"Presidential Work-Release … -- The First Family is on vacation in Utah celebrating Chelsea's 19th Birthday. The President does not ski so he is reportedly sitting quietly and reading.

"… as Samuel Johnson once said …" -- Johnson is one of the most important writers of the 18th century immortalized by his biographer, James Boswell. Many of Johnson's famous quotations are not found in his writings but, like members of the Algonquin Round Table, from his conversations.

"The California Republican Party disappointed most observers …" -- The CRP annual convention this weekend was heavily covered by the national press in the hope there would be physical violence among the delegates over the issue of abortion. While there was, obviously, disagreement on the issue; it appears the convention was the first tangible evidence that the Republican Party is moving toward a "let's just win" mode in the 2000 Presidential election.

"… the six-year-rule …" -- There is a rule in politics that in the off-year election during the second term of a two-term Presidency (ie 1998) the party not in power (not the President's party) picks up seats in the House and Senate. This is another inviolate rule which was broken during the Clinton Presidency. The first rule that went out the window was: "You can't be somebody with nobody" when Clinton beat President Bush in the first place.