There He Goes Again

By George Russell

Watt's latest blunder may cost him his job

Most political figures try to avoid controversy. Some have controversy thrust upon them. But Interior Secretary James G. Watt does things differently. He thrusts himself upon controversy with the fervor of an ancient Roman hurling himself on his own sword.

The zealous Westerner impaled himself again last week, in a way that drew angry stirrings from Congress and renewed pressure for Watt's resignation. The occasion was a breakfast meeting of some 200 U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyists in Washington, D.C. Watt was talking about a five-member commission that he had appointed at congressional behest to review Interior's much debated program of coal leasing on public lands, which has been called a multimillion-dollar giveaway at taxpayers' expense. Watt may have meant to extol his choice of commissioners, but what came out was something else. The panel, he said, had "every kind of mix you can have. I have a black, I have a woman, two Jews and a cripple." And, the Secretary added, "we have talent."

Some of the lobbyists laughed aloud, but many greeted the remark with stony silence. Afterward, Panel Member Donald C. Alexander, a former Internal Revenue Service commissioner, called Watt's remark "inappropriate and irrelevant. Since I can't fit into the category dealing with religion, and I'm not black and not a woman, that leaves only one group, and I don't feel I should be left one group, and I don't feel I should be left out. I think the Secretary might have thought I'm mentally handicapped."

Commission Member Richard L. Gordon, a professor at Pennsylvania State University who is Jewish and has a paralyzed right arm, said he was "disturbed" by Watt's remarks. Panelist Julia Walsh, a Washington investment counselor, said she resented the implication "that I am the token woman." David Linowes, a Jew and a professor of economics at the University of Illinois, and Andrew Brimmer, a black and a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, called Watt's remarks "unfortunate."

Watt was soon issuing apologies all around, including a fairly abject one to President Reagan. "I have made a mistake, Mr. President," Watt wrote, "and I ask the forgiveness of those on the commission as well as you." Watt said his remarks were "extraordinarily unfair" to Reagan, whose policies "are designed to lift the scourge of discrimination from our midst." That may have been Watt's belated recognition that he had not helped the White House in its current campaign to curry favor among women and minorities.

Watt's off-the-cuff zingers have been a frequent source of pain for the Reagan Administration--not to mention those who have been at the receiving end of them. Unabashedly, indeed excessively, partisan in his politics, Watt has been known to distinguish between Democrats and Republicans as "liberals and Americans." He has compared environmentalists to the forces that created Nazism in Germany. Last year Watt provoked a furor of almost international dimensions after he wrote a letter to then Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Moshe Arens. Watt deplored the possibility that "liberals of the Jewish community" might oppose his program for offshore oil drilling. Many American Jewish leaders read that as a veiled threat to try to cut off aid to Israel unless they toed Watt's drilling line. The Secretary later apologized.

This year, American Indians were outraged after Watt called their reservations, afflicted with high rates of unemployment, drug abuse and alcoholism, examples of "the failure of socialism." Watt apologized. In April, even Nancy Reagan was miffed after Watt banned the Beach Boys from July 4 celebrations at the Mall in Washington, D.C., on the ground that they attracted "an undesirable element." For that gaffe, Reagan awarded Watt a cast statuette of a foot with a hole shot in it. Again, Watt apologized.

Republicans usually have found reasons to excuse Watt's verbal pyrotechnics, or at least let them pass. But this time, some were not so forgiving. Seven G.O.P. Senators joined longstanding Democratic calls for Watt's resignation. A motion to that effect almost reached a vote on the Senate floor before Senate Majority Leader Howard H. Baker Jr. got wind of the attempt and hastily gaveled the session into recess. Nonetheless, said Republican Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota, "these last remarks have pushed me over the edge."

So far, the President has shown no sign that he is giving up on Watt. White House Spokesman Larry Speakes said Reagan found Watt's comment "embarrassing" but accepted his apology. The President is loyal -- to a fault, say some of his aides--to those who are loyal to him; Watt has definitely been that. There may also be a tactical reason for Reagan's tolerance for his ill-spoken Interior Secretary. As the Administration has taken increasingly centrist positions, Watt has provided a kind of ideological protection for Reagan's right flank.

The famous Reagan tolerance, however, does not in this case extend to all members of the family. In California, the President's daughter Maureen, an adviser to the G.O.P. and the White House on women's issues, complained that during his tenure Watt has sent "enough apologies to the President to paper the wall. Why doesn't he just send his resignation?" That, she said, was what someone "truly loyal" to Ronald Reagan would do.

As the furor grew, Watt, as usual, was hoping it would all blow over. "He's been hurt by this," said an aide, "but not mortally--at least for now." As Watt likes to put it: "When my liabilities outweigh my strengths, I should go." After his latest blunder, the scales may have tipped. -- By George Russell. Reported by Jay Branegan and Caroline Mooney/ Washington

With reporting by Jay Branegan, Caroline Mooney/Washington This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.