Echo Chamber

President Ford’s San Diego press conference contained two threads of contradiction. These confusions will vex our thinking and trouble our politics for some time to come. The contradictions concern the consequences of, and blame for, the American defeat in South Vietnam.

Mr. Ford said: “We will stand by our allies and I specifically warn any adversary they should not under any circumstances feel that the tragedy of Vietnam is an indication that the American people have lost their will or their desire to stand up for freedom any place in the world.”