V • • 66 opinion Herald & Lantern 11 July '84

■ r L - 0r. l Do You Realize How Embarrassing It Is To Be Married To The Only Person In America Who Isn't Being Considered As A Possible Running Mate For Walter Mondale7"

Welcome To The Continuing Saga Of i FRITZ SEEKS A VEEP' That Never Ending ' | Drama Which Asks The Question 'Is He Putting Us On. Or What7' " ■ ■ " #•

Westmoreland vs. CBS Whose Vietnam Deception?

By DIN'feSH D'SOUZA One balr v evening in January 1982, Gen. William Westmoreland decided to take in a little television. He turned on the local CBS channel, only to see his own face glaring at him. As Westmoreland listened, he felt nauseous. 'I felt my entire reputation was being destroyed," he says. Two years later. CBS finds itself embroiled in a $120-million libel lawsuit filed by Westmoreland. And Westmoreland's attorney Dan Burt is confident. "We're about to see the dismantling of a major news network." he told "USA Today." . The Westmoreland case is only the most flamboyant of a series of libel suits filed against the TV networks, mostly against CBS. Statistics are hard to tome by, but in mid 1983, CBS had ■ '17 libel suits pending. Another 28 suits \Cere being fought by CBS affiliate stations. Equally significaptly, juries are increasing awarding judgments and huge compensations to libelled plaintiffs. MOST MEMBERS of the media regard the very fact of a libel suit as, a danger to free press, because it has a "chilling effect" on future investigations. But media critics counter that the media should be accountable for its distortions and inaccuracies; it has no constitutional right to defame individuals or broadcast deliberate lies. The Westmoreland case results from a CBS documen

tary "The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception" which alleged that U.S. military officers headed by Westmoreland manipulated estimates of troop strength during the Vietnam' War. Specifically, the report charged Westmoreland with concealing the size of enemy forces prior to the Tet offensive. SHORTLY AFTER the CBS expose. "TV Guide" printed a cover article "Anatomy of a Smear" which documented numerous violations of journalistic ethics on the part of CBS. The most damning (and unrefuted) chare levelled by "TV Guide" was that CBS producer George Crile failed to interview Phillip Davidson. Jr., the top intelligence officer in Vietnam. Crile claimed that he didn't because Davidson was very ill. But "TV Guide" located him in excellent health, and he denied the main thesis of the CBS documentary Embarrassed by the "TV Guide" story, then-CBS News President Van Gordon Sauter commissioned an internal

investigation by CBS News executive Burton Benjamin. Benjamin uncovered even more violations of network standards, including "coddling" of sympathetic witnesses, shoddy , editing, and lack of supervision by those connected to the story, including correspondent Mike Wallace. Benjamin concluded that "Westmoreland and Graham (Lieutenant General Daniel Graham who denied charges against Westmoreland) spoke for 5 minutes and 59 seconds, and Adams < the former CIA agent who brought the story to CBS) and the eight supporters of his premise spoke for 19 minutes and 19 seconds The question that should be asked is this: is this fairness and balance?" CBS attorney David Boies fought hard to prevent the Benjamin report from being admissable as evidence in court, calling it "irrelevant". But Vecently, federal district judge Pierre Leval disagreed, and in a big victory for Westmoreland, ordered CBS to produce the/report. THE FACT THAT a network's own intern^Unemoranda may be used against it has alarmed producers and anchormen. Not long ago. ABC News President George Watson called a meeting of top news staffers and suggested that reporters and editors consider burning their notes and memos for stories that had already been broadcast. CBS is relying on its attorney Boies, who has a reputation for being brilliant and slippery, for exoneration in this (Page 67 Please)

Brralft PoWuhrd Every Wednesday By P.O. Bsx til TW Sssws - Csryormtlse Cape May C— rt H mm*. N J. mit Joseph R. Zelnik ~ Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertisir\g Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Darrell Kopp Publisher if fM»f p Ian" ii > JSf her*e# "**y ^Predmad , DEADLINES News A Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. j 4AS-56S5 For News or Advertising Information ] NHttsr parttrtpatiag advertfcerm aar Uw paHMur. Uw HERALD AND LANTERN will he responsible or liable far mtaiaformatioe misprints. typographical error*, etc.. tm aay issne. The editor reserve* the right to edit aay letter or articles tabmMted for pnMtc«U«gi» loarr Towatblp «*-» JSMtaj Pabhshed Ef cry Wednesday By f.O. Box til ^TWJlCTwaveCarpsrattoa^ Cape May Court Haase, N J. ten ^

