Sunday, June 13, 1999 -- NEW YORK/WASHINGTON -- The hard-right opened an offensive yesterday, targeting Hillary Clinton.

The weapons: an article in this morning's New York Times which leaks the possibility that Independent Counsel Ken Starr might issue a report on the Clintons' "behavior" surrounding the non-scandal Whitewater -- a report sure to be designed to impact on Mrs. Clinton's run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pat Moynihan, and an appearance by Starr on Fox News Sunday.

But this volley against Hillary backfired as Starr proceeded to wriggle out of every question -- and corrode his already-tarnished reputation even further!

The other big topics of the day: Peace in Kosovo as a Clinton Failure, and George W. Bush Jr. as the GOP Savior.

Here are the dirty details:

Fox Spin Sunday

Tony Snow asked two questions during opening credits for Fox News Sunday: "Can America afford the peace?... Ken Starr -- is he a villain or victim?"

Which led us to ask our own question: Tony Snow -- has he become the victim of his own agenda? His intro was clue number one that FNS was going to attempt to make a major stride in rehabilitating his first guest, the corrupt Kenneth Starr -- an attempt that would backfire badly.

Tony began the public jury-rigging with a slanted opening tape piece supposedly about Ken Starr's ongoing activities but which was in actuality a hit piece on Hillary Clinton. there was a strong emphasis on Webb Hubbell's ties to Mrs. Clinton. Here are some sound bites from the segment -- and our "asnides."

"...[Hillary is] mentioned indirectly in the indictment over thirty-five times...." Well, surprise, surprise! Starr has been gunning for the Clintons for years, and it's no surprise to see him trying to tie Mrs. Clinton to questionable charges against Hubbell. It amazes us that Ken Starr didn't also indict Socks or Buddy!

"... [she] will be called as a defense witness..." -- and once again make fools of Starr's staff.

"Starr's tactics were vindicated by federal judges." Yeah -- mostly right-wing political appointee hacks who hate Clinton.

"Judge Starr, you're back in the newspapers today." Tony asked whether he would issue such a report, and Starr gave the first of many slippery and noncommittal responses, saying he is obliged to issue a final report, then immediately shifted ground, saying his staff was busy preparing for the Hubbell trial. Tony then asked how long it will be until Starr closes up shop, and Starr said he would continue until his work is done, again shifting to the issue of the impending Hubbell trial.

Brit Hume asked about possible prosecutions in the works and what might happen if "Mr. Hubbell is more cooperative" [we can only guess that it means if Hubbell decided to lie repeatedly as Kathleen Willey did]. Starr gave a wordy, noncommittal answer, but said the expiration of the statute would not end his work -- which, of course, it wouldn't do anyway.

It was becoming clear that Starr was making yet another non-substantial appearance filled with the usual patterns of evasion and hiding behind the rule of law to project the image of a "fair" man "duty-bound" to "do the job." It was also clear that the act isn't playing in Peoria -- except among Clinton-haters and "true believer" hard-right zealots.

Brit asked if the decision-making process is being affected by the fact that Hillary is running for the Senate -- an attempt to "blame" Hillary for "politicizing" Starr's investigation before the fact. And Starr played right into the spin -- citing the manner in which the statute he so strongly "objects" to politicizes investigations.

Talk about hypocrisy!

He referred to reports coming from his office as "public education." Oh, we see -- the pornography Starr had placed on the Internet was for the purpose of teaching school children new and creative uses for tobacco products! We were just about rolling on the floor over Starr's transparent stupidity.

There was plenty of other pap from Starr -- about "bringing things to an orderly conclusion" following the resolution of the Hubbell trial. Does this mean a final report before elections? "First things first," said Starr, avoiding an answer by saying that Hubbell is issue one in his office as he mentioned the Samuel Johnson comment about "wonderfully concentrating the mind." His statement that his office would "take its time" indicated that he may drag things into the Gore Administration in an effort to use the Clintons to "embarrass" Gore.

But this is a lie. What is concentrating Starr's mind at this time is the very real prospect of disbarment (by the D.C. Bar Association) and prosecution (in the matter of Grand Jury leaks). And we think that's "wonderful."

Starr was evasive in EVERY answer -- when Tony asked him about grand jury activities, Starr would NOT acknowledge where, but did say that there was Grand Jury activity.

In one reply concerning relations with the Justice Department, he talked about working with the DOJ "collegially" and they have "the support of the Justice Department [and] the unflagging support of the Director of the FBI" -- an attempt to spin "relations" that are reportedly not as Starr says. And Starr tried going on the attack in comments that sounded like a defense of the three-judge panel supervising him -- but were essentially an accusation that Starr's opponents were trying to paint them as right-wing zealots.

The problem is that publicly reported comments by two of these judges has exposed them as hard-righters bent on destroying Clinton -- once again exposing Starr as a liar.

At another point, Brit read off a litany of Starr's "achievements" -- an attempt to make him look like a prestigious lawyer-jurist -- before he asked "Why in the world did you take this job?" This gave Starr yet another chance to trash the very IC statute he used to try to bring down the Clintons and implied that he did it out of a sense of duty: "I responded to the call."

We can only wonder who was calling: Newt? Dick Scaife's bagman Richard Larry? Tom DeLay?

Are you disappointed with the outcome? "Absolutely not.... We are where we are and I believe we conducted ourselves in an appropriate and responsible manner."

Believe what you want, Kenny (or lie about it) -- we can't wait to see if the DC Bar Association and the special master looking into leaks disagree!

Tony: "Are you a political hack?" Starr: "I don't think so." What he meant: "I was hoping to God not to be perceived as so, but I really blew it, I guess!" Starr yammered on about gathering and assessing "facts" in the process of bringing indictments. Tony followed up with a question about pursuing all leads -- and doing it in a way that does not abuse the law, a question that presumes that Starr was not abusing the law. We think otherwise -- and we cannot believe that the usually savvy Tony is trying to whitewash Starr!

Starr claimed it was his "duty" to take on Filegate and Travelgate, but that "in retrospect it was unwise."

His "duty?" He was pressing every possible person to expand his failed Whitewater investigation in any direction in what still looks like an attempt to get any piece of dirt on Clinton.

And the "level of detail" in Starr's pornographic report? "I stand by that...", and Starr attempted to dismiss the criticism by claiming that he needed it to bolster the "credibility of the witnesses' testimony that we had."

Like who? Kathleen Willey, whom your office kept catching in lie after lie? Whom your office had to repeatedly immunize as a result?

