Nixon’s Tape Problems May Have Turned on a Switch

--If aides had had more faith in former President Richard M. Nixon’s mechanical abilities, tape recordings that figured in the Watergate case may not have existed. Nixon wanted a manual on-off switch for his taping system, former White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman wrote in the National Archives publication “Prologue.” But, Haldeman wrote, he told Nixon that he might not remember to turn it on or off at the right time. “I added, silently, in my own thoughts, that this President was far too inept with machinery ever to make a success of a switch system,” he wrote. A voice-activated system was installed, Haldeman said.

--A federal appeals court ruled that the Boston Symphony Orchestra is not liable under a state civil rights law for canceling a 1982 performance by Vanessa Redgrave. The court ruled the British actress could not recover civil-rights damages for the symphony’s cancellation of her contract to narrate Igor Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex.” The BSO said it canceled the shows because of threatened disruption by groups opposed to Redgrave’s support for the Palestine Liberation Organization. “We have been unable to find any case . . . in which a state has been allowed to compel expression,” the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a 3-2 ruling. The court, in reconsidering an October, 1987, decision by a three-member panel of the same court, affirmed that Redgrave could collect, on a breach-of-contract claim, her performance fee of $27,500, plus $12,000 for losing a part in a play. The civil rights claim was the major issue on appeal, because damages under the state law were potentially far higher.

--Dan Rather has a musical answer for critics. The group Accuracy in Media took out a New York Times ad that said “Are you mad at Dan Rather?” and gave a toll-free number. Callers heard a recording stating that a CBS documentary on post-traumatic stress disorder inaccurately suggested that Vietnam War veterans are mentally deranged and urged people to phone Rather’s office, where callers then heard another recording--of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” “Dan was just telling these people, hey, don’t question my patriotism,” CBS spokesman Tom Goodman said.