Wicker wants liberty for the press, butnnot for others. This is why he is guilty,nalong with most of the liberal newsnmedia, of moral and intellectual treason.nOut of ignorance and an arrogancenof power unchecked by any modesty ofnmind and heart, the Wickers of thenworld are the gravediggers of our freensociety, all the while believing in thenbalderdash that they are its guardiansnand saviours.n”It is this vast and militant ignorance,nthis widespread and fathomlessnprejudice against intelligence,” observednMencken, “that makes Americannjournalism so pathetically feeble andnvulgar, and so generally disreputable.n. . . The delicate thing called honor cannnever be a function of stupidity.. ..” QnExhorting Fiscal Sin and SinnersnWilliam E. Simon: A Time fornTruth; McGraw-Hill and Reader’snDigest Press; New York.nby Clarence CarsonnIt is indeed a time for truth, and itnis to his credit that former Secretary ofnthe Treasury and Energy Czar, WilliamnE. Simon, sets forth some timely truthsnin this book. Two things are happilynmissing from his work. One is the argotnof academicians, by which an appearancenof learning obscures meaning.nThe other is the evasions by which politiciansntry to appear to be saying somethingnbut are concentrating on avoidingnsaying anything with which anyone canndisagree, i.e., talk without saying anything.nMr. Simon is candid, forthright,nand, we may hope, controversial.nIndeed, it can be argued that Simonnhas not yet learned to be a politician. Ifnhe is lucky perhaps he never will. Thatnis not to say that he is unaware of thenpressures and lures that turn a man intona politician. If he did not know of thesenalready, several years in Washingtonnunder the Nixon and Ford Administrationsnshould have provided him withnsome education on the subject. Even so,nhe did not occupy elective offices. Hendid not occupy a position of prominencenas a result of repeatedly runningnfor office. He did not live with the potentialitynof defeat and humiliationnDr. Carson writes on history and economicsnfrom Alabama.n18nChronicles of Culturenwhich accompanies rejection which isnthe staple of political existence innAmerica.nThis may account for the fact that henprovides little for us to go on as to hownmen are to be elected to office withoutndeveloping those traits we abhor innmany politicians. How can a man benelected—and, more important, reelected—whondoes not become hypocritical,ntwo-faced, and bow and scrapenbefore the sacred cows born and brednof liberal ideology? The politiciannwants publicity, indeed, believes henmust have it, but in order to get it, henrightly discerns that thinkers, writers,nand teachers who will speak for andndefend liberty need to be nurtured andnsupported, and he ofFers some valuablensuggestions on how this may be done.nX he most striking portions of thenbook, however, deal with the fiscal irresponsibilitynof governments withinnthe United States. It is appropriate thatnthis should be so, for Mr. Simon knowsnwhereof he speaks. He was in thenTreasury Department during the timenwhen New York City’s fiscal crisisncame to a head. His account of thisncrisis—how the city tried to subsist bynborrowing against future income, thenweeping, wailing and gnashing of teethnof liberal politicians as their irresponsibilitynbore its inevitable fruit, thenhypocrisy of leading bankers, and thenattempts of sundry spokesmen to absolventhemselves on the grounds that itnwas their compassionate efforts to helpnthe poor that had done them in—isnworth more than the price of the book.nMr. Simon is more than clever; he isbrilliantnin his analysis as he tears thencompassionate claims to shreds.nWhat happened to New York Cityn”The best that can be said for Mr. Simon’s cliches, here repeated, is thatnHerbert Hoover’s were even more unsuited to the times . . . Mr. Simon’snwholly undocumented assertion that teaching in American colleges andnuniversities is just ideological indoctrination is ignorant slander of teachersnand students.”n— New York Times Book Reviewnmust face the glare of television cameras,nthe obtrusive questions of reporters,nand the final judgment of a predominantlynliberal press. The medianmen are all too eager to flay him fornanything said in a moment of candornwhich departs from the liberal litany ofnvalues. I think Mr. Simon is aware ofnthe problem, but he does not concentratenon it, possibly because there is nonready solution to it.nHe does see the problem entailed innthe dominance of the academe, thenpress, the pulpit, and so forth, of liberalnintellectuals, and he does makensome proposals for dealing with it. Hennnportends for the United States government,nand other governments of thenWestern world, Mr. Simon tells us, ifnthey do not change their ways. Indeed,nthe United States has been hardly morenfiscally responsible than New YorknCity. The difference is that our generalngovernment can prolong its deficitnspending almost indefinitely by monetizingnthe debt, as can governments ofnother sovereign nations. There are consequencesnof course. The more moneynthat is issued the less its value. Peoplenrecognize the declining value and havenless and less confidence in the government.nAt the far end of this process liesn