WASHINGTON WATCH: MESSAGES PULLED FROM THE RUBBLE

In one of the newspapers I read daily, brief descriptions of the victims in Oklahoma City are printed next to stories about the tragedy. Each day, as new bodies are pulled broken from the rubble and identified, new names are added to the list.

"Rebecca Anderson, 37, wasn't in the federal building at the time of the bombing. A nurse who worked in a nursing home, she had gone to the bombing minutes after the explosion to help in the rescue. She suffered severe head injuries when concrete fell on her and then in a later fall. After she died Sunday, her heart and kidneys were donated. She is survived by her husband, Fred, and four children."Cassandra K. Booker went to the federal building to fill out the paperwork to get her 2-year-old twin sons Social Security cards. Mrs. Booker, 25, was preparing to graduate from an airline reservations school. She is survived by the twins and two other children."Cynthia Campbell Brown, 26, was buried near the same Texas church where she was married just six weeks ago. Mrs. Brown married fellow Secret Service agent Ron Brown in March and was hoping to be transferred from her Oklahoma City posting so she could be near him in Phoenix."Donald and Mary Anne Fritzler went to the federal building together on unknown business one day after celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. He was an architect and she an administrator in the firm."Frankie Merrell, 23, was working at her teller's window at the Federal Employees' Credit Union when the blast tore through the building. Relatives called her a perfect example of what a mother should be. She is survived by her husband, Charles, and daughter, Morgan."The names go on and on in little but devastating detail. One man is remembered for calling his wife of 20 years to wish her good luck on a speech that she would be giving later in the day to a Bible club. The explosion came moments after they hung up. Another man, a minister, was helping a Spanish-speaking member of his congregation fill out necessary employment forms.In the same newspaper this Wednesday, next to the short biographies of the victims, is a full page of stories about President Clinton's politically opportunistic attack upon talk radio, as well as the defiant responses of some of the hosts. Comments by others about who is to blame for the bombing are contained in the stories and in the editorial columns that follow a few pages later.

Forgive me for wanting to stay out of this fray. But the victims deserve better than to become pawns in our nation's corrosive political debate. No side is pure of waging campaigns of political acrimony, and that includes the president as well as the country's most popular talk show host and the speaker of the House.Indeed, in a significant way, Bill Clinton is right. Americans should constantly assess the level of their rhetoric, and they should stand up to those who foment hate. But the president must do more than point fingers at others. Often before he has complained about those who attack him, and then he himself disproportionately attacks another. It is long past due for him to lead in action as well as rhetoric. The same is true for Mr. Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh. And the same may be true for us, too. It is never wrong to ask, Can we be kinder? Are our criticisms in perspective with the grudge?

Jon K. Rust is a Washington-based writer for the Southeast Missourian.