Starr was asked about the Sam Dash resignation and, as he has done before, Starr "refuse[d] to criticize Sam..." He talked about Dash's looking at the various activities of the OIC and not finding anything wrong, then glossed over Dash's resignation because Starr unethically acted as an advocate for impeachment before the House Judiciary Committee.

Tony asked Starr about Carville ("I'm not going to comment."), Tripp ("I don't think I should comment, she's a witness in an ongoing matter") and Bill Clinton "Extraordinarily gifted, beyond that I won't comment.")

Brit asked if he would contemplate another judgeship, and Starr talked instead about teaching. "This was not a stepping stone, at least upward!"

That was the understatement of the year.

Tony asked him if his dream of being a Supreme Court justice was over -- this question in and of itself put Starr's previous answer into grim perspective.

The one question-cum-spin-point that did NOT come up: a report that the Arkansas Grand Jury had pushed for some 50 indictments against Hillary Clinton and Starr did not pursue any of them. Maybe it did not come up because APJ "outed" this thanks to a source close to Fox News -- and they decided to pull the question and look for more subtle ways to impugn Hillary Clinton.

The second segment was supposed to be about the high cost of rebuilding Yugoslavia. Instead, Tony spent the segment trying to breathe some life back into the Cold War. The guests: Sens. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

First, Tony asked about "Russian troops... holding off NATO troops [at the Pristina airport]."

McConnell said, "The Russians have more authority [under UN auspices] than they would have had at Rambouillet.... [They] will not get a sector [of Kosovo]."

But Biden said that "Yeltsin got suckered.... Who's in charge? It appears there was some independent contracting here!" Tony asked why, "if Yeltsin is not in charge... we are talking to him?" Biden correctly answered that "you have to talk to someone" but did acknowledge there was more than a bit of vagary on who was in charge. He added that the Russians do not have the money to put in a lot of troops -- and that the incident makes them look inept!

McConnell responded by saying, "The Russians had a lot more to do with this than Bosnia... I think this is very troublesome." Lordy, Tony was helping this guy practically plead for a new Cold War -- and find ways to bash the UN and the specter of one-world government! Biden said that the UN "has no veto over the military role," only on the civilian side -- a point that crushed McConnell's spin.

"Is the World Court a farce?" asked Tony. Biden said yes -- but this is the chance for them to redeem themselves with a genuine show trial that is a real trial. "I just hope Europe has the backbone to go through with it."

"Are the Republicans being sore winners?" Biden said yes -- but that McConnell is an exception to the rule. Biden was too damn nice to the surly McConnell.

Tony asked McConnell the so-called "main topic" question -- the US paid for the war, should Europe pay for the peace? "This isn't going to be new money... it will not be on the same magnitude... as what Europe will put in."

Following the break, Tony welcomed Haley "Howdy" Barbour. The supposed issue -- why so many GOPers are getting behind George W. Bush Jr. The real reason for his appearance -- an attempt to make hard-righter Barbour relevant again. "Howdy" expressed surprise at the amount of support Bush has commanded, especially in light of "the crop of high-quality candidates."

Obviously, Barbour wants a "real" conservative, not a "girly-man" like BushBaby.

Mara Liasson asked Leon Panetta "how Americans can have more faith in George Bush's foreign policy... than Al Gore," citing poll numbers that any idiot will tell you are meaningless. And Panetta said that they can't -- and that Gore is proving himself on foreign policy. He said that the most important element for a candidate is being comfortable with who you are -- and that Gore did it in his debates with Ross Perot and Jack Kemp.

Are GOPers "underestimating Al Gore," asked Tony to Howdy. Howdy acknowledged that there is a danger of just that.

Tony asked Panetta how Gore would distinguish himself from Clinton; Panetta said he already had -- and would continue to do so on specific issues. He called the GOP a combination of "the Keystone Cops and the Katzenjammer Kids" -- our line of the week.

Mara asked Howdy about Hillary's Senate run, and Howdy spun the expected "Gore must be disappointed" and "a drain on his campaign" nonsense. Panetta surprised us by saying that there may be a little attention drawn away from Al -- but "it will be helpful because she will help Al Gore."

Mara tried to simultaneously "dis" and praise some vague thing she called "Clintonism" -- as she said that BushBaby had embraced certain aspects of Clintonism! Howdy raised the phony "threat" of Clinton and Gore wanting to "concentrate power in Washington."

Howdy predicted "Republicans around the country will rally around Mayor Giuliani."

We say Howdy Barbour is wrong -- Giuliani has too many enemies in the New York GOP establishment, including Governor George Pataki, State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, and Senate alumnus Al D'Amato (who considers Rudy his personal Brutus)> Rudy also has too many skeletons in his closet and too many "Willie Hortons" chained to him to be a shoo-in for the GOP slot in this race. With each passing day, Congressman Rick Lazio is looking more and more viable.

In fact, Howdy Barbour sounded so far out of the loop that it is clear that he is no longer relevant to the GOP!

Panel time! Topic one: "they're off and running" with BushBaby's announcement. Juan anointed him "a winner... he looks like he's running right up the middle." Tony asked Juan about how they would get the Hispanic vote, and Juan said the key was seeing to it that "Bush is not [former] Gov. Wilson [of California]." Brit cited "centerist conservatism with a soft edge" and said that Bush has "squatter's rights" on the position. Mara sounded smug in her claim that "practical idealism" implied that Democrats had been impractical -- but said that Bush "believ[ing] in global warming" was "smart."

Well, gee, Mara, what an astute observation! maybe it's because global warming is real.

Tony then touted an "amazing" result to a stupid and slanted Fox Opinion Dynamics poll question -- whether Gore should "distance" himself from Clinton. Even Brit thought it was meaningless!

Mara claimed the Gore candidacy is "a referendum on the Clinton Administration" -- sounding as if such a thing would be a problem for Democrats. We say that the GOP would be wise to consider that most Americans support positions taken by Clinton -- regardless of what the results of the idiotic, non-impartial Fox poll numbers say! Gore would win such a referendum.

In Tony's final word, he admitted he was wrong about air power -- while he slammed the Kosovo "war" for "not claiming the hearts of America."

Good Lord, Tony, it's because YOU and the rest of the press did your level best to naysay Clinton, second-guess the Joint Chiefs and NATO's military command, turn every air campaign miss into an international crisis, ignore evidence that the Neofascist Serbs were on a rape-and-slaughter campaign and hobble NATO's attempt to stop wholesale slaughter -- and your network, Fox, was the most eager to acquiesce to Milosevic's censored, one-sided "news" coming out of Serbia and Kosovo.

