Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.insight From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE;STOP THE PRESSIES Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 11:27:05 EST Message-ID: \SE FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE;STOP THE PRESSIES \BY INSIGHT *****At the Stake. Left and right now agree: The Clarence Thomas hearings were a witch-hunt. But they disagree on who was doing the hunting. Boston Phoenix contributor Robin Dougherty, reviewing a series of movies on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Salem witch trials, found that "it's impossible to deny the similarity between the [Salem] tribunal . . . and the Arlen Specter-led gang that tried to break Anita Hill." *****Cradle Robbers. New York Post columnist Amy Pagnozzi has discovered what men want. The "desire for teenage girls is a biological imperative, in my utterly unscientific view, probably to do with survival of the species," she wrote Sept. 24. "Animal-husbandry experts tell us males want to sow their seed far and wide in the ripest, healthiest specimens they can get claws, paws or hands onto, and this certainly seems to be true, though many human males resist." *****Dog Bites Man. Joel Brinkley of the New York Times recently offered, in a piece of news analysis called "Truth's Several Sides," his views of the Bush campaign's criticism of Bill Clinton's record as governor of Arkansas. Bush had his facts right, Brinkley conceded: It is true, for example, that under Clinton, per capita income in Arkansas - always among the lowest nationwide - has fallen; that taxes for poor and middle-class citizens have risen; that student test scores have fallen; that only three other states have fewer people covered by health insurance; and that Clinton failed to get a civil rights bill through the General Assembly. Failing to find inaccuracy, Brinkley notes instead that Bush had accentuated the negative in Clinton's record, while concentrating on the positive aspects of Bush's own. "Mr. Bush," he wrote, "left a lot out." For one thing, he failed to mention that despite the lack of a civil rights bill, "more blacks and women have been appointed to state boards, commissions and government departments under Mr. Clinton than under any of his predecessors." And Bush neglected to note that despite the drop in college admission test scores, "Arkansas now devotes a larger percentage of its budget to education than all but two states - a striking increase over the last decade." Bush also glossed over the fact that his "own record as President offers as many opportunities for statistical attack." In short, the president has sung his own praises while bypassing those of his opponent. Welcome to Politics 101, Mr. Brinkley. *****Maggie May. The amazing James Baker public relations machine rolls on: Margaret Tutwiler, general dogsbody, factotum and right-hand woman to Baker, is now, according to the Washington Post, one of the most influential people in the country. As such, she surely rated the recent (and unabashedly flattering) profile in the paper's Style section. To convey Tutwiler's "eye for detail, impatience with ineptitude, and sense of humor," the Post's Megan Rosenfeld offered the following evidence: When some flags outside the State Department needed to be replaced due to the demise of the Soviet Union, Tutwiler ordered photos of the new flags in order to reproduce them. "When the pictures arrived," reported Rosenfeld, "Tutwiler was flabbergasted. They showed the flags in dead calm, limp, unreadable. How could anyone be so stupid? She ordered retakes, but kept the originals, and jokingly showed them around as an example of real numbskullness." Unlike your run-of-the-mill political appointee, Tutwiler noticed the photos were unreadable (eye for detail); she was annoyed (impatience with ineptitude); but she could joke about it (sense of humor). *****DO YOU KNOW OF: * A shocking waste of taxpayer money? * A wacky college course or professor? * An instance of revealing media arrogance? * A public utterance better never uttered? * A ridiculous case of hype? * A lawyer or lawsuit run amok? Let us hear about it. The first contributors of published items will receive a handsome memento depicting the Insight Public Defender. Write to: Insight, For the People, By the People, 3600 New York Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002. Or better still, fax us: (202) 529-2484. 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