EDITOR'S COLUMN If ABLE OF CONTENTS he United Slates Supreme Court handed down several rulings EDITOR'S COLUMN ... ...•..... .. .. .. ... •.•.•. • • •..... ..... 2 T thi s summer which will have a sharp impac t on this fall 's political PROFILES AND PERSPECTIVES: debate. Among those decisions are the A Conversation with Richard Thornburgh . ..... ... ......... .• ..•...... right for states to restrict abortion prac­ lices, a narrowing of affimwtive action POLICY PRESCRIPTION FOR A POST-SOVIET AFGHANISTAN plans. and the protection of a flag­ Lawre nce R. Fioretta • .. ••• •..• • ..•. • . ... ... ... .. • .. •••• .. • ... 7 burn er's liberties. A common thread in the Court's fi nd­ EDITORIALS . .. ... •• ... •• ..... • • . ... • . •.. ..•.•.. ••••• .. • . .8 ings. as our illustrator R.J . Matson depicts on th e front cover. is a rolling BEVOND CONTAINMENT: back of the federal government's reach. Joseph Spiegler •• .. •• ... •• ... .• . • . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... •••• ... • . • . I To discuss th ese issues in depth . the Forum talked in August wi th U.S. At­ HOW TO BE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PRESIDENT: torney General Richard Thornburgh. In Robert Ward •• .. • . ..• ............. .. .. .. .. ... ..... • .. •••• .. • .. 12 his interview. Thornburgh says. by con­ trast. that "very few new trends were in­ CONSTANCE NEWMAN: HEADING THE FEDERAL BUREA UC RA CY itiated." And even if they were. chang­ Wi ll iam P. Mc Kenzie .... •• ... •• .. • . • •......... .. .. ... ••• ... • . • 14 ing dire cti ons is not new. As the fonner Pittsburgh prosecutor says. "The Co urt JAMES WRA Y AND WHITE HOUSE POLITICS: not so ra rely and frequently reverses it­ David A. Fuscus . .. ... .• ... •• .. • . •. .. .. ... ... .. .... .•. • IS self. " A Forum editorial concludes that a ANDREW CARD AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE PRESIDENCY: libertarian bent may be detected on the William P. McKenzie .. ... •• .... • . •• .. • ..... .. .. ... .. ...... •• . •• . 16 Court. The fl ag-burning decision in Johnson v. Texas is an example. where GIVE THAT PLANE A MISSION!: the Coun held that the free speech Rick Horowitz . .. .. • .... •• ... • .. • .. ••. ........ • . •.. •• 0 • • •• • • 19 clause of the First Amendment protccts a person's ri ght to bum the Ameri can REVIEWS: fla g. And in scvcral decisions regarding THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE LIBERAL racial inequities. the Court displayed a REPUBLICANS: NICOL RAE: re luctance to use state power to redress Dale Curtis •• .. •• .. • .... •• .... ... .. ... .. ... ... • . •• . • . • •• .. • .. 20 race discrimination. On othe r issues. Ripon Forum as­ THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER: soc iate editor Dale Curtis revie ws Peace in th e Middle East: professor Nicol Rae's book. "The William Clinger . •• ... • .•..... .. ... .. ... • . .. ... • . • . •. .... • ... 22 Decline and Fa ll of L ibe ral Republicans." (With a title like that. WASHINGTON NOTES AND QUOTES ... ... • . • .. • ..• • • • • • .. •• . 23 why wouldn't we review it?) We also continue o ur series o n the key players in the Bush administration. Profiled in this issue are Constance Newman of the Of­ RIPON/orum fice of Personnel Manage ment. and Edil tH": William P. M e K en ~ ie James Wray and Andrew Card of the Ihsod"l~ f:di/tH": Dale E. Cunis White House staff. ,,'dilorial Assi>flmlS: Joseph Spiegler. J.rr.rsoo Guthrie Pany. ManuscriplS and pOOIQgraplt. are SQliciloJ. but Produr liOIl mru lOl"" Bradl~)' K ~ndall do nOl represent the vie""'lf the Soc;'IY unl.ss ro S131oJ. Two Mark O. Hatfie ld Scholars also I-:dil Qri,,1Hoa,d : Secondclass postage and r.." paid al WuhinStoo. D.C. provide prescriptions for the environ­ T~m:"c~ M. O'Sulhan and additlooal maIling Qff",.s. /'Q>Ima>ler: Send address David A. Fuscus cha nges t'l RipQn FQ'um. b Library C'lUrl. S.E.. ment and Afghanistan. respecti ve ly. Slcp/>cn A. Mcssinger Mariann KUnl. Wa>ltingtoo. O.C. 20003. And Ripon chainnan Bill Cli nger con­ Alfred W. Tate Stev~n B. K lin'~y Subscril'lioo rat",: S2.'i per ye.r.s17.SO f<)l" Students. cludes the issue with an important Gem E. Moy.,,- Gail Slocum ...,vitt"",n. Peace CO<jlS. Vi'13 and ",her v'll unt..,.... l) t~ ig " Co " s u",,"': R.J. ~ b tson Ov~as. pleast add $6. PI. a~ allQw five weeks f{lfOO· foreign topic: the continuing crisis in the dre.,chaJIge. Middle East. TIlE RI PON FO RUM USN OOJS--~~26) is published The Ripon Society IlIc .• M ..~ E. Unc:aphe •. p""ident. bi_ mo,"hly in 1989 by The Ripon Society. Cootents is a Republk"n rese."h and jXllicy Ofj!anization "'~ ar<: copyrighted 1989 by lhe Ripon Society. Inc .. 6 membe ... are blJsino.<S. academic. and professional men --Bill McKenz ie Library Coon. S.E .