Lookin' and Listenin' Magnolia Lake By DOROTHY D. FREAS Less than 10 miles north of Cape May Court House, there is a lovely lake, with a long story to tell. The first scene is of a little creek beside which an Indian tribejived in the summer time. In 1690, John Townsend drove a pair of oxen from Long Island down the dirt roads fo New Jersey, narrow as they were. He had come at last to Great Egg harbor, with Cape May ahead. After he was taken by raft across the bay with his goods and animals, he traveled on, mile by mile, looking/or a creek or pond. Luck or destiny was with him, fodme approached a stream that showed power for a mill, unplanned on grinding his own "grainb This was gojrtg to be "home." FROM THE WEST JERSEY Society, John Townsend acquired 640 acres, including the lively little stream. This would be his own little kiftgdom. He traveled to record the deed for his property, and in Town Bank he found Chris Learning willing to help him with the building of a house later on. Returning through Dennisville where Joseph Ludlam promised to join them in the work ahead, John Townsend then spent hiS days farming and cutting down trees, hewing the latter iijto great beams. Now he was ready to build the house that he had planned. and with the help of his two new friends and some Indians who were willing, he started building his two-story house, having five rooms. A room on the first floor later was the meeting place of the Friends or Quakers of the Area. WHEN THE HOUSE was finished, the next activity on his property was to dig out a hillside for enough earth with which ito dam up the stream. By 1696, there was a dam with a mill beside it. and soon other industries were using the water-power of the large pond. At the southern end of the lake, a still was built which processed wintergreen leaves and sassafras roots into the basic ingredients used for making sarsapariila, a good and popular soft drink. / The wooden wagons of those past days always dried out in the heat of summer, so as a sideline, wagons were run into the water at the lake edge, and left to soak for a few hours. When the wood had expanded back into perfect working condition, they were driven out, ready to be used again. ABOUT 1800, the first mill and dam were abandoned, a new dam placed a hundred yards to the north of the first one. A grist miff and a sawmill located here in 1836. Now seagoing ships build here left for New York and Philadelpia, loaded with wood, farm products and shellfish. A tomato cannery wa6 located on the lake, but it moved away, and finally all the mills disappeared, leaving a man-made, but beautiful lake.

-Cuchi-Cuchi' for Peace — — — Dems Opt for Cute Accent

By JOE ZELNIK I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I met with Walter Mondale last week and was rejected for ihe Democratic vice presiden tial nomination. The good news is that he has accepted my recommendation and will give the post to a person who meets the pr#e quisites of being a woman and a member of a minority — Charo This will satisfy the followers of NOW, Then and Now, and Now and Then. BESIDES BEING attractive and having a cute accent, attributes the vice presidency has lacked since Spiro Agnew, Cha o's chief role will be to negotiate an end to hostilities in Latin America. Could you imagine any dictator, leftist or rightist, saying "no" to Charo after she did one of her "cuchi-cuchis"? Before people start boosting me for the Nobel Peace Prize, I have to say the choice of Charo came first from my cousin, Eric Gnezda, recently named the best satirist in Columbus, Ohio. He made the proposal in one of his songs, but failed to copywrite it, so now the credit goes to me. THE PROCEDURE which led Fritz ( I cajl him that and he calls me Mr. Zelnik) to consider me for the nomination tells much about the political process. I can reveal that all of the interviews Mondale has been conducting — with Hart, Bentsen, Goode, etc. — were a charade. Mondale had decided weeks ago that the candidate would come from Cape May County, so he could vacation here free. Two Democrats were considered and rejected : Mike Voll: too handsome to carry the male vote. Earl Ostrander: as a new bridegroom, too preoccupied. So it was decided to give the post to a county Republican in a bold bid for the GOP vote. Tony Catanoso was eliminated as too talkative: Gerry Thornton as unphotogenic. THAT'S WHEN MY NAME surfaced. Mondale had heard of some of my brilliantly creative answers to major problems. He was especially impressed with my solution to the county having too few car washes and too many

banks: Install car-washing equipment at bank drive-ins. And he liked my common-sense strategy to achieve it: I chained my 1976 Oldsmobile to the drive-in window until I the bank sent out a teller with a garden hose A more permanent solution is being negotiated Once the Mondale people did my background check, - they were astounded to learn that my profile matched the typical American: divorced, irreverrent, shallow, materialistic, selfish and in hock up to my ears — a candidate the American people could identify with. THE INTERVIEW followed, a secret session that required the cover story you probably heard : that I was called to the Poconos to accept an awapd as the person who > has done the most in 1984 to promote the bottled water » industry. But I flunked the session with Fritz wherhkeame out strongly for quick, easy solutions to complex problems. I guess what really scared him was when I said I longed for ( the days of the Wild West & that I could shoot any man caught looking at my date. There was some feeling that was not a good attitude to have a heartbeat from the Presidency. 1 p That's when Mondale

■ told me I could name the I candidate and I proposed I Charo. There was almost a I tragic mistake. I had been I telling Fritz my life story I for about 75 minutes and I didn't realize he was dozing I behind his ^dropping I eyelids. So wl^riyKsaid " Charo, he though mafrid i Cher. <2/ I Not until the FBI inI vestigation came back wjth I some caustic comments I about Sonny Bono did we realize the error and the Cher boom went bust. Or was it the Cher bust when boom? i

CHARO