On the Right

New York, Aug. 24—The Soviet Union has had a lot of practice in the art of living theater, though it is not often that Soviet authorities have the opportunity to stage their political dramas on American soil. The decision last week—there is no doubt that the choreography was done in Moscow—was to use a very small theater. The Soviet Embassy.

So Papa Berezhkov got Andy prepared, decreed that the audience would consist of not more than three U.S. television cameras and reporters, and two Soviet reporters. And in came Andy. He recited his lines, and the only interruption from the audience came from vulgar American journalists who wanted to ask questions. Papa Berezhkov tried to prevent this from happening, but he might as well have been Richard Nixon, so futile was the attempt. So they did ask Andy, Didn’t he write a letter to the President of the United States and to the New York Times?—which together make up the ruling American junta —and he said that the letter we are all familiar with was a fake. The only genuine aspect of Andy’s statement of denial was the grammar. “The letter that was published, 1 didn’t write it.” Moscow’s scriptwriters are not, however, beyond fashioning words that sound like those one would expect from a schoolboy.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

New York, Aug. 24—The Soviet Union has had a lot of practice in the art of living theater, though it is not often that Soviet authorities have the opportunity to stage their political dramas on American soil. The decision last week—there is no doubt that the choreography was done in Moscow—was to use a very small theater. The Soviet Embassy.

So Papa Berezhkov got Andy prepared, decreed that the audience would consist of not more than three U.S. television cameras and reporters, and two Soviet reporters. And in came Andy. He recited his lines, and the only interruption from the audience came from vulgar American journalists who wanted to ask questions. Papa Berezhkov tried to prevent this from happening, but he might as well have been Richard Nixon, so futile was the attempt. So they did ask Andy, Didn’t he write a letter to the President of the United States and to the New York Times?—which together make up the ruling American junta —and he said that the letter we are all familiar with was a fake. The only genuine aspect of Andy’s statement of denial was the grammar. “The letter that was published, 1 didn’t write it.” Moscow’s scriptwriters are not, however, beyond fashioning words that sound like those one would expect from a schoolboy.