And you failed. Most Americans do support principled intercession to stop genocide. Most Americans are satisfied that Slobodan's ethnic cleansing has been stopped -- with zero U.S. combat casualties! And as video footage of mass graves, rape camps and incinerated homes, schools and mosques hit the air in coming weeks, even the naysayers will be forced to admit that Kosovo is a major policy and humanitarian victory for NATO and has increased the power, prestige and prominence of America in global affairs.

"Me bad," concluded Tony.

No kidding!

This Weak

"Peace in Kosovo: The President declares victory... but Russian troops jump the gun!" said Sam. Cokie intoned, "We go on the campaign trail."

Good, Cokie. You should take the opportunity to get away from your incestuous Beltway pals and talk to real Americans, not Georgetown doyens out to dis the Clintons.

Sam began This Weak by citing Russian troops in Kosovo: "This gives NATO a problem." An ABC correspondent cited tensions between Russians, who have taken the airport at Pristina, and the British, who were supposed to use it as their command-and-control center, plus reports that a Serb refugee convoy was attacked by KLA forces.

Guest one: Jamie Shea, NATO spokesman. A surprising amount of ground was covered in a remarkably short seven minutes -- but this is no surprise, because Shea is lightning-fast in Q&A situations.

Question one: was he surprised by the Russian move? "Yes... but we're glad they were in such a rush to join us!" Sam cited a NATO general calling the incident "bizarre," but Shea instead focused on the tens of thousands of NATO troops fanning out over Kosovo -- and the Russians as peacekeepers. Shea said that the Russians are not yet (emphasis on yet) part of the K4 force -- but if you look at Pristina proper, it is the British soldiers who are out -- and getting cheered -- by the people of Kosovo.

George Will asked about the possibility of "renegade" Russian troops having gone into Kosovo, and Shea refused to play into the gambit, instead citing Russian cooperation and their having agreed to getting permission prior to any more Russians going in. He cited flexibility on the part of Russians. Shea made it clear that there are no plans for "Russians to have their chunk of Kosovo" but that the Russians' presence is "very helpful ... to reassure Kosovo Serbs." There are, he added, no plans to partition Kosovo.

Cokie decided to focus on claims of atrocities committed by the KLA and whether "demilitarization" was actually going to happen. Shea said he expected that such incidents would end as time goes on.

The second segment focused on GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush Jr. The canned video intro amounted to nothing more than a celebrity puff-piece more appropriate for Entertainment Tonight than a news program -- zero substance, all "image."

What gives? Trying to make Mr. Nothing look substantial, Cokie? Were you asking Dubya about "looking toward our better angels" so George can talk about immigrants and the American Dream? Why not ask Mexican-American residents of those border colonias that Bush shows zero "compassionate conservatism" for?

We were laughing out loud as Bush concluded his "Oprah" moment with Cokie and said something about making a speech and leaving.

Good. Please do both -- as quickly as possible!

Cokie then welcomed Michigan Governor John Engler (R), who first emphasized Bush's intent to "cut taxes," then tried to combine "prosperity with a purpose" with the Columbine massacre and "honest leadership." Huh? Engler made no sense at all.

Will asked a cheap-shot, loaded question about Clinton not having the "moral authority to lead." Will -- who some years back discovered he had been thrown out of his own house when arrived home one day to find his things thrown on the front lawn -- has no moral authority to ask such a question. And Engler, who we thought would know better, bashed the "Clinton-Gore" Administration.

Stupid move. Engler sounded more like the ranting moralist bigots destroying the GOP than the moderate he is reputed to be.

Engler claimed that Gore was engaged in "attack politics" by sending "top monitors" to BushBaby's announcement -- more hypocrisy from Engler, who knows that BOTH parties send monitors to each other's rallies.

In response to a question from Sam, Engler tried to spin BushBaby as "pro-life" because he supports parental notification prior to a minor receiving an abortion. But we can tell you that these bills are in fact anti-family and anti-life by essentially endorsing incest and child abuse. Shows you where Bush really stands on family values!

Engler also lied about the balanced budget being entirely the GOP Congress' doing -- when in fact Clinton was the engineer of undoing Red Ink Reagan's don't-tax-but-spend legacy.

In the following segment, Sam welcomed Gore campaign boss Tony Coelho -- and unloaded a barrage of "Why is Al Gore behind in the polls?" questions. Coelho said that the word has to get out on Gore's positions and vision.

Cokie jumped down Coelho's throat also, asking why Gore was being "blamed for a good game." It was an inane question, based entirely on premature and unreliable polls. But Coelho's answer was even more inane and weak -- constantly citing Gore as a "team player" and word not being "out there" on who Gore is.

Coelho plugged Tuesday's 20/20, during which ex-Nixon moll Diane Sawyer will interview Gore.

Will asked something about Bill Bradley and questions about the electability of Al Gore, and all Coelho could say is that he's working to build support for Gore.

Sam asked a completely snide question about whether Gore should ask President Clinton not to call reporters. Coelho did score one point, saying that American's don't care about this -- a swipe at the anti-Clinton press bias.

But otherwise Coelho sounded pathetic and allowed himself to be put on the defensive throughout the segment. We think Coelho is the wrong person at the worst possible time for Gore. He was practically acquiescing to Sam's, Cokie's and George's ridiculous spin. We know of at least one leader within the DNC who refers to Coelho as "Tony the Phony."

Gore would be wise to dump Coelho -- now.

The roundtable was mostly inane, first focusing on Bush.

• Cokie made Will squirm when she asked him about "compassionate conservatism." Will looked like he was about to puke.
• George Stephanopoulos pointed out that BushBaby's stump speech announcing his run made no mention of the right to life.
• Bill Kristol talked about Bush's silence on issues such as the recess appointment of Jim Hormel as Ambassador to Luxembourg.
• Cokie thinks Bush's "wishy-washy" abortion views will hurt him in Iowa -- and bored us by recounting the tale of some politico singing a song to BushBaby yesterday.
• After a round of BushBaby bashing -- on his silence on the issues -- the panel turned to Gore bashing.
• Steph made a meaningless comment on one of the latest spin memes from the GOP, "Clinton fatigue."
• Sam bored up by talking about the post-impeachment White house "pep rally." Get over it, Sam -- you were wrong and you lost.
• Kristol tried to make more of the Gore-Bradley "race" than really exists; Steph said that if Gore beats Bradley in Iowa, it's over. And we say he's right -- and it will be over if Gore revamps his campaign from the top down, and quickly.
• "Clinton has declared victory in Kosovo," said Cokie -- acting as if there were any other plausible interpretation. This is what Cokie and Sam want to imply -- that Clinton is lying again. But they are wrong. Principled intervention by NATO won.
• So they decided to make as much as they could of Russian troops "marching into Kosovo." They avoided the fact that we're only talking a few hundred troops at most.
• But Kristol praised NATO for not giving Russia a sector -- while trying to flog the dead Cold War horse. Even Cokie had to admit that Russia is no longer the power it was.
• Will called Hillary Clinton's claim that she is a Yankees fan "not only a lie, it's a Clintonian lie." Oh, please, George, get over it -- you lost the impeachment. You lost the '98 elections. Let it go.

