and inhumanity on the one hand, and compassion and a promise for the future on the other.