VOLUME1, NUMBER14 SEPTEMBER17, 1984 50 CENTS TV TRIALFOR WESTMORELAND (4) o HOWTO FAKEA RESUME(14). AUDIOPARADISE (22) The Pd Ovei' W Rdrert K Landers fp/hen Ed Crane drives around !(ashing- It/ ton, he gets depressed. He sees all V Y those massivegovernment buildings, those "giant marble edifices," and he thinks of all thosebureaucrats inside. all those"thousands of people employed doing work that is counter- productive," not in his interest, not for his safe- ty, and God knows, not for his wallet. "Bureaucracy is a bad thing," he saysfrom be- \r\rcf WRMK Londerc f!|Z/hen Ed Crane drives around Washing- ll/ ton. he gets depressed. He sees all V V those massive government buildings, those "giant marble edifices," and he thinks of all those bureaucrats inside, all those "thousands of people employed doing work that is counter- productive," not in his interest, not for his safe- ry, and God knows, not for his wallec "Bureaucracy is a bad thing," he says from be. hind his desk in an elegant town house on Sec- ond Street Southeast, with the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress looming ominously outside his windows. "Government, whatever it does, is doing it be- caus€ people won't do it voluntarily. They don't want to. The government has become so large, so dangerous to our civil liberties, to our eco- nomic prosperity, to our ability to live. Be- cause," he continues, "they're going to start a war one of these days, and it's all, it just doesn't have to be, because if this country had followed the principles on which it was founded . ." And on he goes in his libertarian larnent. Crane, tall, conservatively dressed, a former athlete (at Berkeley in the mid-'@s), is the presi- dent of the Cato Institute. a small think tank de- voted to the production oflibenarian thoughts. As he moves about Washington these days, however. Crane chants the blues about more C-ondnued on lnge 8 The Triclls crnd Trcr.gedigsoI Becoming crStclr enioyed a bit of electoral success Continuedfrompage I in the congenially robust tundra From Cult to Respectabili,tythan iust the bureaucratic kvia- of Alaska than. For his own party, his polit- And it did this with a simple ical party, the young party of philosophy: If the Republicans zealots that he brought so near to tend to believe government is and,BackAgain: Ihe respectability-the Libertarian hopelessly inept in its social Party-has run off to Texas and works at home, and the Demo left him, apparently forever. crats tend to believe government Ii,bertariansHaae It was Crane who had brought is hopelessly inept in its martial Ru,n S(ashington. ventures abroad. Libertarians the Libenarians to "lf you're going to be serious will gladly agree with both and about being a political pany," he believe all government is hope- Oflfto Texasand, says, "that's where you should lessly inept. be." There was an attractive consis- And it was Crane, perhaps tency, an exhilarating sweep, to more than any other person, who this perspective. But within the Ieft Pragmnti,sm was responsible for the transfor- Libertarian Party, Crane found Behind mation of this sect that exalted his fellow Libertarians too often the individual above society into straying from "the real wodd, in a thriving, albeit still minor, po- the name, always, of puriry." The litical party. party last surffner decisively re- In a scant eight years after its iected Crane and his "real-wodd- founding in 1972, the Libertar- ism" (as he termed it), abandoned byRobert K l^anderc ian Parry accomplished the mir- Vashington and all it repre- acle of gening on the ballot in sented and romped off to Hous- every state in the nation and even ton. acle of getting on the ballot in sented and romped off to Hous- every state in the nation and even ton. Ed Crane: His party left him. :l::+i::!.,.. -1r.r:-' : : : : ::::il.i::::ir1::t!:. .:: :i::ji::::::::::::: :: -'*...,." ry ,{s rils:. ' ::i '''- :::r':iiii!s::: i... rt".. '::r . :&-!! ,,..,,i .'ii;;ii:rii:t:tl :r:: i :i:1i:llii::.r..ri! ::t!i '1:.r'{ : ::: : l:in :tt:: #"l|ffii.',':,,,,,=$i+',;--** ;t li,iri.l:* b'."1 -'f- ,.:' \+r ,'.,,.'* *' ,itqi::.il '::*.