A New Beginning?

WITH THE departure of North, Regan, McFarlane, Poindexter, and company, it looks to some as if the Reagan Administration has been blessed with a "new beginning." The Administration has now separated itself from the troublemakers, and Howard Baker, the Steve Garvey of politics, will now have a shot at straightening things out.

Yet if Reagan is to salvage the remaining months of his term, he must prove to Congress, and ultimately to the American people, that the behavior of North, et. al. was an isolated example of politics-gone-awry. If not, Reagan faces the daunting task of proving that he has radically altered his Administration.

Was the Iran-contra affair an anomaly, a single departure from the Administration's high standards? Take a look at Reagan's style in dealing with domestic affairs; the same type of deviousness which led to trading arms for hostages and then calling the deal something else characterizes even the Administration's most innocuous policies.

LAST SUMMER drug abuse suddenly became a national crisis complete with certification from Newsweek and virtually every other national publication. Reagan's interest in actually reducing drug abuse, however, was never much larger than his memory span. For Reagan, the issue provided a perfect excuse for tampering with the judiciary and promoting his right-wing ideological agenda, all under the aegis of saving our youth from drugs.

The Administration realized that it would be difficult for congressmen to face their consitituents if they voted against any anti-drug bill. So two provisions--one calling for the execution of pushers convicted for the second time, and the other allowing courts to scrap the Exclusionary rule in cases of illegal searches and seizures involving drugs--nearly found their way into the All American drug bill.

Democrats in the House barely managed to exclude these provisions from the bill only at the last minute. But Reagan's attempt to manipulate the crisis remains evidence of base political demogoguery and outright hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, when it comes to actually helping drug addicts, the Reagan record is, not surprisingly, dismal. Detoxification centers--lacking adequate funding--must turn away addicts daily. In fact, things have only gotten worse for those trying to get off drugs. Centers which once treated heroin addicts free of charge now must charge their patients substantial fees as a result of Reagan's budget cuts.

Colonel North's tactic of hiding his true objectives--trading arms for hostages--behind seemingly more appropriate ones--appealing to Iranin moderates--looks like standard Administration policy. Of course cheap politics is all too thoroughly American; but with an issue such as drugs, where so much uncontroversial good could have been done, a scrupulous Chief Executive would have restrained his base political urges. Further, such relatively routine cases of deceit and hypocrisy--which do a nice job of warping leaders' values--serve to bridge the gap between simple political manipulation and Iran-contra affairs.

SO IF Northism typified Reagan Administration tactics before Ollie was declared a hero, has the President cleaned house since then? While he has surely removed some rats from the CIA and the NSC, they abound in the other crevices and crannies of the Administration bureaucracy. Looking at the domestic policy front once again, the Department of Education reveals the same type of irresponsibility that used to characterize the NSC.

A special assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Education, R.E. Baker, recently wrote a report tying bilingual education to communism and terrorism. Written for the Council for Inter American Security, the report, according to the New York Times, called bilingual education part of a plot to establish a separate Spanish nation within U.S. borders.

Although Secretary of Education Bennett announced that the report will not influence administration policy, we have to wonder how many policies Mr. Baker's mind has influenced and what kind of damage has resulted. And how many other small-minded and irresponsible petty bureaucrats infest Washington? Norths and Bakers do not gravitate to their positions, they are appointed. They are consequently reflections of a President overcome by his own ideological furvor.

Reagan may have responded appropriately to the foreign affairs scandal by kicking the rascals out, but he still has a lot more cleaning to do, for other equally devious rascals feel much too safe in Washington. Ultimately, however, Reagan's biggest problem--as the case of the drug bill shows--is his own proclivity toward demagoguery and hypocrisy. His own subordinates have merely been following his example.