Face the Nation

Gloria Borger was alone today. She welcomed General Wesley Clark, NATO Supreme Commander, and asked him to give an update on the latest about the 200 Russian troops occupying the Pristina airport.

Gen. Clark said that they are still there. And NATO is there with a sizeable number of troops. There is no desire for any confrontation; in fact, they are doing everything they can to avoid that. It will be resolved through political means as it is a political issue. He added that NATO had no plans to use the airport anyway.

Gloria asked what he means by "political issue." He said it means that it is not an issue that military commanders on the ground are going to be able to resolve. This has to do with much broader issues and it has to be resolved by the authorities who deal with those issues.

Gloria asked him if he considers this a dangerous situation. No, he doesn't, because there is no confrontation. They have a political dialogue going on and this issue is one part of that dialogue.

She asked him if he could figure out what their mission was and why they haven't left. He said they are not able to explain this on a military level; this is part of why this is a political issue. What he knows is that it is a very small number of Russian troops, they are not impacting on NATO's move, NATO has several troops inside Kosovo already, the movement in is going well, and the Serb withdrawal is going well.

Gloria: So you are saying that you cannot go into the airport? He again explained it is not a military issue, but a political one.

She continued on and asked if he thinks it's possible that the Russians were trying to state claim to a piece of land in Kosovo. He of course won't speculate on their motives -- just that it is a bizarre incident.

Beginning to sound like she was trying to make this an incendiary issue, she asked him if the Russian troops don't retreat, "would you take them on"! Patiently, once again Gen. Clark said that this issue has to be resolved at the political level.

Gloria asked if some sort of independent Russian command in Kosovo is acceptable. He said that they have to follow the terms of the peace agreement that was endorsed by the Serb parliament, and which calls for an effective security presence and a unified chain of command, not an independent chain of command.

Gloria: A unified command under NATO. The Russians are clearly saying this is something they can't live with. What is the solution? Gen. Clark, yet again, clarified that this is a political issue, not a military one.

Gloria asked if the Serbs are moving out according to schedule. He said a substantial proportion is moving out. In fact, "yesterday the Serbs called me to complain that we were not moving fast enough!" So there is every indication that they are doing their best to pull out on schedule.

Gloria wanted to know when the Albanians will be able to return home. He said as soon as it is practicable. But there are reports of very substantial infrastructure destruction, of minefields and booby traps, and they want to make sure they have done what they can do to assure their security before a flood of people comes back in. A little patience will help prevent injuries. They are doing this assessment very quickly. Then they will be working with the UN High Commissioner on refugees.

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The next segment was on George W. Bush's intent to be a "compassionate" president. They showed a clip of him saying: "There's compassion beneath us, there's mercy below us [whatever that means!]. Should our party be led by someone who boasts of a hard heart?" And something else about Republicans being generous of heart.

Gloria asked the next guest, John Harwood, political editor of The Wall Street Journal, how W. Bush was received in Iowa last week. Harwood said he was received very well, there was a huge media throng, and people liked the message.

Gloria asked him if he thinks this message of "compassionate conservatism" is something Bush can take with him around the country.

Harwood: "Ever since the 'Contract with America' and the problems with the Republican revolution, the party has had to deal with the charge from Democrats that they are mean spirited. This has been a problem with suburban voters, particularly women, and the Governor is going right at that problem."

Gloria asked the next guest, Gov. Frank Keating (R-OK), who already endorsed BushBaby, if they are not anointing him a little bit too early.

Keating's reply was right in step with what now seems to be the new Dubya clich&eaigu; -- "a very good man." "Here's a very good man who loves his wife, his children, and his country; he's been a very successful businessman, he's been a very successful governor...." And on and on, causing an uncontrollable surge of generalized yawning at our APJ office.

Gloria: "Do I hear a little bit of that character issue popping in to what you are telling me -- ‘he loves his wife, his family, his country'"? Keating said character is a very significant issue, etc. But again we weren't able to keep listening due to the renewed yawning attack.

Gloria asked him what he "honestly" thinks Bush's vulnerabilities might be. Keating said that because he's been governor for 5 years, an argument will be raised that he doesn't have sufficient government executive experience. At which point Gloria added "as opposed to Al Gore," but he kept talking right through. He compared Shrub with Clinton (he was governor of Arkansas) and just kept on singing Bush's praises.

More yawning.

Gloria then brought up the fact that foreign policy is also obviously an issue, one on which Al Gore has been tested, but not Bush, reminding Keating that Bush didn't come out and talk about Kosovo very quickly.

Again Keating compared him with Clinton (and JFK!) saying neither one of them had either. But Bush "has traveled extensively."

At which point we howled with laughter!

He went on to say that G. W. Bush has a "tremendously gifted group of advisors" and that the important thing is to have independence of judgement, etc....

Right. This "gifted group of advisors" has already infuriated the Internet community with intimidating lawsuits against Webmasters -- including at least one running a pro-Bush site!

Back to Harwood, Gloria asked him if the notion of "compassionate conservatism" will fly in New Hampshire. Harwood said Dubya is going to try to make it fly on Monday. He's going to read to "a group of school children to drive home his education message." And he already took the pledge last week not to raise taxes.

This segment was a total waste of time!

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Commercials ended. Show resumed. It was at this point we all reached for our barf bags in remembrance of the impeachment fiasco, as one of its strongest proponents was the next guest -- none other than Representative Asa Hutchinson (R-Has-been). It was another waste of time.

Gloria asked him about the bill pending in the House that includes mandatory background checks at gun shows and also child safety locks. Republicans want to ease up on these restrictions. Does this mean that the House is not going to be able to pass a gun control measure?