-..;fiif.,, ,*lii* THE WASHINGTONWEEKLY "They're a cult again," Crane too eniunored of the Eastern es- 1975 and moved theparty's head- Ultimately, 1980 proved to be nothing had been accomplished declares, "which is what they tablishment and facally tainted quarcers to Vashingon. He had adisappointment ro rhe Libertar- in return. And they blamed were when I dragged them out by association with Crane, the brought professionals and busi- ians. The emergence of Republi- Crane. of it, kicking and screaming." tough political organizer from nessmen, some of them quite can John Anderson as an inde- For some time, suspicious Lib- California wealthy, into the party, and had pendent presidendal candidate ertarians had spoken darkly of Crane, who had been a dele- produced the surprisingly pre- kept their own nominee in the the "Koch-topus," whose tenta- gate to the first Libertarian con- sentable candidacies of Roger shadows, and Clark had ended cles included the Caro Institute t took Georgetown profes- vention, had chaired the pany MacBride in1976 and Clark four up with only 1.1 percent of the and, Inquiry magazine (of which sor Ead C. Ravenal about during the mid-'70s and run Cali- years later. (In Alaska, in fact, national vote. as contrasted with Crane was the original publish- half a day to make the awe- fornia lawyer Ed Clark's cam- Clark had captured l2 percent of Anderson's 6.6 percent. Libertar- er) and whose head was in rWichi- some decision that he would run paign for president in 1980. He the vote, and two Libenarians ian purists triumphantly com- ta, Kan., in the person of multi- for president of the United had quit his iob as an investment had even been elected to the state plained rhar anri-governmenr millionaire Charles G. Koch. States. Or, more exactly, that he manager in San Francisco in legislature.) doctrine had been diluted-and The chairman of Koch Indus- would run as the Libertarian Par- tries (a giganric conglomerate ty's nominee for president of the that, according to Fortune maga- United States. zine, has "all the basic elements A Floridian named Gene of an oil major . as well as vast Burns, whose most conspicuous catde ranches and other real-es- prior service in freedom's cause tate holdings") has long been a had been as host of a radio talk Tbe anti-goaerrtment Liber- lavish benefactor of libertarian show in Odando, had long tarians moaed to'Vasbington causes. seemed to be the pa$y's predes- But now arnong disgruntled tined nominee for 1984. But sud- on a u)aae of popular Libertarians, the bitter talk was denly, less than a week before the fascina- of Crane, of the Crane machine, part'"s convention was to com- tion a -ft* years Ago. Tben indeed. of "the Crane-iacs." And mence in New York last sum- Ravenal, who had hoped to be a mer. Burns turned out to be all carne tbe crack-up. Tbis is tbe great Libenarian unifier, wrts talk. Moaning about money, he unable to ov€rcome-at least took himself off the political air. story of utbat bappened. without entirely disavowing Friends and associates soon be- Crane, which he refused to do- gan telephoning Ravenal at his the simple perception rhat he comfortable home on Cathedral was the Crane-iacal candidate. Avenue Northwest, imponun- Even Ed Clark, v,'hoae 1980 ing him to run. He would make, campaign Crane had run-and they thought, an impressive can- whose wife, Alicia Ctark. had didate: high-minded and serious, been elected party narional articulate and affable; a promi- chairman in l98l as a "unity" nent advocate of U.S. "strategic candidate-opposed Ravenal disengagement" from the world and the Crane-iacs. mence in New York last sum- tbe great Libertarian unifier, was mer, Burns catTte tbe cra;E:;i. fE;t ;t tutned out to be dl unable to overcome-at least talk. Moaning about rnoney, he story of ubat bappened. without took himself off the political air. entirely disavowing Friends and associates soon be- Crane. which he refused to de gan telephoning Ravenal at his the simple perception that he comfortable home oo Cathedral was the Crane-iacal candidate. Avenue Nonhwest, importun- Even Ed Clark, '^'hose 1980 ing him to run. He would make, campaign Crane had ru*-and they thought, an impressive can- whose wife. Alicia Clark, had didate: high-minded and serious, been elected party national aniculate and affable; a promi- chairman in l98l as a "unity" nent advocate of U.S. "strategic candidate-opposed Ravenal disengagement" from the wodd and the Crane-iacs. and a former Defense Depart- Despite this, Ravenal did man- ment official; a respected profes- age, over four ballots, to get sor of international relations at within hailing distance of the the Georgetown School of For- nomination. (Even many in the eign Service and an activeLibrl- hippie caucus defied the party's carian who had advised 1980 preeminent pamphleteer, the presidential candidate Ed Clark movement's diminutive Tom on foreign policy; a former New Paine, economist Murray Roth- England businessman; and a bard of New York, and sided graduate of Harvard (summa with the dovish Georgetown cum laude) andJohns Hopkins. professor.) But the nomination Ravenal was slightly hard of went to a Libertarian purist, Da- hearing and perhaps a shade too vid Bergland of Costa Mesa, easily annoyed at inconvenience, Calif., a lawyer who had been the but it did not seem at all far- parry's vice-presidential nomi- fetched to suppose that he would nee in 1976 an,d who was, in make a superb Libertarian candi- Crane's estimation, "a knee-ierk date.