President Nixon had signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty during his

controversial trip to Moscow and had now sent it to the Senate for ratification; Senator Jackson, the leading Democratic hawk, strongly opposed the treaty; Senator Church, a leading dove, strongly favored it. The discussion on this show is technical, but host and guests use specifics well to keep the audience in the picture. WFB: "When we use the word 'de-stabilizing,' it seems to me that we fall quite commonly into the error of [forgetting] ... that we do not ourselves plot an offensive war and, under the circumstances, that which de-stabilizes us is of no particular strategic consequences--only that which de-stabilizes them." FC: "Well, that is one of your statements that sounds very profound but which doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense at all..." WFB: "We're not going to attack Moscow, are we?" FC: "...because, look, given the arsenals that had been built up on both sides, given the capacity that each side has to utterly destroy the other, this kind of war between the United States and the Soviet Union is an insanity." ... HJ: "I'm not saying the Soviets are out for a first-strike force, but I have to take a look at what they've got over there. They already have under this agreement, and will have, 1,618 missiles, with a throw weight 4 to 1 over us ..."