I write this just as our ship is docking at Izmir in Turkey, which is the Smyrna of the Book of the Revelation. From here we head toward Alexandria, Haifa, and Beirut. We will visit the ruins of Babylon, stop at the street called Straight in Damascus, and walk the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.
I have been trying to do a little extracurricular reading, which included volume two of Jennie, a biography of Winston Churchill’s mother. Churchill was greatly influenced by an Irish-American orator, Bourke Cochran, one of whose thoughts he used again and again. Indeed, he used it in his famous Iron Curtain speech at Fulton, Missouri: “There is enough for all. The earth is a generous mother; she will provide in plentiful abundance food for all her children if they will but cultivate her soil in justice and in peace.” We are still a long way from that goal. In the Middle East multitudes of people have a standard of living far lower than the lowest in the United States.
The news of President Nixon’s reelection was no particular surprise, since the polls had foretold it since July. We don’t think that he or the nation should be complacent about the various charges leveled against the Republicans by the Democrats. Our editorial (see page 29) makes plain our opinion that a full and impartial investigation should be made of the charges and justice should be done. Meanwhile, we hope that this type of dirty political campaign will not be repeated next time around.