Asa doesn't believe this bill or the Senate bill in their present forms will pass. Then he went on about a "common sense bill" that will be able to pass -- one that would touch upon what Gloria mentioned but that would also go to the enforcement aspects of the current laws and that would deal with the "culture of violence." He added that he is against background checks at gun shows.

The other representative present, Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), agrees in having more resources for police officers so they can do their job. But she believes that it's important to have a background check even though it is an inconvenience for some gun owners, who, by the way, have agreed to this inconvenience so that criminals are prevented from getting guns.

Gloria pressed Asa and asked him what's wrong with a three-day background check at gun shows. He spewed this drivel about "innocent citizens" who won't be able to get guns because shows take place on weekends and more similar nonsense.

Gloria kept pressing and said that 70% of Americans want some form of gun control and if the House of Representatives this coming week doesn't agree on a bill, "how do you go home to your constituents?"

Carolyn has no problem as she's been on the forefront of this issue for years.

As for Asa... you guessed it, he wants the "common sense bill" to be passed, etc. etc. etc.

The end. And not a moment too soon.

CNN Lame Edition

Wolf Blitzer and the Lame Edition gang stared out like the perverbial chickens with their heads cut off, claiming "the sky is falling" because Russian troops have taken hold of the airport in Pristina, Kosovo and have "turned back" the British and the French.

Blitzer and his posse are creating the image that Russian and American troops are "nose-to nose. What they fail to say is that the number of Russian troops are 200. The number of NATO troops are at least 15,000 right now and will be 50,000 when the full peacekeeping force in is Kosovo. Add to that the fact that Russia can't afford to pay their troops -- never mind fund the operations of a war -- and you see clear evidence that Blitzer's and CNN's brains have fallen out when they decided to do their Chicken Little impersonation.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made this clear, as did Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen and Gen. Hugh Shelton: there is already a proven peacekeeping effort in Bosnia that includes the Russians.

But Blitzer went on to try to antagonize a virtual war with the Russians by asking, "But Secretary Cohen, you were pretty surprised when the Russians showed up at Pristina. Despite high level assurance from the foreign minister of Russia, that (A) they would not go in, and that once they went in, it was a mistake, and that they would leave. That must have been a major disappointment to you."

So I guess CNN would love for America to face off with Russia and create another cold war. Or worse. Hey -- it would be good for ratings.

But Wolf's guests skewered the illusion that only America is running the peacekeeping effort. As in with the war, America is only a part of the effort. In fact, out of the 50,000 troops in Kosovo, only 7,000 will be Americans. Blitzer continued to remind me of the schoolyard bully that instigates two people into fighting each other while they sit back and laugh.

He continued by quoting a Washington Post article claiming that Russia had proven their untrustworthiness. Well, since when has a word of total truth come out of Russia to begin with? Everything that Russia does is haphazard, and most of the time what they say runs at least partly contrary to what they do. But given all of that, we know our "enemy." They have proven to be worthy enough to keep the peace in Bosnia. And Russia is so broke that the last thing that they want or need is to fight a war against NATO.

And now that his bullying was in full gear, Blitzer moved to the next phase, asking how long we will be there, when all of our troops haven't even arrived yet? When Cohen said that it's too soon to ask such a question (in more diplomatic tone of course), Blitzer switched to "ambush mode" and played a tape of Cohen during his confirmation hearings talking about Bosnia, when Cohen had said "Here, setting a time line is important, because it's telling our European friends that we are not going to make an unlimited commitment to that region, we are not there on a permanent or semipermanent basis."

Cohen replied that the statement was true -- but it was after the peacekeeping had already been underway! It wasn't true at the very first day that NATO entered Bosnia. And, in fact, the numbers of troops decline in Bosnia as time goes on. He went on to say "we don't want an indefinite commitment, but I think it's more realistic to say based on what's happened in Bosnia, that we can't have a one year time limitation. We want to keep pressure on to get out as soon as we can, but only when it is safe and secure to do so."

Then came phase III of the Blitzer ambush: asking why NATO will not be disarming the KLA. Gen. Shelton had to explain in very elementary terms the difference between demilitarizing and disarming. Does Blitzer really think that NATO is going to go into a country and collect every gun and rifle? Of course not! But it makes for good TV, and feeds into paranoia so that the two sides (KLA vs Serbs) might actually fire at each other.

Following a break, Blitzer showed a film clip of President Clinton last Friday saying, "Mr. Milosevic's victory would have been a license for despots around the world to deal with ethnic minorities simply by murdering or expelling them from their land."

What are Blizter's first words in response? "Tough words from President Clinton."

I'm surprised Blizter didn't follow it up with "nanna nanna boo boo!"

Following that, Wolf gave lots of air time to Yugoslav Ambassador Jovanovic, who spent his time spewing Serb rhetoric and propaganda and anti-American and anti-NATO hatred. Does Blitzer enjoy giving the enemy so much airtime? Of course -- so that Blitzer can incite the Ambassader and Milosevic into more anti-NATO behavior! These are the same people that portray President Clinton and Secretary of State Albright in Nazi garb on their state-run TV network when their own government is the one that is following the Hitlerian model of ethnic cleansing.

Jovanovic claimed that the peacekeeping force is "not under NATO control." And because Blitzer allows him so much airtime, that nonesense is given a shred of believability.

Blitzer then slipped into bully mode, showing a clip of President Clinton (in his address to the Nation) saying "as long as he [Milosevic] remains in power, as long as your nation is ruled by an indicted war criminal, we will provide no support for the reconstruction of Serbia." Then Wolf asks Jovanovic for a reaction.

Well, considering that he is part of a murderous thug nation that practices ethnic cleansing, and that this statement is made by the President of the United States -- who stands for equality for all -- it was no surprise that Jovanovic rejected President Clinton's statements.

And Jovanovic is quite right in his statement that "it is not up to President of the United States, or whichever president, to decide who is going to rule another country in some other part of the world." In fact, if the Serb people decide that they want to keep Milosevic in power, that is their choice. But they'd just better not be asking the United States or other NATO Countries for aid to rebuild!

The next Lame edition topic: the Presidential election. First Wolf showed a clip of Jr. Bush announcing that he will make a formal announcement in the fall that he's running for President. Was this supposed to be a surprise or something? Why didn't he just make this his "official" announcement?

He then welcomed both party cahirs, Democrat Roy Romer and Republican Jim Nicholson. The first question concerned how Kosovo was going to effect the race in the coming months.