• Wa.hingtoo. D.C. 20003. and W'lmen. It is headquanered in W.shingtoo. D.C .. In the publicatioo the Society hope. tQ pm"ide a forum with National A.. sociat. members througl>wt lhe UniloJ f(>1" fresh ideas. well r<:",arched ~Is. and I spirit Statcs. Ripon is .\upjXInoJ by chaplcr dues. individual Qfe •• oliv. criticism and innQvalion in the Republican rontribulioos. and ..,v~nu.s from il$ publicatioos, 2 Ripoll Forum. September 1989 PROFILES AND PERSPECTIVES A Conversation with Richard Thornburgh Ripon Forum: As you know. the surpri sed and somewhat disappointed. Supreme Court has handed down a Now the question is whether any statute num ber of controversial rulings this summer, including decisions on abor­ Attorn ey General Ri chard Thornburgh tion , affimlative action, and fla g- burn­ It is probably good that ing, What trends do you see at work in 111 early Allgust A/tomey General these rulings? justices defy intellectual Richard Thornhurgh sal down with Thornburgh: A numbe r of the cubbyholes. Every case Ripon Forum edilOrs Bill McKen:ie decisions were consistent with ourposi­ and Joseph Spiegler 10 commel1l oll llle ti ons, so we regard this as a prett y good that comes before the Supreme Court's recelll Opilliolls 01/ term . The Webster case gives states Court is a case which in­ abortion. lljJirmalil'c actioll. Gnd flag­ greater leeway in regulating abortion; volves particular/acts, burnillg. III this ill/en'iew. he cal/didly the fo ur civil rights cases shaped certain (JisclI$ses the pofilical p itja{(s of th ose evidentiary, proceduml. and standing jU lles. questions: a so-called "good faith" can solve thi s or whether it's dcsirJblc The former PClI lIsyli'ollia gOI'erllor qualification 10 the "Miranda rule" was to add an amendment to the Constitu­ succeeded EII»,;n Meese III a.s a/lomcy established in Duckworth v, Eagan; and ti on. geneml ill Allg lISf 1988. and his ad­ the death penalty cases continued to Ripon Forum: The argument has milled aim is 10 restore faith infillal/cial uphold its use. Depending upon how becn made that a tension ex isits among (llId gOI'c nmll'ntaf il1sritllliolls. Fighting you number them. 10-12 cases adopted the conservati ve justices, some o f white-collar crime, he says. "has to do the government'S position , The two whom favor state-powe r to achieve so­ w illi the presen'Gtioll. al/d, ill somc losers were the fla g-burning and dial-a­ cial goals and some of whom arc more cases, a reslOrarioll of rh e ill/egrilY of porn cases, libertarian. imporwl/I i1lSli(lIIioll5." What you make of all of these is the Thornburgh: In most aspects of III 1987 Thornburgh accepted a posi­ fa vorite sport of the academic com­ public life. and particularly with re gard lioll as director of Harvard' s Johll F. munity, From our point of view. ['m not to the Supreme Court, labels can be very Kennedy School ofGovemmelll. Bill 18 sure there's anything profound. Trends deceptive and of limited utilit y. It 's mOllllls Imer. Ronald Rea~all asked him were reinforced, but very few new probably good that justices defy intel­ 10 become attorney gel/ eral. Th is trends were ini tiated. lectual cubbyholes. Every case that surprised some people. as Th omburgh Ripon Forum: Were you surpri sed by comes before the Court is a case which had been considered a m oderale the ruling in Johnson v. Texas. where a involves particular facts. Republican gOl'em or. more libertarian strand protected the Among our three major institutions of 8ur Ihe 56-year olt! al/orney general right to burn a fla g? government, the Court alone is a totally eschews politiwl labels. As he says, Thornburgh: To have thi s Court per­ reactive organ, It doesn 't enunciate "Labels call be I'ery deceplil'e alld of mit flag-burning obviously rai sed some broad policy out of the air. It decides fim iled ulilily." Perhaps Th ornburgh eyebrows. [n·the past, such justices as cases or cont roversies. As the justices con best be described as a pragmolic Earl Warren, Abe Fortas. and Hugo do thaI. they indicate policy directions, decisiOl/maker. This is much like the Black have indic<lted anti-flag-burning But there's no way they can seize the in­ presidelll he sen 'es, alld the resu{l will statutes were constitutional. itiati ve and present their views on par­ be similar: a cOllrse that pleases cOl/ser­ It's clear there was a lot of behind-the ti cular issues, except as the issues come volires 01/ some occasions, mmlerales scenes wrestling and that produced a to them. 0 11 others, and nobody all the time, some what unu sual result. 1 was So it's awfully hard to predict the im- Ripoll Forum , September 1989 3 plicalions of different views. You don't Thornburgh: That's a point worth y trcmes. That's inherent in the process. know when the issue thai galvanizes of making. Because the Court is, as you Ripon Forum: Now thaI abortion has those differences will come to the Coun point oul. loath to take action overturn­ been thrown back to 50 different states, and what the particular facts wi ll be.