Page 2712 - 1970S

Garner Jed Armstrong
SPIAKS OUT!
Press Stumbles Over Mr. Ford's Slip
Washington, O.C.As a microoosm of the world crisis i n
leadership, U.$. Presiden1 Ger·
ald Ford 1s presenlly engaged in
a leadership c·risis of h1s own. 1
have' just returned from witnossing Mr.
Ford's arriv81 and opening commen1ary
lo the assembled delegates of the NATO
nations in the much publicited NATO
Summil Conlerence al Brussels. Bel–
gium.
In a prívate discussion and in a tele–
vised interview with Prime Miniater Leo
Tindem8ns of Belgium on the foiiOYI(ing
moining. 1asked him whal his personal
impressíons of President Gerald Ford'
were.
His remarks were very favo<8ble. and
he lold me he was quit e impressed with
Mr. Ford as an open-minded, candid,
honest and strong personalily.
Asan observar in Brussels. 1100. was
impresised with President Fo<d's com–
ments and with his personal magnetism
as he delivered his speech at the Brus–
sels airpon soon alter his arrival and
greeting by Belgian King Baudouin and
1he Secre1ary General ot NATO, Joseph
luns.
Bu1 merely seeing Mr. Ford in person
for the first time and hearíng the re–
marks of at least one foreign off1cial con–
cerning his impressions of President
Ford as a leader can hardly serve to
allay the doubts concerning the
strengths of President Ford in the minds
of many leaders in Europe, the Arab
Stales. and even within the United
States Congress and among the'general
public.
1am writing this column in Washing–
ton, O.C.. and have just retumed from
the capital lawn whine 1 taped an " on–
the-spol" radio broadcast.
PerJlaps my perspectiva must be
somewhat prejudicial. But during the
broadcast 1 oould not help but remark
on the incredible ignominy 81 8rriving
back to my home country to be greeted
by two larga, front-page pictures in the ·.
Washington Post show ing Presídent
FC)rd slipping on the rain-wet stairs upon
his arrival in Saltburg, Austria. for talks
with the Egyptian President Anwar Sa–
dat - and, in an accompeny1ng photo
equally as larga (thay measured approxi–
mately 5"x5" each) was a píclure.of ¡he
12
Presídent stooping to 1he floor 1rying to
prevont h1mself from falhng es he stum–
bled on a carpe1ed stairway and had to
be ateadied by Egyp11an President A<>–
war Sadat anda milítaryaida.
Frankly. 1was outraged.
WHV must the proas feel it is the1r
moSt .serious responsibility to insure we
in the American pubtic and the entirety
of tt>e wortd in gene<81 nevar escape
noticing the slighlest mistake. the most
common and natural happenstanoe,
and especially the most insignificant in·
digníty which might be suffered by a
leader7
Show Strength, Not Weakness
Ouring the many yeors of the Frankhn
Oelono Roosevelt Administration. 1he
Amarlcarr public nevar ~"'[ Mr. ~oose-
Why must the press féel it
is their most serious re–
spons ibility to lnsure that
the world never escapes
notlcing the slightest indig–
nity s uHered by a leader?
velt in a wheelchair. VteWers would see
full -bust exposures of the Presidént as
he spoke dynamically and forcibly over
motion picture and newsreels i n tha pre–
television ilays. Thay would see dra–
metic photographs. in very striking
poses. of a man who appeared to be 1n
supreme command of himself - ex–
uding oonfide,nce, wisdom, end a pow–
erful personal megnet[sm w hích
reflectad the very essence of'the power
of the United $tates. He was a forcelul
feeder who was clearty in command,
evan when seated with the " Big
Three."
Now all that has changed. Where ob–
viously e President of the United States
was accorded a certain measure of re·
spec1 from the press and photographe,..
in particular - so th.at the American
public was never allowed to see a Presí–
dent as a cripple, on the verv plain and
obviout assumpt ion that such a picture
immediately connotes weakness -
today you can expect to see. embla–
zoned acro$s 1he front pega of one of
the le8ding dailíes in the nation's capi–
tal , pictures of e . very undignified
tumble down the steps of a rain-slick–
ened tamp at an airport or another
tumble on a carpe1ed stairway
A crisis 1n leadership? Yes. pracosely
lhat. The U.S. has suffered too many
hu(Tl iliating reversals in t he past f ew
years - from the Bay of Pigs to Gary
PoweJS, from the Pueblo to Vietnam.
And topping all such humiliet1ons was
Watergate. whtch servad to weaken
U .S. prestige and credibility abroad
more than all other such events com–
binad. So it's utte~y na'ive to think that the
Mayaguez incident could erase all that.
