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: Fri, 30 Oct 92 15:33:28 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;INSIDE THE BELTWAY \BY John McCaslin \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES TOUGH VOTE TO GET When one registers to vote in Virginia - and in this election year enthusiasm to do so is great - one must take a simple oath: "I do solemnly swear or affirm under the penalty of perjury that I am a citizen of the United States, a resident of Virginia, qualified and entitled under the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia to register to vote, and that the information given above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I hereby authorize the cancellation of any previous voter registration held by me." Simply put, the oath affirms: You live in the Old Dominion, you have a legal right to cast a ballot, and you won't also vote in Montana. This week, five mentally retarded residents of the Central Virginia Training Center went to court in their bids to vote. They had to do so because when registering they were smart enough to check a box on the application acknowledging that they have been convicted of a felony or judged mentally incompetent, both of which disqualify a person from voting in Virginia. Amherst County Circuit Judge J. Michael Gamble - despite encouragement from the court registrar that "these are very special people, and they wanted to vote" - turned down four of the five applicants. It wasn't a matter of whether they could begin to understand the political process, or for that matter the positions of the candidates (after all, few of us do.) Instead, the judge based his ruling on whether they had the capacity to understand the oath. RATHER AND CO. Watching one nightly newscast in this political season can be nauseating enough. Imagine if you went to work one day and your boss directed you to spend the next 10 months analyzing every presidential election story reported over the three major networks - NBC, ABC and CBS. That's exactly what happened to employees of the independent Center for Media and Public Affairs, based in Washington. First the facts, then the bias. There were 1,933 election stories on nightly newscasts between Jan. 1 and Oct. 11, or 62.75 hours' worth. As for differences in reporting, CBS by far was the toughest on President Bush, while ABC was the most balanced, according to the center. It turns out that 72 percent of the CBS sources commenting on Mr. Bush were critical, while 56 percent of those commenting on Bill Clinton were negative, a 16-point gap. ABC, with the most balanced commentary, had only a 4-point difference in negative evaluations (65-61 percent); while NBC had a 9-point gap (69-60 percent). In addition, just over one in four "nonpartisan" network sources - a group that includes reporters - gave Republicans a positive rating, while the Democrats received praise from 44 percent. AFFLUENT DISTRESS Montgomery County voters who signed petitions to place Ross Perot on the Maryland ballot are now receiving hand-addressed letters from the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, urging Perot supporters to jump into the Clinton camp. "We know that you are deeply concerned about the direction of our country and that you seek real change. We share your concern," reads a portion of the letter signed by Susan Ness and Michael Novelli, Montgomery's co-chairmen for Clinton-Gore '92. "And we have shared the pain of a society in economic distress." Just how bad is the painful "economic distress" for Montgomery County? Not very. Of the nation's 10 most affluent communities in recent years, half are Beltway suburbs of Washington, and Montgomery County is right up near the top in the entire country for per-capita income, according to the Census Bureau. COMRADE CLINTON Since most Americans are not on the mailing list of Il Sabato, a prestigious Catholic weekly published in Milan, Italy, the Illinois-based Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture thought fit to reprint a story the Italians headlined "Comrade Bill" in their August issue. The story details presidential candidate Bill Clinton's contacts with members of the Communist and Socialist parties in Italy. Il Sabato writes: "Asked the secret of Arkansas' 'economic miracle,' Governor Clinton told an Italian journalist, 'I went to learn in Italy.' "Is it perhaps a joke? Or might he have taken a course at Mediobanca or at the Fondazione Agnelli? By no means," Il Sabato reports. "He went among the Tuscan and Emilian communists, their workers' associations, their co-operatives, their co-op enterprises. . . . The year is 1987. . . . It appears that Arkansas' economic miracle is derived from here. "The perplexed Italian journalist asks again, 'You're not telling me that this is the economic recipe for the U.S.?' 'Absolutely yes,' responds Clinton seriously." Just in case there is any doubt, communist Stafano Bellaveglia, manager of the workers' association in Siena, says his organization already has its congratulatory postcard ready: "Congratulations, Mr. President! Do you remember?" FOR THE RECORD The one man who ought to know best gave George Bush a clean bill of health on Iran-Contra this week in a speech to - of all people - the Junior League of Cincinnati. From retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, who supposedly managed the guns-for-hostages operation with Iran, the word is that all the recurring questions about the affair are "old news." The Cincinnati Post quoted Col. North as saying that "President Bush has been honest with the American people regarding the then-vice president's role in the Iran-Contra scandal." 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