Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Enough, Already

Friday, August 11, 2000

Al Gore, for the past four years, has been hiding behind the skirts of Janet Reno who, as we know, has resisted - for whatever reasons - at least four recommendations for an independent counsel to investigate Gore's fund raising activities.

Given the number of times Joe Lieberman and Al Gore invoked, referred to, called upon, summoned, prayed to, petitioned, beseeched, entreated, blessed, and praised the name of God the other day, it is fair to suggest Al Gore will spend the next three months hiding behind Joe Lieberman's tallis.

Here's a news flash: Joe Lieberman is JEWISH. Ok. We got it. Enough, already. I now know more about Judaism than I did when I was selected as the Best Student in Gimel.

I certainly now know more about the differences between Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism than I know about the differences between Lutherans and Presbyterians.

I was going to write that the television coverage of the Reform party convention was indistinguishable from a WWF telecast. That was before I watched some of it on C-SPAN and saw the astounding number of fat white guys in Bermuda shorts and dangerously stretched Ban-Lon shirts .

It is, in fact, indistinguishable from a telecast of the National Association of Retired Bowling League Executives.

For a picture of Ban-Lon shirts (as well as definitions of "tallis" and "gimel") go to the Secret Decoder Ring Page.

Here's an interesting tale relayed by SpeakOut.com's senior staff writer, Russ Tisinger: He called the person listed as the press secretary of the Reform party, Donna Donovan, for some info on the convention. The number turned out to be her home phone which was answered by her husband.

It turns out she is in California, but was fired by the pro-Buchanan forces about a week ago. She had business cards printed which read: Press Secretary In Exile. The husband asked Russ to tell Donna, if he reached her, to come home.

We are trying to determine if Bay Buchanan has hired Leni Riefenstahl as her replacement.

Jesse Jackson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the other day, on the same day NAACP Dallas chapter president Lee Alcorn resigned for making anti-semitic remarks about Joe Lieberman.

Obviously, the statute of limitations on anti-semitic remarks is 16 years.

In the Green Room at Fox the other day, I had the opportunity to chat with Green Party candidate for President, Ralph Nader. Among the points he made are the issues on which Joe Lieberman's positions run counter to traditional Democratic (read: Base Democratic Vote) dogma:
  HMO reform
  Tort reform
  Military budget
  Capital gains
  Securities reform
  FDA reform
  World Trade Organization
  Tobacco legislation
  Drug prices

Nader also pointed out that Lieberman - from Connecticut - is the largest recipient of insurance industry money in the entire United States Senate.

I recounted to Nader a conversation I had with a big-time political analyst in which we decided the following: If a Gore loss becomes an article of faith (not this week or next, but after Labor Day) then a huge number of aging 60's radicals - for whom Ralph Nader has been a cultural icon - will not think their vote for Nader is a wasted vote; they will believe their vote for Nader means something very important: Partial payment on 40 years of service.

Mr. Nader, not surprisingly, was very taken with this theory.

Last week we chatted about the absolute lack of distractions at the George W. Bush convention. This coming week will be difference. Distraction, thy name is Clinton.

Bill and Hillary are breezing into town on this afternoon to be fed and feted by oh, so many Hollywood stars.

The Gore campaign is understandably concerned that its convention, which starts on Monday with Hillary and Bill speaking in prime time, will be seen to drop off the end of the excitement table on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights.

For the full AP story on the First Couple Who Would Not Go Away, click here.

One more Nader bit: He said he was surprised by the Lieberman pick: "He's the only person in the U.S. Senate who can make Al Gore look animated."

Self-Promotion Alert: Next week Mullings will come to you from Los Angeles, California at the Democratic National Convention. Among other activities designed to irritate Democrats, I will be the Republican analyst on KCAL channel 9 in Los Angeles during their 8-11 pm (PDT) convention coverage.

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Copyright © 2000 Richard A. Galen

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