RUST COMMENTARY

Gore admits economic boom began with Bush: Vice President Al Gore, who in 1992 said America was in "the worst economy since the Great Depression," is now quietly acknowledging the current economic boom began midway through the Bush administration.

The Clinton-Gore team, eager to claim bragging rights for presiding over what will soon become the longest economic expansion on record, finds itself in the awkward position of crediting President Bush, the father of one of Mr. Gore's presidential rivals, for initiating the expansion.

"The economic expansion that began in April 1991 is now the second longest on record," said a recent report by the White House Office of Management and Budget. "If the expansion continues through February 2000 -- as virtually all private- and public-sector forecasters expect -- it will become the longest running expansion ever."

But in October 1992, 18 months after the boom began, Mr. Gore insisted the economy "is in trouble." During a debate with Vice President Dan Quayle, then-Senator Gore denounced Bush-Quayle economic policies.

"The experience that George Bush and Dan Quayle have been talking about includes the worst economic performance since the Great Depression," said Mr. Gore, hammering home a campaign theme he first articulated months earlier. "Unemployment is up, personal income is down, bankruptcies are up, housing starts are down. How long can we continue with trickle-down economics when the record of failure is so abundantly clear?"

Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said that rhetoric is not at odds with the vice president's tacit acknowledgement that the recovery began halfway through the Bush administration.

"If you ask people who were working men and women in the late '80s and early '90s whether they thought that time was tougher than this time, I think it's a pretty clear answer," said Mr. Lehane, who emphasized that 18 million new jobs have been created during the Clinton-Gore years.

The nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research says the Clinton-Gore team did not create the current economic expansion. Rather, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore merely presided over a boom that was nearly two years old by the time they took office in January 1993.

"The beginning of the uptick was under Bush," said NBER spokes-woman Donna Zerwitz. "The economic truth is that seeds for recovery were sown during the Bush era." -- Washington Times

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Reagan's condition: While Ronald Reagan's health continues to decline gradually, the nation should be reassured that the former president is comfortable and well-cared for, his doctor says.

"The president is gradually declining with respect to various functions," Dr. Ronald Petersen said on CNN's "Larry King Live" on July 14. "He's having the difficulties most patients have with Alzheimer's disease."

Dr. Petersen, affiliated with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said he visited with the Reagan family in Los Angeles in March and praised the care Nancy Reagan was providing for her husband.

"He is really comfortable and doing well in his environment," Dr. Petersen said. "The president is doing as well as he can given the situation of this particular disease."

Mr. Reagan, 88, disclosed in 1994 that he had Alzheimer's, an incurable brain disorder. -- Greg Pierce, Washington Times

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Bradley and Leno: Presidential candidate Bill Bradley withstood a flurry of gibes on July 9 from talk-show host Jay Leno on NBC's "The Tonight Show" but managed to get in a dig at his front-runner rival for the Democratic nomination, Vice President Al Gore.

When Mr. Bradley, a former senator from New Jersey, joined Mr. Leno on stage, the comedian said he was amazed the candidate showed up, The Associated Press reports.

"I've done a few Bill Bradley jokes ... about your speaking," Mr. Leno explained. "I think I said Bill Bradley is so boring his Secret Service code name is Al Gore."

Mr. Bradley smiled innocently amid laughter from the audience and replied, "Is it really that bad?"

Mr. Bradley, a onetime basketball star, said campaign coaches had helped him prepare for public appearances.

"They say, when you go on the Jay Leno show, look at Jay, now look at the camera, now look at Jay, now look at the camera, now keep your cheek up, keep your chin up, keep your chin down, you can face this way ... and above all, look natural," Mr. Bradley quipped.

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Attention, White House: Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, acknowledged that he has put a hold on Richard Holbrooke's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations.

"Yeah, that's correct," Mr. McConnell said on CNN's "Evans, Novak, Hunt and Shields."

"We've had a difficult time with President Clinton's staff on the question of appointments to the Federal Election Commission. Historically, we have not tried to tell the Democrats which three members they should have on the FEC, and they've not tried to tell us. They have a couple of very, very partisan Democrats on their side on the FEC, and that's fine. We don't have any problem with that," Mr. McConnell said.

"I recommended professor Bradley Smith, a Harvard graduate, a person who knows a great deal about the First Amendment and who is a free speech advocate." He "will probably be one of the greatest members, if not the greatest member, ever to serve on the Federal Election Commission. And the president and his people seem not to want to support him because he happens to be a Republican."

The senator added: "I actually think Dick Holbrooke is a good nomination. I'm going to support him at the appropriate time. But we need to get the attention of the White House that they cannot name the Republican members of the Federal Election Commission."

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Now, the Congo: Apparently forgetting the lessons of Somalia, where 18 U.S. servicemen were killed in an ambush while trying to arrest one of that civil war's war criminals, President Clinton is now considering the possibility of sending U.S. troops into the Congo, where a peace agreement between warring factions has almost been completed.

"President Clinton has stated on previous occasions that we would consider supporting a peacekeeping force if there were an appropriate cease-fire arrangement," said State Department Spokesman James Foley. "We're going to carefully study any proposal for a U.N. peace-keeping operation, especially its mandate, before making any decisions about U.S. support for the operation or role in it, but we are eager to be supportive.

Gored by Ward: Ward Connerly, the Sacramento businessman who successfully pushed for Proposition 209 eliminating race and sex preferences in California state government, now supports a similar initiative in Florida.

On June 28, after Vice President Al Gore gave a speech ridiculing people who oppose affirmative action and quotas, Connerly wrote the Veep a sharp letter in response. "You belittled our dedication to the principle of a color-blind society, said Connerly. "How can we be one nation when we are resentful, suspicious, and angry because of the perception -- sometimes real and sometimes imagined -- that some individuals are being given an unfair advantage because of their race?" Connerly is chairman of the American Civil Rights Coalition. -- Human Events

Blast from the past: "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and world will follow our lead into the future." -- Adolph Hitler, 1935

As biased as ever: Need compelling evidence of a blatantly liberal bias in the media? Witness the lackluster coverage of the unconscionable transfer of top-secret nuclear weapons technology to China during the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign of '96, which has severely compromised our national security. Juxtapose this attitude with the unprecedented media feeding frenzy of the Iran-Contra affair.

Consider the ho-hum response to Webster Hubbell and Hillary Clinton's Madison Guaranty debacle. Compare this to the media mayhem alleging conservative responsibility for the whole S&L scandal of the '80s. Observe the press assigning solemn credibility to Al Gore's recent spiritual epiphany, citing his "faith-based family values." Contrast this with the ridicule showered upon Dan Quayle when he addressed the same issues.

Can anyone blame the average American citizen for viewing the "fourth branch of government" with distrust and contempt? -- Letter to the editor from William G. Parrot in the Washington Times

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.