MEDIA MATERIAL (GOV. CARTER'S PLAYBOY INTERVIEW +)(1976). // UFO //

[Terry W. Colvin]

This one is definitely Unclassified; however, topics include UFOs, more or less.

Terry
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O 232025Z SEP 76 ZFF4
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USDEL SECRETARY IMMEDIATE
BT
UNCLAS STATE 236539 TOSEC 270642
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: SOPN, OVIP (KISSINGER)
SUBJECT: MEDIA MATERIAL
1. HEREWITH FULL TEXT EDWIN M. YODER OP-ED PAGE COLUMN WASHINGTON
STAR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 23 HEADED "THE 'PLAY- BOY' INTERVIEW AND
VOTER 'PERCEPTIONS'."
2. MY SAGACIOUS COLLEAGUE, JACK GERMOND, WROTE THE OTHER DAY THAT
GOV. JIMMY CARTER'S "CLUMSY HANDLING OF THE TAX REFORM ISSUE AND
HIS BIZARRE INTERVIEW WITH PLAYBOY" SPELL SERIOUS TROUBLE, POSSIBLY
EVEN "IRREPARABLE DAMAGE," TO HIS CAMPAIGN.
3. "THIS IS AN ELECTION," MR. GERMOND EXPLAINED, "THAT WILL TURN ON
PERCEPTIONS RATHER THAN SPECIFIC ISSUES." THE SUGGESTION HERE--NOT
THAT MR. GERMOND NECESSARILY APPROVES--IS THAT THE ACCURACY OF OUR
PERCEPTIONS IS A SECONDARY CONSIDERATION.
4. UNFORTUNATELY, THE PLAYBOY BOBBLE--AND, TO SOME DEGREE, THE
TAX REFORM BLUNDER--WERE MAGNIFIED BY A PRESS PERFORMANCE AT LEAST
AS CAVALIER AS GOVERNOR CARTER'S. "PERCEPTIONS," AFTER ALL, COME
FIRST HAND TO FEW--THAT SMALL NUMBER OF VOTERS WHO OBSERVE THE
CANDIDATES IN PERSON. MOST ARE BYPRODUCTS OF THE WAY NEWSPAPERS,
MAGAZINES AND TELEVISION REPORT ON THE CANDIDATES.
5. CONSIDER THE PLAYBOY INTERVIEW. HOW MANY OF THE PUNDITS AND
PREACHERS REACTING TO IT HAVE READ IT?
6. IN THE INTERVIEW ITSELF, GOVERNOR CARTER--ANSWERING A QUESTION
ABOUT WHAT MANY FEEL IS AN EXCESSIVE SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS--CITED THE
DIFFICULT CHRISTIAN TEACHING THAT ADULTERY MAY BE PLATONIC AS WELL
AS CARNAL AND CONFESSED THAT HE, TOO, HAD "COMMITTED ADULTERY IN
MY HEART MANY TIMES." HE WENT ON TO OBSERVE, WITH PERFECT ACCURACY,
THAT CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE FORBIDS THE CASUAL JUDGMENT OF OTHERS.
7. THIS SUNDAY SCHOOL TALK OF MR. CARTER'S (MORE ON THAT LATER)
INSTANTLY FUSED A MEDIA EVENT REMINISCENT OF HIS IDLE REMARK ABOUT
"ETHNIC PURITY." MR. CARTER WAS ANSWERING A QUESTION WHICH HE
CERTAINLY INVITES BY WEARING HIS RELIGION ON HIS SLEEVE. BUT THE
QUESTION--AND THE NATURE OF HIS ANSWER--ARE RARELY MENTIONED. HE
GAVE HIS ANSWER, MOREOVER, AT THE END OF A 10-PAGE INTERVIEW IN
WHICH HE HAD RANGED, WITH IMPRESSIVE JUDGMENT AND INSIGHT, ALL
OVER THE POLITICAL MAP. THE FINAL SEGMENT WAS PRECEDED BY A
CURIOUS EDITORIAL NOTE EXPLAINING, IN EFFECT, THAT GOVERNOR
CARTER MADE THESE RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS ABOUT LUST, ADULTERY AND
JUDGMENT "AFTER" THE FORMAL INTERVIEW HAD ENDED: "AS THE
INTERVIEWER AND THE PLAYBOY EDITOR STOOD AT THE DOOR, RECORDING
EQUIPMENT IN THEIR ARMS, A FINAL, SEEMINGLY CASUAL QUESTION WAS
TOSSED OFF. CARTER THEN DELIVERED A LONG, SOFTLY-SPOKEN MONOLOG
THAT GREW IN INTENSITY AS HE MADE HIS FINAL POINTS. ONE OF THE
JOURNALISTS SIGNALED TO CARTER THAT THEY WERE STILL TAPING, TO
WHICH CARTER NODDED HIS ASSENT."
8. THUS THE "BIZARRE INTERVIEW"--THE "EARTHY" INTERVIEW, AS I
