Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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A Wolfe in Chips' Clothing

Friday, February 9, 2001

All right class. Settle down. People? People!

First, let's go over the ground rules: This edition of Mullings is Off The Record. Everyone understand? Good. Let's go on.

Al Gore showed up on the campus of Columbia University on Tuesday to teach his class at the School of Journalism there. The students were told the class was "off the record" meaning the contents of the class were not to be reported or related to reporters.

These were graduate students. In the School of Journalism.

Gore showed up on campus in an outfit which looked like it came out of Peter O'Toole's wardrobe trailer on the set of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" or, more likely, was purchased at Barney's by famed Fashion Consultant to Alpha Males, Naomi Wolfe.

He appears to be wearing the same sport jacket during a meeting with UCLA officials in a photo op there last week. Ms. Wolfe has, like women all over America, gone to the store to buy new school clothes.

This must have caused Mr. Gore some serious flashbacks: "Al-BERT? If you're going out to play in the tobacco sheds, make sure you change out of your school clothes!"

The Columbia University newspaper, the Daily Spectator, did not find this "off the record" business interesting or odd enough to mention editorially on Monday - the day before; on Tuesday - the day of; on Wednesday nor Thursday.

Neither has the newspaper conspired - through Thursday's edition - with even a single student in the class to print the contents of the lecture and dare the university to censor it; much less dare Gore to complain.

The Spectator DID run an article on the day after the visit in which the reporter apparently asked Gore what he got out of the class: "I did learn a lot," Gore said. "A number of the students are from other countries, and it's very interesting getting their perspective on stuff. And they're all so smart."

That, by the way, I did not make up. It is the actual quote from the actual article in what might once have been an actual newspaper.

Let's go On The Record for this part:

President Bush sent his $1.6 trillion tax cut plan to the Hill yesterday. Throughout the campaign the amount of money to be returned to taxpayers was put at $1.3 trillion.

Gore was promoting a tax cut of $250 billion which suddenly doubled, as Dan Klepal wrote in the Cincinnati Enquirer last June, "Vice President Al Gore unveiled a proposed $500 billion tax cut Thursday� The 10-year proposal nearly doubles Mr. Gore's previous tax plan."

Fast forwarding to this week. Reuters reported: "Since the end of the campaign, with budget surplus projections rising, [Senator Joseph] Lieberman increased by 50 percent the size of the tax cut he would back to $750 billion.

Still in fast forward mode, the AP: "And reflecting the tax cut's political momentum, Democrats who last year were supporting 10-year tax cuts of roughly $300 billion now say cuts of three times that size are justified."

So the Democrats, who were hooting at the Bush $1.3 trillion tax cut as recently as last fall, have now upped the ante to at least $900 billion.

The Bush plan at $1.6 trillion, has grown by about 23 percent. The Dems have increased their plan by 260 percent. Risky Scheme! Risky Scheme!

Back Off The Record.

This story is not EXACTLY true in respect to each and every detail, but as this is off the record anyway �

A report from one of the media galleries in the Capitol on Wednesday suggested that the strains of the song, "Happy Trails" was heard wafting from one end, intermingled with the piteous weeping of three middle-aged reporters.

A young reporter happened by and asked what was going on. "Dale Evans died," one of them sobbed. "This was her theme song."

"Yanni's girl friend? Died?" the younger member of the Corps asked in wonder.

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