European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes William Safire friends Marvel at profound changes in Bush George Bush has devoted the past decade of his life to winning the presidency and this sense of Pur pose has profoundly changed him. People who knew him in the 70s now Marvel at How their gentlemanly Friend will do Damn Alt to win. For an example of that change cast your mind Back to the midterm elections of 1970, when president Nixon assigned vice president Spiro Agnew later shown to be corrupt and bigoted but who knew to barnstorm the country in support of Republican senatorial candidates. Agnew lashed out at the Radie Libs an artful Coin age of his own on the analogy of the 1950s" com sumps and his impending arrival caused democratic candidates to suddenly discover Law and order and embrace their local sheriffs. Speech writer Pat Buchanan excoriated the Bug out inclinations or what he now Calls the prestige press instant analysis pusillanimous Pussy footers and i helped Iveigh against economic gloom and doom Sayers by providing the immortal nattering nabobs of  our Straw Boss in this Lusty foray was Bryce Harlow the consummate political pro. One morning Bryce came into the writers Section of the Campaign plane carrying a telex and shaking his head. Seems that our candidate in Texas wants us to stay out of his state said iffy a. The to no of our Campaign apparently makes brother Bush uncomfortable. I fear for George he May never  Bryce was right about that race George Bush re publican moderate took the High Road and lost to Democrat Lloyd Bentsyn. But in the end he beloved presidential aide was wrong about his Man Bush George did learn maybe too Well. He started his 1988 Campaign with the false image of pc Pic wimp prone to gaffes and succeeded in transforming it into an equally false image of Fero Cious Scourge of Secci leftists. With a Novian Fervour. Vice president Bush now poses As the great foe or crime and liberalism embracing the death penalty and blazing away at gun control prison furloughs and unpopular defences of civil Liberty. Docs this application of his knee to the opposition s political Groin trouble him word seeps out of his but toned up Campaign that he finds it distasteful bul experience taught him that Nice Guy wins no Ball games. When Bush became vice president in 1980, the once related and amiable fellow took on a super cautious outer Shell clamming up even with intimates thai was Why it was no Surprise they Lell me when he showed in 1988 that he was grimly prepared to do whatever it look to win. Compare the hardened silo that has become Bush s James j. Kilpatrick better schools a National health prom sense of Campaign fair play to the soft uncertainty at the Center of the Dukakis Campaign. A longtime political intimate of the m Ussai hush Fly governor suggested privately that Michael Dukakis did nol have what Power junkies like to Call fire in the belly Dukakis has not been thinking about the presidency As a personal goal for Long. Not until Mario Cuomo flinched and Gary Hart was entrapped did he Lake the possibility seriously. The fire is said to have come from his alter ego John Sasso. One measure of the Lack of Power drive came when in was discovered that Sasso torpedoed rival Joseph Biden Dukakis recoiled from the Evi Dence of hardball firing his effective Campaign manager and not bringing him Back until his Campaign Floun dered. Why was Dukakis not immediately visibly enraged by the slurs Al his patriotism for the same reason he was nol angered at the Hatchet thai landed in the Cen Ter of the forehead in last week s debate he question about the hypothetical rape and murder of his wife he s just nol the son to explode and lash Hack. Not thai he is emotionless programmed and super Cool his real rouble some would Call in an admirable Quality is Hal he does not go for All this rough stuff. Like Bush in the Campaign of 1970, he is unwilling to get Down and dirty and is also incapable of seizing the offensive by taking eloquent offence. The human element May nol be everything in determining Campaign outcomes this week we can expect a Bush foreign policy to emerge that will clarify Victory resonance in Congress. But the passion of personal purpose counts for plenty. Congress Closen f lose arguments with District Washington the Congress of the United slates and the government of the District of Columbia Are quarrelling again but their ferocious spat has All the aspects of a disputed Call in a baseball game. You know who s going to win. When the ump cries foul that s in. And when Congress says no to the District brother that Means  the uproar probably is a great big Yawn beyond the Potomac bul it s Page one news Here and provides an Opportunity to say a few things about the Constitution. The constitutional provision establishing the District of Columbia is one of Only three or four provisions in the a holc of that absorbing document in which the founding fathers spoke with deliberate emphasis. They fit cd our supreme Law with glorious ambiguities but when the framers wanted to speak loudly and clearly they knew How to do it. A word about the Brouhaha the District s government some months ago adopted several controversial ordinances. One of them forbids companies writing health insurance to turn Down an applicant who tests positive for the aids virus. Another requires City employees to reside within District limits. A third prohibits religious institutions from discriminating in any fashion against homosexuals. A fourth relates to the use of Public funds to provide abortions for indigent women. These enactments set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill. Powerful members concluded that the Lime had come to teach the District government a lesson in who s Boss. A Bill was at hand to appropriate funds for he City. In an impressive exer Cise of Power Congress amended the Bill to undo what the City Council had done. Well the District s non voting Delegate to the House Walter Fauntroy reportedly i Remblad with rage. The Council chair Man David a. Clarke talked angrily of defying the congressional edict. The Washington Post casting aside its Cus Tomary urbanity fell editorially into hysterics. The nullifying amendments Tram pled upon the very principles of Home Rule. This was an outrage like Beauty outrage lies in the Eye of the beholder. Maybe yes maybe no but let there be no doubt on one score when it comes to the District of Columbia what Congress wants con Gress is going to gel. This is the unequivocal language the Congress shall have Power to exer Cise exclusive legislation in All cases whatsoever Over such District As May be come the Seal of the government of the United  note the intense Fieri exclusive and in All cases  to be sure through the Home Rule act of 197s Congress delegated legislative Power to the District government but Congress attached strings the size of hawsers. The act specifically reserves the congressional Power to Amend or repeal any City Ordi Nance thai Congress dislikes i can think offhand of Only two or three other provisions in the Constitution that contain such modifiers of emphasis. The Stales Are forbidden to tax imports or exports except what May be absolutely necessary for executing to Cir inspection Laws to article i we learn thai no religious lest shall Ever be required As a qualification for Public of fice. No person holding a Federal office May accept any gift or title of any kind whatever from a King Prince or foreign state. Other provisions might be cited in which the Constitution demands some thing extra. A president May Convene Congress on extraordinary  the original provision sanctioning slav Ery could not be amended in any Man  the states May not engage in War unless actually  the Point is that the provision governing the District of Columbia defies misunderstanding who s Boss Congress is Boss. A part of the enduring fascination of the Constitution lies in its mix of provi Sions Clear and provisions Muddy. At some Points the language is precise no person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of 25  a right of trial by jury is pre served where the value in controversy shall exceed j20. At other Point the Lan Guage is expansive. What is an unreasonable search or seizure what ilex Jessive bait what behaviour in a judge is not Good behaviour lawyers and scholars statesmen and editors have been arguing about the Broad provisions for the past 200 Yean. The narrow ones admit no doubt. Sorry about the District of Columbia. Its coun cil had to learn this the hard  p in s the opinions expire sad id the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered u representing the View of the Stan and stripes or the untied Sites government