HEARD ONE RADIO NEWS ANNOUNCER CALL IT, AND IT WAS ANYTHING BUT
THAT--WAS AN OFF-HAND ADDENDUM; AND IT IS NOT EVEN OBVIOUS THAT
MR. CARTER UNDERSTOOD THAT THE TAPE RECORDER WAS STILL RUNNING.
IT CAN BE A SERVICE TO CATCH POLITICIANS IN UNGUARDED MOMENTS;
BUT IT IS DUBIOUS JOURNALISTIC ETHICS. AND WE OUGHT AT LEAST
EXPLAIN--AS PLAYBOY DID, IN FACT--THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND SETTING.
9. THE AVERAGE NEWSPAPER READER'S "PERCEPTION" OF THE TAX REFORM
GAFFE MAY ALSO STEM FROM SKIMPY JOURNALISM. ACCORDING TO THE
WHITE HOUSE, MR. CARTER VOWED IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS TO RAISE THE TAXES OF HALF THE FAMILIES IN THE COUNTRY. THE
REMARKS WERE OPEN TO THAT INTERPRETATION--BUT TO OTHERS AS WELL.
THEY WERE OPEN TO THE INTERPRETATION, FOR INSTANCE, THAT GOVERNOR
CARTER WAS MUSING HYPOTHETICALLY ON ONE OF MANY POSSIBLE AVENUES
TO TAX REFORM. HIS CAUTIONARY REMARKS SHOULD BE REMEMBERED: "I DON'T
KNOW HOW TO WRITE THE TAX CODE NOW IN SPECIFIC TERMS....AS FAR AS
TELLING YOU SPECIFICALLY WHAT THE TAX CODE WOULD BE, THERE IS NO
WAY I CAN DO THAT."
10. WHEN A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CALLS THE TAX CODE "A DISGRACE
TO THE HUMAN RACE" AND PROMISES SWEEPING REFORM, YOU PROTEST, HE
OWES YOU CHAPTER AND VERSE AND NUMBERS. INDEED. BUT IT IS ONE THING
TO SAY THAT HE WAS HEDGING AND QUITE ANOTHER THING TO ACCEPT THE
SUGGESTION THAT MR. CARTER SAID HE WOULD RAISE THE TAXES OF HALF
THE FAMILIES IN THE COUNTRY. HE DIDN'T. THAT "PERCEPTION" IS FALSE.
11. THERE IS, OF COURSE, A LARGER ISSUE HERE THAN "PERCEPTIONS,"
TRUE OR FALSE--A LARGER ISSUE THAN THE HECTIC SKETCHINESS OF
CAMPAIGN COVERAGE. I SUPPOSE IT IS AN ISSUE OF TASTE AND RELEVANCE.
12. THE MOST STRIKING FEATURE OF THE CAMPAIGN SO FAR HAS BEEN THE
HEAVY EMPHASIS ON MATTERS OF PERSONAL BELIEF AND BEHAVIOR WHICH
ARE LARGELY BEYOND THE PROVINCE OF POLITICS. GOV. CARTER'S SUNDAY
SCHOOL TALK AS I HAVE CALLED IT--HIS URGE TO TALK IN THE LANGUAGE
OF EVANGELISTIC RELIGION--HAS GIVEN A CERTAIN TAWDRINESS TO HIS
CAMPAIGN. HE IS MAKING UNWILLING EAVESDROPPERS OF US. HE IS AT
GREAT PAINS TO DEPICT HIMSELF AS A GODLY MAN, BUT WE FEEL THE
URGE TO SPEAK SCRIPTURALLY IN REPLY: BE YE A DOER OF THE WORD,
GOVERNOR, AND NOT A SPEAKER ONLY.
13. THE TREND SEEMS TO BE CONTAGIOUS. PRESIDENT FORD, THIS WEEK,
HAS CHIMED IN BY DISCUSSING IN PRUDISH TERMS, IN A LADIES MAGAZINE
INTERVIEW, HIS DAUGHTER'S SEXUAL MORALITY.
14. BOTH CANDIDATES, EGGED ON BY PRESSURE GROUPS WHO FEEL A
CERTITUDE AMOUNTING TO ZEALOTRY ON THE MATTER, HAVE ALREADY GIVEN
ABORTION MORE THAN ITS DUE--AND LESS.
ONE FINDS ONESELF WONDERING
WHAT BIZARRE ECCENTRICITIES THEY WILL TURN TO NEXT. WILL THE FIRST
DEBATE TONIGHT BE GIVEN OVER TO, SAY, NUDITY, OR PSYCHIC CULTS,
EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION, MASSAGE PARLORS, OR SNAKE HANDLING?
WITCHCRAFT? UFOS?
15. THE IRONY OF IT ALL, OF COURSE, IS THAT
BY TRIVIALIZING POLITICS WITH CONSTANT MORALIZING--AND BY REVEALING
A MOST UNSURE GRASP OF THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN POLITICAL AND PERSONAL
REALISM--THE CANDIDATES TRIVIALIZE PERSONAL MORALITY AS WELL.
PERHAPS, WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, THEY DESERVE THE PERCEPTIONS
THAT RESULT. (END TEXT.)
ROBINSON
BT