LIMBAUGH'S BOOK PRESERVES THE RECORD

DAVID LIMBAUGH'S book, "ABSOLUTE POWER," hit the New York Times best-seller list this week ... rapidly rising to No. 14 with the brief description: "A lawyer's critical evaluation of the Clinton-Reno Justice Department."

With recent television appearances on "Hannity and Combs" and "Fox and Friends" ... and over 100 radio interviews, Limbaugh has had a busy and, I'm sure, fascinating two weeks of exposure.

Also, NATIONAL REVIEW interviewed Limbaugh on his book which included the following exchange on his 100,000-copy printing (a large printing by any standards):

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What made you write "Absolute Power"? Don't we know enough about the Clintons' disregard for the law already? What's the point of revisiting it?

David Limbaugh: Admittedly we are all intimately familiar with the Clintons' many scandals, but I believe that many of them were underreported and underemphasized by the major media. Plus, this is the first book that details the complicity of the Clinton-Reno Justice Department in the administration's undermining of the Constitution and the rule of law. There are several chapters that deal with material that was barely covered by the media, including the tobacco wars, Bill Lann Lee's illegal appointment to head the Justice Department's civil-rights division, and the defamation of Ken Starr. I document all of the phony allegations Clinton's henchmen leveled at Starr and report the findings in each case where he was exonerated.

While we've been exposed to many of the Clinton scandals and abuses of power, it is important that a comprehensive and detailed record be made for posterity. ...

There is a final, important point. We were so inundated with scandal during Clinton's two terms that we almost became numb to it ... some have referred to it as "scandal fatigue." When you read this book you will be amazed at the volume of misconduct you have forgotten, the cumulative effect of which will make your blood boil.

---

I enjoyed watching JACKIE STILES and the Southwest Missouri State University Bears win their way into the FINAL FOUR of the women's NCAA Division I tournament to be held in the sold-out Kiel Auditorium this coming weekend in St. Louis.

This is a good team with Stiles an excellent 5-foot, 8-inch national scoring record holder. Each finals team gets only 800 tickets. Women's basketball ... and for that matter all women's sports ... sure have come a long way in the last 40 years.

---

KEN NEWTON ... longtime friend, former editor of the Southeast Missourian and currently a columnist for the St. Joseph, Mo., daily newspaper, wrote the following column about two weeks ago.

"Hollywood hands out its Academy Awards on Sunday night. That means actors and actresses will get their due for portraying plucky legal assistants, eccentric artists, ersatz vampires, noble drug cops, mysterious chocolatiers and pill-gobbling housewives in movies most of us have never seen.

Welcome to the world of make-believe. Or maybe that designation should go to Jefferson City. Some performances there last week merit consideration from the academy.

The nominees for best actor in a melodramatic role are:

* Sen. Ken Jacob of Columbia: "What kind of people are these, taking a reader away from a blind man?"

* Sen. John Scott of St. Louis: "This is the crucifixion of the Missouri Senate."

* Sen. Ed Quick of Liberty: "That's not what our country is about."

* Sen. Jacob, a second nomination: "This is a surprise massacre."

Massacre? Crucifixion? Good golly, they're killing folks in the Statehouse!

Repossessing vision from the sight-impaired? Oh, the humanity!

Well, it's not exactly that. On Thursday, the Senate's Republican majority, the chamber's first in more than a half-century, announced plans to reduce expenses on that side of the Capitol by 10 percent. In other words, it would trim $1.2 million from an annual $12 million Senate budget.

As part of this, 12 staff firings were recommended, or about 6 percent of the Senate work force.

Please don't minimize the personal impact this will have on a dozen good people. However, when you hear such hyperbole from powerful men, you'd think the catalyst would be the Gateway Arch falling, a good-sized temblor along the New Madrid Fault or Britney Spears singing the national anthem at the Chiefs' home opener.

One suggested termination got the most attention. Kim Green gets $53,550 a year from the Senate to assist Harold Caskey, the sight-impaired lawmaker from Butler. His position would be eliminated, prompting Sen. Jacob's scorn.

Why pick on a blind man? We aren't said Senate president pro tem Peter Kinder. Senator Caskey is free to put Green on his office payroll, and the assistant would never miss a paycheck.

But accounting changes don't quite roll off the tongue, don't quite tweak a political opponent, like demagoguery.

The Missouri Senate's Web site shows 181 staff members. They do the bidding of 34 senators. Of those staffers listed, I found the 1999 salaries of 124 in the most recent State Manual.

The average annual staff salary was $36,539. During 1999, the Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis reported the average wage per job in Missouri as $29,282.

Of those 124 Senate staff salaries, 91 were above the average state wage, including 18 that exceeded $50,000 a year.

---

These numbers and Thursday's episode tell us a few important things about state government. One is that reform comes with its share of hysterics, and reformers need a good set of earplugs to follow through.

Another is that it doesn't take long in a government setting to forget what the lives are like for those being represented.

Finally, with the coming of term limits, there might soon be a surplus of players for Missouri dinner theaters.

---

In St. Louis over the weekend I was at the Chase Hotel, which was the site for from 450 to 500 Missouri Democrats and visiting dignitaries who paid $1,000 a ticket for a dinner and tribute to U.S. Sen. JEAN CARNAHAN ... (who says she still hasn't decided whether she will run for re-election).

With the politically savvy and congenial Puxico native, ROY TEMPLE, selected as her administrative aide ... the campaign train is heading down the track, and she will only be stopped by some unanticipated event. With a 50-50 standoff in the U.S. Senate, Missouri once again will be a political storm center ... starting this fall.

Gary Rust is chairman of Rust Communications.