The best quote came from Romer: "Well, as a great sigh of relief, but I think what it will affect is the issue of leadership. Let me tell you, the president and the vice president really went out on a limb, and they stood tall and they stood tough. People are going to remember that. They are also going to remember George Bush. He took five days to have an opinion, and when he did, he was finally saying I'm for winning. They're also going to remember Congress not willing to fund that until the last day of last week. I'll tell you, Kosovo is a good result for the world, but I think it helps this president and vice president."

Boy, ain't that the truth!

Of course, the doublespeak award comes from Nicholson : " Well, I think Roy might be celebrating a little premature. It's a little early to know what really has happened in Kosovo, I think. I mean, the real heroes are the men and women who serve us in the armed forces. Once again, they came through like champions, working overtime, double time. But there are some problems, I mean, what are the Russians doing in Kosovo? Where did they come from? They didn't help fight this battle. We've been trying to keep the Russians out of that region for decades. Now they want to dictate the terms of the occupation. This could be a real setback for us, and a real setback for that leadership that Roy Romer is talking about."

Make that triple-speak: -- he's trying to have it both ways, put down the President and Vice President for having a successful war, and then talking about the success and bravery of the military. -- he and we know exactly what went on in Kosovo; what we don't know is how bad the mass murder has been. -- he continued the false Russia canard and diverted attention away from our victory by doing the Chicken Little routine again. So, in essence, Nicholson continued Blitzer's routine from earlier.

Then Blitzer asked about poll numbers that showed that the majority of both parties essentially expect a Gore/Bush runoff.

The election season is just starting, and Blitzer just wants to do away with the primaries!

Romer responded, not even mentioning Gore, saying that Bush isn't assured anything given other contenders such as McCain -- especially given McCain's leadership on the Kosovo war and Bush's reluctance to even comment for weeks.

To show how strong Vice President Gore is, and how much of a threat he is to the Republican party, Nicholson mentions Gore's book Earth in the Balance. Of course conservatives are going to attack this book -- because VP Gore stands up for our environment, and actually wants a world that we can hand down to our children and their children that is free of the killing poisons that infiltrate our air and water.

Over the past seven years, VP Gore has been quietly getting the job done, which is what he was supposed to do. He didn't spend his time making an ass out of himself (like a certain other Presidential hopeful did), instead Gore has his record to speak for him. He has been a champion not only for the environment, but for patients rights, education and many other initiatives -- not to mention the fact that President Clinton has handed Gore the victory for Kosovo, saying that it was Gore that brokered the deal.

Gore will have a perfect platform in which to say "I am not of the "character" (a preemptive strike against that term) of President Clinton, but I believe in Clinton's policies and will work to continue the work that we've done." In other words, he loves his wife, has a solid marriage, and has a solid issues based platform in which to run with. A proven record. And he's not boring in every speech. I remember when he spoke at the anniversary memorial of the Oklahoma bombing. Gore was downright riveting.

But I digress.

Wolf then asked Romer to explain something that Tony Coelho said on ABC This weak: "the American people really don't know Al Gore yet. But the question is this: after six and half years of being vice president, why don't the American people yet know Al Gore?" The simple answer is that he's been quietly getting the job done.

Romer responded with the zinger of the day : "I think they know him. Let me tell you, in reference to that book quote, we have a candidate that at least has ideas enough to write a book. That is one of the differences in leadership."

He went on to describe the differences of the previous Bush administration and the Clinton/Gore administration:

"One of the real questions, here, Wolf, is this, we, this president and vice president took over from a prior George Bush. Let me tell you, unemployment was 7.3, now it's 4.2. The deficit was 250 billion, now we have 100 million surplus. The Dow Jones was 3300, now it is over 10,000. We have cut crime in half; we have cut welfare in half. The American people going to ask this question very seriously, why would you turn back to a George Bush again when you have had this intervening record. They know Al Gore is the person who has been a part of a very successful period of time, economically in this country, and it's a good record. They'll get to know him personally and I think they'll like him."

Blitzer then turned to Nicholson and asked what his strategy would be when Nicholson announced that he will be in Washington the day Gore announces his candidacy. Nicholson promised an early attack on Gore by attacking some of Gore's statements. One in particular is the claim that Gore made that he "cleared land in Tennessee with mules and a double-bladed ax."

Nicholson said he plans to bring up the fact that Gore lived in a plush Washington hotel -- but the problem is, Gore said that his father required him to spend his summers on his Tennessee farm, learning the hard way about the work ethic.

Nicholson also promised a campaign of tying Gore to the impeachment and to Clinton's behavior -- in other words, the GOP have no issues to speak of, so they are "declaring war" on Gore personally.

I see that they still haven't learned. Blitzer cut Romer off in midsentence, when he was "making the case" as he called it for Gore.

And while Nicholson spent the whole time trying to assassinate Gore's character, Romer responded with what the campaign will really be about:

"Well, I was beginning to comment upon what I think the real issues in this campaign are going to be. In the next few weeks are going to be three, one, guns, and safety of guns for children. I think George Bush has got to speak out and say which side he's on in this gun issue. Secondly, education, you know we saw the wrapper on the sandwich yesterday, but people are going to say, where's the beef -- and the beef is, are you going toallow Congress and the Republican leadership to cut by this budget proposal, substantially education funds. The last one prescription drugs on Medicare. I tell you, the people want to know where is George Bush on this and what his program is. The Republicans of Congress have made no move on making that solution."

A caller asked if the Republican party will be more sensitive to the gun issues and children. Nicholson replied by blaming the lack of prosecutions of violations of the existing laws.

And what party affiliation are a majority of the judges and prosecutors in this country? Republican. Nicholson then shifted the blame from the NRA (without naming htem) to the movie and game industry.

Then Blitzer moved into the final phase of his show (none too soon for this viewer), bringing up the issue of Hillary's possible run for the Senate in New York. He continued his bullying and troublemaking tactics by asking if a run by Hillary would only "soak up a lot of important political fund-raising capital?" Romer replied that it'll probably be mostly local money that will elect her, not much if any from the national coffers. It's the New York citizens asking her to run, and they'll be the ones to support her.

Then Nicholson totally misrepresented a statement made by Romer earlier in the week, which started bickering between the two. The actual statement was not repeated, so the audience had no idea what it was. But Romer said that Nicholson's statement totally misrepresented it. I must say that I was shocked that Blitzer actually gave the last word to Romer.

Then came the roundtable. If you didn't know who Blitzer wanted for the next President by now, he tipped his hand with his next statement while introducing the members of the roundtable:

"Candy Crowley. She joins us from Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush's family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. We haven't been in Kennebunkport, Maine, in sometime, Candy. It's good to see you on the ground over there."