But it is time when. as never befare.
the United $tates needs 10 exen strong.
decisive leadership in the wo~d at l.arge.
lt matters little th81 Mr. Ge<81d Ford is
not the clear choice of an electorate ma–
jorit y. He is nevenheless the President
of the Uniled States of America, still the
most powerful songle nation the world
has ever known. As such, Mr. Gerald
Ford needs 10 continually display deter–
mination. strength, resolve, sing1eness
of purpose. and the very essence of
strong, purposeful, wise le8dership!
This is his po$1, and he has been striv–
lng mightily to fulfill it .
" 11 1t Happens. lt's Newa"
Personally, 1 cannot understand why
our American press must feel " if 11 hap–
pens, it's news." 1 ~uld f~ . rather.
have been greeted, upon my retum to
the United Steles. by pictures on the
front pages of the natíon's leading
dailies of a determinad President stand·
ing with other)'lational leaders in e pose
of self-confidence and assurance. And 1
would rather have .,..d the reports ol .
Mr. Ford's visít 10 Salzburg and h1s talks
wl th Anwar Sadat in a positive context.
Yet 1 was greeted by ignominous pic–
tures which displayed the man whó OC·
cupies the highest and the most
ímporíant offoce on the faoe of the eanh
today in an utterly lmllattering pos11ion.
To me, it is more than a JOurnalistic
curiosity. 11 is symptomatic of a aickness
which has lncreasingty diseased the
American mind. We are so totelly con–
vinced there is no one who is honest. no
one who is true. no one who is what he
seems to be that we must continually be
engaged in the hideous hypocrisy of
blame-placing, nameo(:alfing . and nit –
picking among ourselves. most espe·
c~&DY zeroing in on cherishod national
institutions and 1mportant national lead–
ers. Are we striving to preve that all
men, aher all. are as small as we are in
our own inferíorlty?
One Plclu~ Could 0 ..1roy
• Thousand Wordo
The United States is most definitely
expected to act like a strong end pow–
erful nation by European leaders.
But if wo In this country cannot re–
spect and suppon- our President when
he is abroad, by the simplest courtesy of
discarding a pic1ure showing weakness
In favor of one which would show
strength, then 1 must view our 1mpend--
ing bicentenntal celebretion with a cer·
taln measure of pessimism. As Mr. Ford
strives to ponray the image ~~a forceful
feader abroad, our press strives to por·
tray the image of o bumbling fiddle-
footed President 81 ho~e. •
They may as well h8ve label~ the
pictures ··Ford Stumbles in Europe ...
And it could well be. through this pecu–
liar twist of photographoc psychology.
th8t any real sucoesses Mr. Ford has
achieved through his trip abroad might
be wiped out by the instantaneous click
of a mo1orized camera - held by an
eager phofographer. making sure he
has exposed at least s.ven frames wh1le
the President fell three steps.
Somohow. the choice of pictures by
the editors of our newspapeJS seems
obviously symptomatic of this curious
American phenornenon thal 1have been
descrob1ng. And it must be thoroughly
understood and stamped out before it
finally destroys us 811 .
We are apparently no longer proud to
be Ameri<;ans. We are 8pparently no
longar proud of our country, proud of
our flag, proud of our national • lr'l–
stitutions nor proud of our President.
As for me, 1 mus1 be some son of a
square exception. For when 1 saw the
Presídent of the United States emerge
from the door of t he Presidential Boeing
707 at the Brussels Airpon 10 be
greeted by King Baudouin and an honor
guard, my hean swelled.'l lóund m).seljJ
growing a little bit proud of the fact that
the leader of t he country which has
given me every · precious fre~o,;, 8
human being could ever wan1 was so
graciously'received wlth the respect and
the d1gmty accorded 8 man of such tow–
ering office.
What a píty the man cannol be so
recelved by those in the country whích
he serves. o
flt. Bkil/ (Ct~ntlnufti from po~ JI)
Ood wiU intervene and roan wiiJ be re–
quired to tive in aooordance with the
laws ofOod. whicb, of course, are based
upon love.
Mr. Armslrong has empbasiud
onen that me world is indeed a smaU
place, a.nd loday distaoce bas been
greatly diminlsbed by me jet a.ircraJ\
and the modem means of communica–
tion. But, as Mr. Arm.strong has so onen
notcd, despil e The tremendous increase
in knowledge and technology, there hu
been a missing dimeDSJoo in modem
' education and man remains controUed
by bis human nature and bis basic self-
• ishness. 1 aro sure all readers of Plaín
Truth can appreciate very weU 1he tre–
mendous affi.njty thal Mr. Armstrong
and President K enyatta felt for one an–
other - the Presideol baving worlted·h1S
wbole life to free bis people and to lead
bis nation triumphantly into. indepen–
dence - and independence based upon
the djgnity of man - and M r. Arm–
strong baving dedicaled bis life to bring·
ing bis meSs&ge to mank.i.nd - a messsge
that wiiJ belp mank.i.nd to live an abun–
dant and bappy life and to realize its
incrtdiblt lrumatt¡x)(entlol! O
WEEK ENOINO JUNE 21, 1975