GOOD RULE, MISSING OATH, WINNING HERO

Rule of thumb: Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. -- Winston Churchill

---

So help me, Pat? Sen. Jim Jeffords' jump from the Republican Party made Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee. Under Leahy's chairmanship, the committee has dropped the phrase "so help me God" from the oath that is administered to nominees who come before his committee. Sen. Jeff Sessions has criticized the move as "another example of the secularization of American public life." Sessions points out that the history of using the phrase goes all the way back to George Washington at his first inaugural. Leahy denied the charge, saying: "I never gave it thought one way or the other." Whether the decision was conscious or not, we urge the Judiciary Committee to restore the oath. -- Washington Update

---

Lance Armstrong: A real hero: Few Americans understand the Tour de France. Almost every day during the three weeks over which the race is held, we pick up the newspaper and read a sentence that begins something like this: "Today's stage, which covered 134 miles ... ." That's 20 stages over 22 days, averaging more than 100 miles a day. Sit back and imagine that for a moment. Try driving that far every day for three weeks.

And that doesn't take into account the mountains. Each year, the tour's outcome is decided in the Alps and the Pyrenees during four or five days of tortuous climbing. The first week or 10 days of the race are a prologue to the mountains. This year, Armstrong was in 23rd place in the early stages. Everyone knew it meant nothing. None of those in the lead would be able to stay with him in the mountains. Only Jan Ullrich, the 1997 champion, was given a chance.

And so it was, in the middle of the Alps, that Armstrong and Ullrich broke away from the pack. As they came around a difficult turn, Ullrich lost control of his bicycle, missed the turn and ended up in a shallow pond. Seeing what had happened, Armstrong slowed down to allow his opponent to recover and catch up. "It was the right thing to do," he said later.

Imagine an athlete, in the heat of what is perhaps the most difficult competition on Earth, pausing to allow the only man who might deny him victory a fair chance. In an era where the mantra of sports is to win at all costs, where cheating is often considered the right thing to do, Armstrong's act was, well, heroic. Shortly after Ullrich had pulled back even, Armstrong put on a burst of speed and took control of the race for good.

Seven days later, Armstrong rode into Paris to the cheers of thousands of Frenchmen. Armstrong speaks French and, by winning their national event three times, has become a hero to the country, a much bigger star there than he is at home.

Perhaps that will change over time. But in a sense, it doesn't matter. Lance Armstrong doesn't really need to be a star. He is already a hero. A real hero. -- John Feinstein, author

---

The average person eats 70 tons of food in a lifetime. -- Harvey Diamond, "Fit For Life"

---

Hard at work: Americans work more than anyone in the industrialized world, ABC News reported recently in a fascinating look at work habits.

Most of us can vouch for the validity of the report. Not only do we work harder, we take less vacation, work longer days and retire later too.

According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, more than 25 million Americans, most of them white-collar workers 20.5 percent of the total work force said they worked at least 49 hours a week in 1999. Eleven million of those said they worked more than 59 hours a week.

America clearly became the economic marvel of the world the old fashioned way: We earned it.

Entrepreneurial women: Entrepreneurial women are not a particularly new strain. Consider the description of the "virtuous woman" in Proverbs 31: "She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night."

Women entrepreneurs in the modern age are more likely to consider a new accounting software package than a field and to use their earnings to buy out a competitor than a vineyard. But that part about her lamp not going out at night still seems to be on target. -- Arkansas Business Journal

---

Why successful companies continue to advertise: Several years ago, the founder of Wrigley chewing gum was on a flight from New York to his home in Chicago. The passenger in the next seat recognized the chewing gum tycoon and asked him a question.

"Mr. Wrigley, I know your company enjoys over 90 percent of the chewing gum market. Yet last week I read where you are increasing your advertising budget by over 30 percent. With such a large share of the market, why do you continue to spend so much on advertising? Why not save that money or use it for something else?"

Wrigley replied, "How fast do you think this airplane is flying?"

The man answered, "Oh, I guess about 600 miles per hour."

Wrigley responded. "I think that's fast enough, don't you?"

The man agreed that indeed, it was fast enough.

"Well then," asked Wrigley, "why doesn't the pilot turn off the engines and save all that expensive jet fuel?" -- Missouri Press News

---

Racism at the racism conference: The Bush administration is quite rightly threatening to boycott the U.N. World Conference on Racism. Among the issues that are prompting a U.S. response: a PLO demand that Zionism once again be branded a form of racism. In other words, if you hold to the view that Jews around the world have a right to return to Israel and form a Jewish state, you are a racist. The United States under Presidents Reagan and Bush vigorously opposed that U.N. resolution. Today Palestinian representatives charge the Israelis with racism while they line up behind an Islamist government in Sudan that enslaves black Africans. Stand firm, Mr. President. -- Washington Update

Gary Rust is chairman of Rust Communications.