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For All Nails #106: Southern Man Don't Need Him Around Anyhow
Excerpts from Closing Statements
Governor-General Candidates' Debate
8 August 1974
[Governor Skinner:] ...the answer to the threat posed by Mexican
military might, and the way to _contain_ Mexican military
might, is through a close relationship with _reliable_
allies. We have always had a close military relationship
with our cousins in the United Empire and in Australia. The
new government of New Granada has reached out in friendship
and alliance with the United Empire, and they are ready to
work closely with us. Although our primary interest with
regard to South America is the containment of Mexican military
might, we have just seen that our new friends are willing to
_act_ when necessary. We've all seen the pictures of those
horrible facilities where the government of Grao Para held
those of its citizens that questioned its rule. We've all
seen the pictures of the cheering crowds in Belem welcoming
King Ferdinand as their liberator. My friends, our new friends
are on the right side of history, as we will be in joining them.
By contrast, our current government and our current Governor-
General are on the _wrong_ side of history. The center of his
foreign policy, as he'll tell you himself, is faith in President
Immanuel Moctezuma of the United States of Mexico. He says to
us, "I trust this man, and the Confederation can trust this man."
And so the Governor-General's made deal after deal with President
Moctezuma, and thinks everything's fine. Now, my friends, I have
yet to meet with President Moctezuma myself. I can't tell you
whether I trust him or not _as a man_. But as _the President of
Mexico_, my friends, I don't trust him an inch. Oh, he may very
well be honestly looking out for his country's interests and be
_planning_ to keep his word. But my friends, can you tell me now
how much of the Mexican government budget goes to what they call
their "War Department"? Well, I can't tell you either, because
we don't know _how_ those Mexicans are keeping their account books.
The CBI _thinks_ that the War Department gets _seventy percent_ of
Mexico's tax _dolares_. And that War Department reports not to
President Moctezuma, but to Secretary Mercator. And even though
I have yet to meet the Secretary in person, I know about how far
I'm willing to trust a hornswoggler like _him_...
...the sanctions bill that got us into this whole midterm elections
mess was a big _mistake_. The Governor-General got riled up about
this poor young man being killed, and he wanted to _do_ something,
and he went about to do the wrong thing with these sanctions. We
should help the people of Victoria, my friends, and the way to help
them is to work in conjunction with the United Empire. Our cousins
can help guide the Victorians to the same kind of functioning
democracy that they have and that we have, for _all_ the people,
white, Negro, or what have you, but they can only do that if they're
_in the country_. You put a _wall_ of sanctions around that country,
my friends, and you're leaving the people inside to fight it out
amongst themselves. And not only is that _wrong_, my friends, but
we may not be happy with who wins...
I honor the Governor-General for his eight years of service in his
present office, and for a lifetime of service, honor, and achievement
before that. But, my friends, it is time for him to go. He is a
good man, but he's always put the economy of this country and the
cleanliness of our air, our water, and our land behind his ideas of
foreign policy. And now, my friends, that foreign policy is not
working -- not in Boricua, not in Grao Para, not in Victoria, and
not with Mexico. It is time for the Governor General to go. And it
is for that reason, my friends, that I humbly ask you, and the
Liberal Party humbly asks you, for your vote next week.
[Councilman Dean:] ...Both the so-called "major parties" offer the same
tired answers to our problems -- power and coercion. Governor
Skinner's "new friends" in London and Bogota have overthrown a
gang of murderers in Grao Para, it is true. But we will soon see
a new gang of murderers established in their place, as we have seen
in Trinidad and in Quito, or we would have seen if access to those
countries by the press were not rigidly controlled. Governor-General
Monaghan has tried to use our power to coerce the government of a
small nation, Boricua -- the fact that he failed makes his action
no less wrong. Governor-General Monaghan tried to use our economic
power through starvation to coerce the warring sides in Victoria --
the fact that he failed makes his action no less wrong. Our might
and power, my fellow citizens, should be not the power of the gun
or of economic blackmail but the power of our moral leadership. The
wealth we earn as a just and free nation should be used to help make
the world more just and more free. Nearly twenty centuries ago a
man in Palestine used his power to feed the hungry and heal the sick.
Twenty years ago another man set our great nation on the task of
feeding the hungry and healing the sick, and his heirs are doing that
right now around the world in spite of this government's shameful
reductions in his Program...
...On our own shores the path of power and coercion has meant a
complete lack of supervision for an out of control national police
force, that has arrested citizens in the night without warrants,
beaten suspects, broken into homes and offices like common thieves,
and placed their illegal overhearing devices anywhere they've wanted.
