Nation: The Silent and Unsilent

The "silent majority" is becoming one of the Administration's catch phrases. Richard Nixon appealed to it on Nov. 3 to stand by his war policies. Its opposite, of course, is the unsilent minority, which Spiro Agnew, who has been running regular Thursday-night beat-the-press shows, defines as "an arrogant few" dissenters. Such constant reference to that magic line of 51% of the people—whether friends above it or opponents below it—may end up looking like a form of insecurity. After the Senate rejected Judge Clement Haynsworth for the Supreme Court, the President observed, naturally enough, "I deeply regret this action." But then, as...

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