She basically said that because the primaries are 18 months away, Jr. Bush's failure to be able to take a stand on Kosovo and appearance as "wishy-washy" will fade as a focus and not be an issue.

Steve Roberts said that it shouldn't be a problem with Bush, because the last four Presidents have been governors, with little to no foreign policy experience. He then claimed that President Clinton's acknowledgement of Gore's participation was "patronizing."

Blitzer then played that quote from the President to "see if this was indeed patronizing."

Of course, Tucker Carlson has to hiss the comment "it's easy to patronize Al Gore."

Crowley laughed at this statement, and said that actually since the war ended, it's advantagous to Gore. Did she really mean to give that much of a concession?

The dunce statement of the day came from Tucker Carlson, and follows on a truly stupid comment he made a few weeks back when he said (in a thinly veiled racist swipe) that he had no idea where Jesse Jackson's income came from. One of the other panelists had reminded him that Jackson -- like the swinish, bow-tied Carlson -- was on the Time-Warner payroll (Jackson hosts the talk show "Both Sides" on CNN).

This week's Carlson boner: "The Democratic criticism of Governor Bush is that he's not, where is he on the issues, but if you listened to Roy Romer just a couple moments ago, the issues he brought up, things like child gun locks and prescription drug coverage, I mean, 10 years ago during the Cold War, these issues would have been laughed off as ludicrous, frivolous, as very, very small, and I think they are. "

I'm so glad to know that Carlson and Bush consider the safety of children and the affordability of prescriptions of those who are on a fixed income and die because they can't afford medication a laughable and frivolous issue.

And there I think we have what the coming Presidential election will be about: Issues vs. Selfishness and Greed.

The McLaugh-In Group
a.k.a. General Electric Corporation Politics Sunday -- "We Tell You What To Think"
formerly known as The McLaughlin Group

Of course, the big fool John McLaughlin had to call the Kosovo victory a loss today, inasmuch as he spent the last few months telling U.S. that Bill Clinton could never win this war with bombing only.

McLaughlin, the funniest and phoniest "dove" we've ever seen, read the death tolls and wept over dead Serbs who knowingly killed tens of thousands Kosovars.

McLaughlin showed his ignorance time and again focusing on Russian political rhetoric -- designed to keep its people from rioting -- as truth. He claimed that the U.S. and NATO committed war crimes. He then said that Clinton called on Russia to "save" him. "Can an arsonist put out his own fire?"

A new female guest panelist, one Laura Silber (whom we've never seen anywhere before, but who turns out to be the Balkans correspondent for Financial Times) was added this week. Tony Blankley, paid mouthpiece for the GOP, attempted in vain to downplay the victory as well. Policy-wise he called it a failure -- but he did admit that this is a political plus for the Democrats.

Have you ever noticed that McLaughlin only shows the names of his panelists ONCE during the show? God forbid people should actually get to know the names and credentials of these loudmouths better than McLaughlin himself. McLaughlin flashes his own name nearly every time he appears on the screen.

Michael Barone, formerly of that well-known scholarly political journal Reader's Digest said nothing that one might comprehend, as usual.

"How does the U.S. neutralize the KLA?", bellowed McLaughlin. Not one panelist felt this question was worth an answer -- with the sentiment being why would we want to neutralize those fighting against Milosevic. McLaughlin then claimed that the KLA are "narco-terrorists" -- which sounded to us more like a description of disgraced ex-Colonel Oliver North.

"The KLA is the true ethnic cleanser!," screamed McLaughlin, as we surfed over to a web page detailing locations of mass graves filled with bodies of Kosovars.

McLaughlin paused for what seemed like ten minutes of GE commercials -- for electric ranges, "remarkable enriched" light bulbs, scanners -- practically everything they sell but the big-ticket defense goods they make.

Issue Two : "Hillary Does New York." McLaughlin played Frank Sinatra's hackneyed rendition of New York, New York -- complete with helicopter shots of the city.

"What has she ever done, and who is she? Everything she has ever touched has turned lousy," said McLaughlin -- as if any other politician is so qualified to run for the New York Senate. McLaughlin claimed she will not do well in upstate N.Y. -- which is such a stupid statement that the Pundit Pap team roared with laughter at this moronic spin point so often parroted by every GOP operative in the nation.

McLaughlin then quotes Neo-Naziette Peggy Noonan, who quotes from her so-called "liberal" girlfriends all kinds of tripe about Hillary.

Rate Hillary's prospects for a powerful Senate career, asks McLaughlin:
Barone : ZERO - which showed what a moron he really is;
Laura: Seven
Blankley: Six or four (huh?)
McLaughlin: Three - because she is far too polarizing!

McLaughlin then turned to bashing homosexuals -- specifically, Jim Hormel, who was recently granted a recess appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Clinton made the appointment when the bigot-led Senate was out of session last week.

McLaughlin said that Hormel emceed a "transvestite parade" in San Francisco and claimed Hormel is a "religious bigot" because in that parade some men dressed as nuns "mocking Roman Catholicism!!!" That claim was laugh-out-loud hilarious! John then claimed "the lefties" in this country attack Catholics "all the time."

Sure, John. Tell ya what -- let's ask the Kennedy-mocking GOP cadre that continues to this day.

Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-Moron), brother of Rep. Asa-Boy Hutchinson (R-Doomed), called Hormel on the carpet and asked him if he would "repudiate" the "nuns" -- and again we laughed. Of course, Hormel refused.

After all, why should he? He wasn't the one dressing up! James Hormel is a well-known gay gentleman who gives away more money that he earns to charity. We think he is an excellent choice as our Ambassador.

Meet the Op-Press-Or

We were anxious to see how Tim Russert might outdo upstart Tony Snow, who had gotten that interview with arch-liar Kenneth Starr this morning. We guess it was by re-showing George W. Bush Sr.'s boring Meet the Press interview from some 20 years ago.

"The Bombing of Serbia is Over" -- but how long will American troops remain there?... and what will happen to Milosevic?

And John McCain, Russert's favorite GOP Republican candidate for President, would be a a guest -- again.

Madeleine Albright was first up. "What is going on with the Russians?", Russert asks. Well, nothing, Tim -- they just got eager and came in before we knew it. Albright reminded him that Russians report to a U.S. commander in Bosnia -- and are doing a fine job there. She also said that Russia will not have their own sector of Kosovo (a.k.a. Berlin).