And these thugs of the CBI have not limited themselves to suspected
criminals and subversives, no -- we can _prove_ that in November of
1972 CBI agents broke into the offices of the Peace and Justice
Party in Burgoyne, and planted overhearers there. Overhearers, my
fellow citizens, that we _found_ and turned over to the Pennsylvania
Provincial Militia. But there has been no investigation, my fellow
citizens, and the man that surely _ordered_ this illegal burglary,
former CBI director Timothy Liddy, is _allegedly_ nowhere to be
found...
[Governor-General Monaghan:] Each of us have outlined in this debate
our views of how our great nation can use its great power as a
force for good in this world. The Councilman from New York has
stressed the humanitarian work of the Mason Program, which is all
well and good as far as it goes. I yield to none in my admiration
for those North Americans who are helping the needy around the world,
and showing the world the true spirit of our nation. But good works
alone are not a foreign policy, Councilman. There are those in this
world who wish us ill, and many more with whom we have honest
rivalries and honest differences of opinion. These conflicts must
be resolved, in our favor where possible and peacefully otherwise.
And this requires the use of all our strengths, not only moral but
economic, diplomatic, and when necessary even military.
We must be strong to thrive in this sometimes unpleasant world,
but I fear that my other opponent is overly reliant on our military
strength in preference to our other strengths. It is very easy,
Governor, to align ourselves with militaristic nations and to applaud
their victories. It is especially easy when those victories come
over rulers like the late unlamented Regent of Grao Para. But a
policy of support for unilateral military action, Governor, will
sooner or later result in unilateral military action on _our_ part.
I have ordered our young men into combat, Governor, when I thought
it was necessary for our security. I will _never_ do so lightly.
There is a middle ground, my fellow North Americans, between the
adventurism of Governor Skinner's new friends and the naive idealism
of Councilman Dean. We must act in the world from a position of
strength, military, economic, diplomatic, and, yes, Councilman, moral
strength. We must seek allies among other nations who want stability
in the world, not those who want to redraw borders to their own
advantage. When there are problems in nations such as Grao Para,
we must deal with them _multilaterally_, in the service not of one
nation or bloc of nations but in the service of the stability of
the world, and the freedom and prosperity that is the only long-term
source of that stability.
My fellow North Americans, my administration has a long record of
experience in foreign policy. It is not a perfect record, I admit,
but it is a largely successful record and one that I am proud of.
I believe that my teammates and I have earned the trust of the
North American people, and I ask you next week to express that
trust by giving your vote to the Peoples' Coalition. Vote for
a principled foreign policy, a measured foreign policy, a policy
that can guide us to a more stable and peaceful world. Thank you,
and my God bless the Confederation of North America.
*****************
From the New York _Herald_, page 1
17 August 1974
Final Results of National Election of 15 August 1974
[Includes confirmed late Liberal wins in Delaware (NC) and New Boston (IN).]
[Changes are indicated from 1973 totals. For purposes of computing the
changes the 23 Peace and Justice councilmen from 1973 are divided into
Reform and Justice and Masonist based on the councilman's position in the
1973 Dean-Levine leadership election. Also, nine "Green Dog" councilmen
(8 in SC, 1 in NC) were elected as PC in 1973 and reelected as Liberals
in 1974.]
State P's Coalition Ref. & Just. Liberal Masonist
(Monaghan) (Monaghan) (Skinner) (Dean)
Nor. Conf. 10 (0) 10 (+2) 11 (0) 4 (-2)
Sou. Conf. 4 (-9) 0 (0) 35 (+9) 0 (0)
Indiana 14 (-7) 2 (+1) 14 (+6) 0 (0)
Sou. Vand. 9 (-2) 0 (0) 6 (+2) 0 (0)
Nor. Vand. 4 (-3) 0 (0) 9 (+3) 0 (0)
Manitoba 5 (-3) 0 (0) 2 (0) 11 (+3)
Total 46 (-24) 12 (+3) 77 (+20) 15 (+1)
Thus Governor Lennart Skinner of Georgia will be elected Governor-General
on the first ballot next week.
Breakdown of Northern Confederation by Provinces [1]:
1973 1974
P R L M P R L M
Maine 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
New Hampshire 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
New York 3 6 2 1 4 6 1 1
Massachusetts 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
Rhode Island 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
Connecticut 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
New Jersey 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 1
Pennsylvania 2 0 4 1 2 0 5 0
Maryland 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
Delaware 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 10 8 11 6 10 10 11 4
******************
Notes:
[1] The 1973 results given here supersede those from FAN #48 in that
Delaware has its own Council seat and Massachusetts has three
rather than four. We remind readers of Sobel that the FAN authors
have adjusted the state-by-state breakdowns of election results
from 1968 and earlier, to reflect our own conception of the relative
population of the CNA's states -- see FAN #40, "That All the World
Should Be Counted".