New York, July 20-—Mr. Hubert Humphrey announces that we should make love, not anti-Communism, and calls for a new era of international relations, which presumably would reach a climax of joy under a Humphrey Administration. The New York Times, meditating on Mr. Humphrey’s credentials to inaugurate such an era, points out that in the past, Mr. Humphrey has been guilty of anti-Communism. The point is that we should be charitable about people’s pasts, and prepared to believe that Mr. Humphrey can outgrow his. Indeed it was Mr. Humphrey who in 1954 sponsored a bill which became the law of the land. It called for outlawing the Communist Party. Said Act never amounted to very much for a number of reasons, one of them unenforceability, another the Party’s decade-long disappearance from formal politicalizing on election days. Still, it was a symbol, and there are those who have never forgiven Mr. Humphrey for it. But he is not going to be caught guilty of the sin of post-mature anti-Communism.
We have now a fresh symbol for Soviet-American relations: a non-stop flight, inaugurated Tuesday, New York-to-Moscow aboard Aeroflot Soviet Airlines. The institution of the service is announced in full-page ads around the country. I called the lady at the number listed, for fun, to inquire whether the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’ airline had a first class section. She did not get the joke, but answered matter-of-factly in a thick accent that yes, of course, first class seats are availab’e. But, then, in a Greta Garbo no-nonsense Ninotchka voice, she announced that any reservations would have to be confirmed so many howers ahett uff time. Presumably, there is no problem about confirmations from Moscow to New York, where the people’s state is in charge of discipline. No-Shows Will Be Executed—see Ma? no hands.
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