Mullings by Rich Galen | Secret Decoder Ring for July 7, 2000

Don't Start With Me. I KNOW It's Late Friday, July 7, 2000

TITLE: "Don't Start With Me …" Ok, here's what happened.
I left for New York from Your Nation's Capital on the 8:00 am Metroliner from Union Station. I got to Union Station at about 7:00 am because I am too old to run through airports and train stations.
at 7:50 am I realized I had forgotten to pack the power cord for my laptop which meant I was going to be in trouble for producing Mullings on Thursday night.

After aggravating about it all the way to New York, I met with Peggy Noonan for lunch.
Peggy Noonan is charming, elegant, literate, and wholly without pretense. I am, as you know, none of the above.
Here is a link to Amazon.com to buy her new book, "The Case Against Hillary Clinton."

Peggy and I, literally, happily discussed the state of the universe as opposed to the dinner described in the body copy which discussed the state of politics over the next 13 hours.

Ok, so I take a cab downtown to my hotel and I remember that I have previously purchased one of those things which allows you to plug your computer in the power supply in an airline seat - and INTO A CAR CIGARETTE LIGHTER!
No problemo! I'll find some Radio Shack type place and buy a deal which plugs into the wall and allows you to plug the cigarette lighter adapter into it thereby solving my problem.
I'm sooooooo smart.

Here's another problem that comes of cheating off Marcia Meyer's papers in high school physics class: I forgot about the mighty threesome of electricity: Voltage, Wattage, and Amperage.
The little thingies you can buy from the electronics merchants on Canal Street have the right voltage and wattage ranges, but they are really made for powering your Walkman or your cell phone. Not a computer.

I am not easily daunted.
If it was a cigarette lighter I needed, then by God, it was a cigarette lighter I would get. I called downstairs to see if the hotel had a limousine - not to ride around in, just to recharge my laptop when the batteries ran down. No they didn't but they would be happy to recommend a car service.
Hertz. I'll just sit in the front seat and type. Lord knows, stranger sights are available in Manhattan on a Thursday night. How much for a car for the night?
$49.
Great, what time can I drop it off in the morning?
That location opens at 8.
I have a seven o'clock train, is there any, like, night drop?
No.

I didn't want to have to actually BUY a car to make this happen.

Ok, I decided to get as far as I could and finish up in the morning.

Guess what? I had left the computer on throughout this entire ordeal. The batteries ran out.

Hence, the late arrival of Mullings.

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Texas under Governor Bush:

1st in student improvement on test scores, especially for African-American and Hispanic students.

1st in reducing the amount of releases and disposal of toxics - more than all 49 other states combined.

1st in the nation to allow a patient to appeal an HMO's decision to deny care.

1st to create a prison ministry to help offenders reintegrate into society.

1 of only 3 states to require reductions of harmful pollution from older, unpermitted utility plants.

1 of only 10 "highly successful" states in reducing welfare rolls between 1995 and 1998.

4th in growth in total personal income.

9th in teacher pay, when adjusted for cost of living and teacher experience.

$1.8 billion investment in healthcare initiatives.

1.2 million jobs created, representing more than 10 percent of new jobs created nationwide and 48,000 new businesses.

Lowest unemployment rate in twenty years -- 4.7 percent.

Doubled the number of adoptions of abused and neglected children in Texas.

America under Clinton-Gore:

The number of uninsured Americans increased by more than 8 million.

Almost 70 percent of fourth graders in the highest poverty schools cannot read at basic level.

Teachers were victims of 1.8 million crimes at school, including 657,000 violent crimes.

Illegal drug use among high school seniors increased 78 percent.

Federal prosecutions of gun-related offenses decreased by 46 percent.

More than 12,000 U.S. soldiers are on food stamps.

Enacted a $115 billion tax increase on Social Security enefits.

Federal government is the nation's largest polluter, costing taxpayers nearly $400 billion for cleanups.

45 convictions, 72 indictments/misdemeanor charges, and 8 imprisonments related to the 1996 campaign finance scandal, improper conduct by Clinton-Gore cabinet officials, and Whitewater.

What did Arkansas look like when Al Gore joined Bill Clinton in 1992?

50th in environmental policy initiatives.

47th in per capita state spending for education.

43rd in per capita spending for higher education.

41st in citizens living in poverty.

45th in children living in poverty.

47th in children without health insurance.

45th in children living in hunger.

43rd in infants born with low birth weight.

47th in personal income.

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