Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:07:21 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;INSIDE THE BELTWAY \BY John McCaslin \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES ANTI-EVERYBODY The final report on the 1992 general election is in from the Washington-based Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization. And by the look of things, Americans are still seeking an ideal leader. Almost all on-air sources - from voters to political experts - who evaluated the election process for television news programs were critical. Among these sources, 93 percent rated the quality of the campaign as poor and 94 percent criticized the role of campaign ads. But most incredible is that 100 percent (not a typo) expressed dissatisfaction with the choice of presidential candidates available to voters this year. Which brings us to this question: Should we Americans expect potential candidates waiting in the wings to be faultless, flawless, unblemished and untainted? That question, it turns out, was possibly answered in the 19th century, long before George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot were even considered: "Those who would treat politics and morality apart will never understand the one or the other" - John Morley (1876). DESERVING OF SAME One Washington reader has beaten some journalists to the task of evaluating how the congressional "bad check writers" fared in the elections. Phyllis I. McClellan of Southwest told us in a letter that she typed the "bad check" list and "no bad check" list of congressmen into her computer, then ran them up against the recent election returns. Here's what she found: "Despite this headlined expose [that 325 members of Congress wrote bad checks at the House bank], a short six months after the congressional Hill Bank, Post Office and other abuse scandals were made public, voters reelected 172 (55 percent) of these same public officials. Of the remaining check bouncers, 28 lost their seats (but not necessarily due to the bank scandal), 30 retired while they could keep their campaign funds and 65 decided to take their recently increased retirement pay and not run for office again. Fifteen more overdrawn members either ran for higher office or had been appointed to Cabinet positions." Concluded Miss McClellan in her independent study: "If we voters are this dumb, we deserve what we get." SKI LIFT Ski Industries America, a McLean trade association, and 39 affiliated companies have collectively pledged nearly 10 tons of new ski clothing worth $1.2 million to help victims of Sarajevo's continuing turmoil. Sarajevo was the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics. The first shipment of jackets, pants, shirts, gloves, mittens, hats, shoes and socks has already arrived in Bosnia, and more are on the way. Volunteers who accompanied the first shipment said the refugees were overcome with emotion at the gesture. "The city is cut off from the rest of the world, and its people are facing the real possibility of freezing to death this winter," said Bob Rief, a distributor of cross-country ski equipment. "We want to give back to the people of the Olympic city as much as we can." MAN OF HATS Ambassador Vernon Walters can add yet another credential to his already lengthy Who's Who biography. The one-time interpreter to four presidents, decorated World War II vet, military attache, participant in the 9th Pan American Conference, NATO standing group member, Eisenhower staff assistant, decorated Vietnam vet, Nixon aide, embassy defense attache, CIA deputy director, State Department adviser, U.S. permanent representative to the U.N., ambassador to Germany, author and lecturer could be found overseas last week being inducted into the Al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya's Royal Academy. That's Kingdom of Morocco, for short. Gen. Walters, a resident of Virginia, was sponsored for the honor by Alexandre de Marenches, former director of the French Service de Documentation Exterieure et de Contre-Espionnage. That's French Foreign Intelligence Service, for short. Gen. Walters is a personal friend of Morocco's King Hassan II. NO MORE GESTURING If foreign languages confuse you, imagine what federal immigration officials face when communicating with those melting into the great pot these days. The Justice Department tells us its Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices, more easily identified as OSC, can now communicate with victims of discrimination in more than 140 languages. In other words, if you have an employee who understands only Haitian Creole and you've enjoyed paying that employee only a dollar an hour for three years, you better watch out. "Removal of the language barrier is a significant development that will enhance OSC's enforcement efforts," says Special Counsel William Ho-Gonzalez. "We expect that many people who were deterred from contacting OSC because they did not speak English will now feel free to inform us when they have been subjected to discriminatory employment practices." When a person calls who does not speak English, he or she will be transferred to an interpreter who will take information on the complaint. Interpreters are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and yes, they speak Haitian Creole, Laotian, even Slovak. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM