European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Capitol a. I by Christopher Connell associated press Bush s glowing first year George Bush has reason to smile As reenters the second year of his presidency his standing among americans is according to polls at phenomenal Heights Manuel Antonio Noriega is in . Custody and communist governments in Eastern Europe Are toppling. But As Bush Well knows presidents before him have enjoyed the glow of favourable circumstances Only to suffer the sudden chill of events gone sour As he celebrated the anniversary of his inauguration Bush sought to Benefit from the political capital gained in recent months As he campaigned to win congressional support for a Domestic Agenda topped by his Long standing Call for a Cut in capital gains taxes with democrats firmly in control of Congress and in a mood to Challenge the president Domestic policy May prove far More troublesome Lor the president than foreign policy prospects Are considered excellent for conclusion of agreements this year on Long Range nuclear weapons and on reducing conventional military forces in Europe assessments of Bush s first year in office were predictably glowing from such partisans As White House chief of staff John Sununu who said it was t an easy year George Bush just made it seem easy " but he also earned less partisan Praise. Stuart Eizenstat. The Carter administration s Domestic policy adviser said Bush got off to a very Rocky Start with surprising difficulties in filling key positions including a losing Battle to get John Tower confirmed As defense Secretary. But Bush wound up having a successful first year and left himself in a Strong position with Congress for 1990, Eizenstat said. Democrats in Congress were too distracted to make much of any Early Bush missteps As both House speaker Jim Wright and majority Leader Tony Coelho resigned last Spring under ethical Clouds ii they had t been consuming each other the democrats might have treated Bush even worse said Mitchell Daniels president of the Hudson Institute and onetime political strategist for Ronald Reagan s White House Bush after vetoing a $1 20 increase in the $3 35 hourly minimum wage forced Congress instead to Swallow the 90-cent increase he favored. Bush in this age of the extended hand also found compromises with Congress on the deficit and Aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. He lost a fight for a lower capital gains tax despite passage in the House and majority support in the Senate but vowed to win that Battle this year Congress hewed closely to Tho Bush administration plan m fashioning a mull billion Dollar bailout for the savings and loan Industry they also stuck largely with his blueprint for the War on drugs although the lawmakers raised the Ante by $1 billion Bush s anti crime package got mired m the legislative obstacle course and he has yet to earn his stripes As the self proclaimed education  despite an agreement with governors to develop performance goals for the nation s schools democrats who thought Bush would be forced to raise taxes have been disappointed As he held last to his read my lips Campaign pledge later this month Bush will Send Congress a fiscal 1991 budget certain to meet the Gramm Rudman deficit target of $64 billion and unlikely to contain the draconian cuts that earned Many Reagan budgets a dead on arrival stamp on Capitol Hill. Despite doomsayers predictions that a recession was ust around the Corner economic expansion in the United states has rolled into its eighth year. Inflation is in Check and unemployment is near a 15-year Low Bush had his share of slip  lost Battles and controversies from the slow footed response to Tho Oil spill in Alaska to the Tower nomination to the continuing juror Over his diplomatic overtures to China after the bloody crackdown in june on student demonstrators. Three times Bush vetoed legislation Over abortion financing even As some republicans worried that a hard line stance against abortion Hurt gop gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and new Jersey. Bush accused by Senate majority Leader George Mitchell of timidity in the face of major changes sweeping the soviet Union and East bloc nations went to the nato Summit in May with a bold proposal for a troop pullout and convention arms reductions across Europe. Later to met with soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev at the storm tossed Malta Summit. He visited Poland and Hungary in july and by year s end 89 had signed an Aid package of $938 million Over three years for the new East bloc democracies and draped a medal of Freedom around the Nock of Solidarity s Lech Walesa his administration displayed a capacity to learn from mistakes or missed opportunities if the administration was slow to fathom the Gravity of the damage from the Exxon Oil spill in Alaska s Gull of Valdez it moved when Hurricane Hugo devastated Charleston. . And when an earthquake shattered the san Francisco area in Panama the United states missed an Opportunity by not coming to the Aid of mutineers who sought to overthrow Noriega in Early october but the president Bush recently celebrated his lint anniversary in office amidst glowing political reports. Here the president vacations at a private Lake in Alabama. Pentagon s dec. 20 invasion the largest . Military operation since the Vietnam War. Was a textbook operation. Bush provided a show of Airpower to help Philippines president Corazon Aquino put Down a Mutiny and sent special forces to san Salvador when rebels took Over a hotel with americans trapped inside. He visited 14 countries and the Caribbean Island of St Martin in 1989 and is bound for Cartagena Colombia next month in a gesture of support for colombian president Virgilio Barco and his Battle against drug lords Bush proved himself in Sununu s phrase the master of Tho Small gesture a Telephone addict who reached out to world leaders on a regular basis that Knack came in Handy in August when a flurry of Bush Calls reportedly helped persuade terrorists in Lebanon to lift a death threat against american hostage Joseph Cicippio. Stephen Hess a Brookings institution scholar said Bush had the Luck to become president in a year when the Berlin Wall fell and old communist regimes were shaken to their roots while Bush stands High in the ratings now polling experts say he does not command the intense loyalty from a sizable cadre of supporters that Reagan could always count on. He has t built intensive support that May come Back to haunt him said Larry j Sabato. A political scientist at the University of Virginia. Erma  k in the Broadway play Shirley Valentine Shirley is serving out the rest of her life in an empty nest having in depth conversations with the Kitchen Wall. Her rare moments of Joy come from memories of her children who Are grown she recalls the year her son was cast As Joseph in the Christmas pageant a role he rejected As dumb. He was finally persuaded that All he had to do was escort the expectant Mother of god to the inn and ask for a room. When told there were no vacancies he would guide her to a stable and get on with his life. But something happened to him on the night of the performance As the spotlight illuminated his every move and the audience in the darkness awaited his next word he never wanted the moment to end so instead of accepting the innkeeper s sorry there is no room at the inn Shirley s son changed the course of christianity and history when head ribbed. Of course there s room11 booked Only a child could rewrite St Luke and get away with it As i sat in the darkness of the theater it occurred to me that nearly Allol my memories of Christmas revolve around the kids. I depend on them to give me my traditional commercial Blocker rendering me immune to exhaustion cookie overdose. Christmas music in the malls that starts after halloween and bad ads. Santa can make you grow hair by Christmas. Call 555 1922 major credit cards accepted " there were sparse christmases christmases we dragged to relatives and christmases spent apart but the kids were always there to remind you that the child is still in each and every one of us if we let it surface a couple of years ago a night much like this one my older son was volunteering to help Santa in his visits he appeared unexpectedly at a Nice parly of sedate elderly friends of my parents. They were sitting around having quiet conversation. Suddenly there was a Knock on the door and the next thing you knew Santa Claus was in the Middle of the room. The irony was that although his grandparents did t even recognize him. There was no question As to who he was. Why he chose this House and if he would demand the jewelry and silverware before he left on Cue the entire room Rose to its feet As one the noise level Rose. They hugged Santa and one another. The giggles came. They were children again children who believed that a stranger in a red suit and a White Beard could magically appear and remind them of what they once were. As Santa leaned Over his unsuspecting grandma he said i Hope you remember your wonderful  like Shirley s kid. He could t resist padding his part c 1990 Emia Bombeck Page 16 the stars and stripes monday january 22.1990