◆ SpookStack

. x adh int, cl A lL art, em ee oe Oe ee eee - cert, ae apie le Mit erat ET Tl es EE PA I Sea as nme a ee “ ’ o . f - fy -. . f oe, ; - ee . me . ad it _—— 7 = a F | ee | a - - —— : ee y These. tpisnies Indicate some af the ronis of the present, | (struggle. The image of Hoover as a “non-polities]" man who, stands austerely above partisan battles is a myth, In 3953, when “(ihe then Attorney General, Herbert Brownell, opened fire on- @larcry Truman's alieged coddling of Communists, Hoover enthusk astically supported Browneli's’ version. The question arose then,- " as it does to some degree now, as to why he had net resigned, . earlier and publicly proclaimed his knowledge; then, as now, he. . * hid behind the clalm that he was merely a deputy. . : : In the current uproar the vulnerability in Kennedy‘s case Ls | (that there is some validity in Hoover's depiction of his secondary. * roie during the Kennedy time. Some issues being drawn now in; ; - volve distinctions without a difference (as between wiretapping -, ’ and “bugging”). Kennedy was undoubtedly more tolcrant of such = * Intrusions in the carly days of his regime than in later phases, of fthan he would be now; Hoover may have believed he had cor ." siderabie authorization to cacry on this part of his business as usual. In their own iashion buth men may be offering their sub- { jective versions of the truth. . The larger dimensions of the battle zo beyond these fragments got remembrance. Hoover jn fact remains a voice of political reac tion, Whase name still commands reverence on the rightist fringe, ii Kernedy has steadily emerged as an unorthodox liberal chalk if cnzar io Hoover's veritics. In that context the impact of thls yclash assumes its real and explosive meaning. Hoover's blast | may have given the signal fer a grotesque right-wing drive to i ie A ES pee ane ee ne oe J “get” Kennedy for his delinquencies on civil liberties, Logic does got always rule our politics, = 4°. . Meanwhile, now as for many years, few citizens of any stature j in ‘Washington will use their ieiephonas without suspecting that (uiqnuantocgenta’ are Usteninz, But wi will get to the bottom!’ | of that story during thig. SLE BST a oe ce # ; i