Albright claimed that the KLA will disarm and that their leaders have promised her this. She than pointed out to Russert that Russia only has 200 men in Kosovo against about 20,000 from NATO.

Hysterically funny - we wish she could have told that to McLaughlin after his tirade.

Albright said we are not supporting Kosovar independence

Russert said he wants to know if Yeltsin has control of the Russian forces.

Ha, ha, ha -- no, Chiang Kai Shek does, Tim! Meet the Press really needs a laugh track!

Russert then put up a quote from Victor Chernomyrdin about "NATO war crimes." Of course, Albright is not at all concerned about these charges. In even bringing up this issue, Russert proved once again what an indescribable moron he is.

Russert then tried playing "the Yellow card" -- China. "Will you be dispatching an envoy to China to rekindle our relationships with China?" asked Russert.

Well, duh! Everyone knows that Ambassador Pickering is leaving tomorrow for China to do just that -- a dog and pony show! Albright said she thinks the Chinese spy issue is serious -- but we are so far superior to China in our strategic defense capabilities that we have everything we need to be secure.

"But we have been damaged!" Russert whined.

"I do not believe this seriously damages the security of the United States," said Albright. She said she was not briefed until 1999 -- and made it clear to Sandy Berger that this was unacceptable. Of course, Russert tried a make a big thing out of it.

Russert asked why she thought "they" were trying to keep her out of the loop. She thought it was accidental. We think it was because somebody in the White House can't stand her -- but we cannot guess who that might be.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was up next. Russert wanted to know if Madeleine and Clinton deserve credit for the war. McCain - ever the gentleman -- said yes. "Boris, you scamp!" -- was what McCain would say to Yeltsin as President over the Russian army's quick move into Kosovo.

McCain said he thinks there will be a partition of Kosovo. He also said we should make it clear that there will not be one penny given to rebuild Kosovo until Milosevic is tried as a war criminal.

McCain thought that George W. Bush's opening day went well. He said that he does not have a big presence in Iowa because he doesn't believe in straw polls.

We don't either -- especially ones conducted in states populated by ill-educated hog farmers and ethanol thieves in stretch pants.

McCain said flat out that he is against the GOP attack on Jim Hormel. He thinks the Senate should leave that issue alone. Russert then pushed the gay issue -- and McCain replied that he hopes that has not become a problem for Republicans.

More GE spots followed, then an ADM commercials for soy burgers -- cloaked as a "Morningstar Farms" commercial.

The next guest was House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (R-MO), talking about safety locks on guns for children's safety.

Russert pointed out that background checks for sale of guns at gun showed seems to be a bi-partisan issue for next week. Gephardt said he believes the same thing that played out in the Senate will now play out in the House. He said he intends to seek Republican votes for these measures -- including some 30 wayward Democrat votes from redneck districts. Gephardt does not believe in registering all guns, as does President Clinton. Gephardt talked about his visit to Littleton -- "I hugged some of them," he said.

Russert then focused on Gephardt's comments about education funding -- including his suggestion of raising taxes and taking money from the military budget. Gephardt had said that he would be proud to raise taxes for education if he had to. Russert wanted to know exactly what would come out of the defense budget -- like the little Hawk he is. Gephardt mentioned base closings and cuta at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also wanted to go after fraud and abuse in the way defense contracts are given out.

We vote for that one. Can you imagine what Gephardt might find just inside the Gingrich-Lockheed Martin connection?

Russert then asked if Congress and the White House are headed for gridlock and another government shutdown. Gephardt said the GOP is unhappy with its previously passed but unrealistic budget -- now they are having trouble funding it. He added that the President's budget does not break the caps. Russert accused Gephardt in a sideways manner of wanting to break the budget with social spending programs.

Tim then turned to his panel. Wayne Slater, some dorkish Dallas Morning News reporter in Iowa and now Kennebunkport, said that BushBaby did well in Iowa yesterday. Wayne Slater, who covers George W. in Texas, said he was surprised how "loose" George W. was.

Russert then turned to David Broder, who said Dubya's strengths are the "Brand Name Bush," a wonderful personality and strong political record. BushBaby, he added, can get people that do not normally vote for Republicans to vote for him and conveys the sense that he really wants to make America work for every child. The downside, according to Broder, is that this is his first time out and so for his staff. He will face toughies like Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, and Dan Quayle.

Huh? Alexander's campaign in on life support, and Quayle is a national laughingstock. Even nerdy Steve Forbes exudes more substance than Alexander or Quayle.

Russert then discussed tha notion of Bush being a compassionate conservative. "It is conservative to cut taxes, compassionate to give Americans more money, to insist welfare recipients work..." and the usual blah-blah-blah. "Is compassion beneath us? I am proud to be a compassionate conservative and on this ground I will make my stand," said Bush in Iowa yesterday.

Some other unknown reporter on the panel said that the Iowans like it because they are tired of being called hard-hearted. Well, good for them -- but we will tell you this is the year's new form of hypocrisy: Republicans pretending to be "warm and cuddly." What George Bush stands for is another term for Bill Clinton. They both stand for the very same things, with few exceptions.

Russert tried to bash Gore, saying he "loses" by 15 points to Bush in current polls.

Well, we hate to be the ones to break the news, Tim, but 15 points is nothing -- and is actually very good for a sitting Vice President. Bush is leading with women and Hispanics. Russert said that Gore cannot win if he does not carry those two groups.

Well, this is not true -- but we are used to listening to Russert tell half truths. When Gore exposes Bush for his "Colonias" in Texas -- which are like concentration camps -- Bush will quickly lose Hispanic support. Also, women will not vote for Bush unless he comes out full-front-and-center for Reproductive Choice -- and he's already bungled this in his support for "parental notification," a de facto endorsement of condemning incest victims to no choice. The problem is that at this time he cannot, or he may lose the nomination and split the GOP beyond repair -- but one thing going for Bush is the news this past week of the near-total destruction of the Christian Coalition as a result of IRS rulings that label them the tax cheats that they are.

Russert concluded the program by making it all too clear he is a Bush fan -- by showing clips from Bush Senior's interview on Meet the Press in 1979. Of course, Bush looked like a sneed -- just like BushBaby. Bush essentially said, "Let's keep people unemployed so we can bust the back of inflation." Bush called that "compassionate." You've gotta laugh.

Meanwhile, we can't wait to see the BushBaby compassion. Perhaps he will decide to give the African-American males who are packed into super-crowded jails in Texas more watermelon -- in the Grand Old Bush tradition.

---The Editors and Pundit Pap Team