Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Stop the Presses! Bush Won.

Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Oh. Remember that election situation in Florida? Remember how the GOP stole the election? Remember how the U.S. Supreme Court ruined its reputation for all time?

This from USA Today: "George W. Bush would have won a hand count of Florida's disputed ballots if the standard advocated by Al Gore had been used, the first full study of the ballots reveals. Bush would have won by 1,665 votes - more than triple his official 537-vote margin - if every dimple, hanging chad and mark on the ballots had been counted as votes, a USA TODAY/Miami Herald/Knight Ridder study shows. The study is the first comprehensive review of the 61,195 "undervote" ballots that were at the center of Florida's disputed presidential election."

Told dja.

One pines for the good old days when the "China Problem" had to do with whether the White House Usher had counted the silverware after the Clintons had moved out.

I don't think we should be too hard on the Chinese. They just wanted to check on the status of that information they stole from Los Alamos. I mean, the plane was RIGHT THERE! It saved a bunch of Chinese spies a trip all the way to New Mexico where they would have had a devil of a time finding anything to eat because all the Chinese restaurants were closed for security purposes and they would have run a real risk of missing the first night of Passover.

See this is why we get upset. In a Reuters piece about Vice President Cheney casting the tie-breaking vote on the Budget in the Senate, reporter Vicki Allen writes this paragraph:

"Republicans called on Cheney in the first Senate vote cast on Bush's $1.9 trillion fiscal 2002 budget, which lays the groundwork for $1.6 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years, as Democrats pushed amendments to shrink the tax cuts to help pay for other needs."

The implication being that Republicans went to great lengths to make sure "other needs" will not be met. Any thoughts on where Ms. Allen comes down on the Budget Resolution?

Compare that language to Alan Fram's AP Report:

"In the Senate's initial showdown over a GOP-written $1.94 trillion budget for next year, senators voted 51-50 with Cheney making the difference for GOP language permitting a doubling of the $153 billion Bush wants for the coming decade to create prescription drug coverage. The additional money, if provided, would come from projected budget surpluses."

Speaking of the good old days, Federal Judge Norma Holloway Johnson issued a one-sentence order dismissing the charge that the Office of Independent Counsel under Ken Starr, leaked grand jury information.

Clinton's attorney, that master of snappy repartee David Kendall, said "If you really believe that the television networks make up attributions like 'sources in Starr's office tell us ...' I've got a bridge in New York City I'll be happy to sell you."

Or some bottom land in Arkansas.

As the guest of Wyatt Stewart (whom Washington insiders know as the man who, for all intents and purposes, invented the use of direct mail in politics) I went to opening day in Baltimore.

Right down in front of us were about 327 Kennedys - from Sergeant Shriver who is 76, through a couple of the youngest Kenney boys who looked about eight or nine.

At one point an errant throw hit Shriver in the shoulder. The next inning the Red Sox first baseman tossed a ball to Shriver as a souvenir.

The Red Sox are desperate for a new stadium, but the Boston City Council is not cooperating. Don't be surprised if word comes over the wire any second that the Kennedy family had broken ground on a new stadium - to be known as Shriver Park

I gave a speech last night to the National Meat Association. If you want to give dinner speeches, pick outfits like the National Meat Association. It is much more satisfying than a speech to, say, the American Mushroom and Fungi Federation.

One more thing about opening day at Camden Yards: A couple of innings after the KENNEDY RELATIVE NARROWLY ESCAPES SERIOUS INJURY episode, a guy selling cotton candy came down the aisle and Shriver bought some for each of the two little boys.

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