European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday february 6, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary William Safir insults May push Cuomo right into Campaign just when Bill Clinton thought he was emerging from the mire of betray for pay journalism last week Mario Cuomo let him have it a chop chop chop a right in the Back of the neck. It happened on in no a Larry King live and it was a masterly attempt to destroy a candidacy. Forget the unrequited love baloney from the woman giving a a Floozy a bad name in sound bites from Gen Nifer s greatest hits she derogated gov. Cuomo got a placating gov. Clinton to half agree and thereby breathed new life into the new yorkers flirtation with the democratic nomination. A the seems like he could get real mean a she says about Cuomo on one tape snippet. A voice that is presumably gov. Clinton a murmurs a a mean son of a Bitch. A that could be construed As a compliment in political circles requiring no apology but then the entrapping caller observed a Yean i be surprised if he did no to have some mafioso major her double negative made her unintentionally accurate Cuomo does not have mafioso connections instead of dismissing it with a that Rumoro a been in All the newspapers for years a Clinton said a Well he acts like that was wrong. It concurs in an ethnic slur and although it is the sort of crack politicians make in private conversation All too often it requires an apology which Clinton promptly issued. In Normal circumstances the insulted would deliver a Stern lecture to show that stuff is out of Bounds accept the apology and drop it. But not when taking offence allows you to take the offensive. After shyly demur ring when Larry King a sympathetic but perceptive interviewer first asked him to react Cuomo warmed to the subject a few moments later a it involves italian americans and much More than that it involves All the people who have Ever been slurred a All the jews and All the polish people. Its an ugly As he came to think of it the Clinton crack struck Cuomo As even wronged than adultery a the idea of Loving someone imprudently or unwisely a in a not sure that that Sas bad As encouraging people to hate one As his Host started to turn to the state of the Union address Cuomo said a if you insist on staying with this subject and talked of the american cultural mosaic concluding a when you Deal with that diversity perversely when you undermine it when you make it a cause of disruption you re getting at the very fabric of the democracy. You re really attacking the democracy in a fundamental Way when you say a Nigger Kike a later in the show asked about the invasion of candidates privacy Cuomo found a Way to give Clinton another karate chop a a. You have to prepare yourself where someday somebody will say on a conversation that he thought was private a this Guys in the a a caller from Montrose n.y., who identified himself As �?oa1 Myers happen to be Irish Catholic a objected a Bill Clinton never used the term a a then i done to know Why he apologized a Cuomo snapped. A no no wait. All he said was that you were being very aggressive. For the first 10 minutes of this show you talked about you know terms used against Blacks against jews against mafioso a you re painting one of our leading candidates in a Corner. I think that a terribly unfair.�?�. The governor again linking his target to the Offen Sive word a i did no to say it. He and his Friend said the caller not taken in by the artful linkage Quot no he did no to say a the governor cutting in turning the Clinton apology against him a before he Ever even admitted that it was his voice on the tapes he apologized thereby admitting. So if somebody made a mistake Here and incriminated Bill Clinton it was Bill Clinton not Mario incriminated. Wow. That a not How to become attorney general in a Clinton Cabinet that a using a prosecutor Al verb to portray a rival As Crook sinner and Pervert or of american democracy. No wonder Dan Quayle predicted that Mario Cuomo would be the democratic nominee. Sec him getting insulted enough to run. C Tho now York Tom Sdavid s. Broder Bush in tune with politics not a few Days before the state of the Union address and the budget message a member of president Bush a Cabinet Laid Down the proper Marker for judging those two Basic presidential documents. A people done to expect the president to have specific answers for every problem in the world Quot he said. A but they expect him to show that he understands where we Are As a country where we need to go and How we re going to get by that Standard George Bush gets a failing Grade. His state of the Union address began at the proper Point with a Celebration of the historic a almost biblical a changes and improvements in the world scene As he put it. It is bizarre for Bush to claim that a communism died this year a while one Quarter of the worlds people still live under its Yoke in a country called China. But despite that whopping exaggeration he is Correct in saving that the end of the cold War Marks a turning Point in world history a a Gateway to new challenges and new opportunities. As usual Bush a National Security team is ready. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney a Long term strategy for reducing arms and manpower at least frames the needed debate in that policy area even if experts will Challenge some of its specifics. On the Domestic Side strategists in the Bush Campaign were heartened by private polls showing a big jump in the number of voters who said they thought after the speech that Bush had a strategy for ending the recession. But in the group of 11 democratic Bush-in-1988 voters from the Baltimore area with whom i watched the state of the Union the Praise was much More for Bush a confident assertive tone than for the substance of his message to Congress. And the the budget for fiscal 1993, which came out the next Day Falls far Short of the Standard which budget director Richard Damian correctly set in his introduction to the document a a comprehensive program to address not Only the Short term but the Long terms Challenge to a renew Confidence and to secure american growth in a competitive global As embodied in the budget Bush a program is much More of a Patchwork aimed at improving his chances for reelection in november than a Long term Battle plan for restoring our damaged Economy. The last minute battling within the administration produced embarrassing errors and internal conflict sin the budget tables symptoms of a deadline driven improvisational Effort lacking any Clear theme or philosophy. The problem is compounded by Bush a temperament. The upbeat and aggressive stance he takes on ceremonial occasions such As the state of the Union makes it All the harder for him to Tell the american people hard truths. A Man who is eminently comfortable with the status quo he cannot bring himself to see or to say that the United states must overhaul fundamental systems which Are imposing unacceptable costs on the Economy and hampering our competitive position. Even where his colleagues have developed serious Reform proposals for him a in education Job training Energy banking civil Justice research Ana development and Trade for example a Bush too often treats them in perfunctory fashion and fails to communicate the urgency of action. True Congress is often guilty of recalcitrance in these areas but it is the responsibility of the president to Lead. On other critical matters Bush gives the appearance of having to be dragged into the right. Health care is Centra not Only to the nations economic performance but to the emotional and financial Security of millions of families. But Bush seems unwilling to confront the need for fundamental Reform. So vague and timorous and bureaucratic were his references to this vital topic in the state of the problems Union that most of my pro Bush companions in Maryland were not even aware he was outlining a proposal that might pare their medical Bills. The tax proposals in the new budget Are a melange of and Hockery designed to satisfy particular industries housing constituencies Home buyers and factions within the gop capital gains tax Cut fans. No philosophy of government can be drawn from these proposals. They Are designed for election Day 1992. It also looks As if Bush has thrown up his hands on the question of budgetary discipline that ought to be Central to a conservative administration. Fiscal policy is so reckless that next year interest payments on the National debt will for the first time exceed the amount that is spent on All discretionary Domestic programs. But Bush is inviting Congress to convert defense savings into politically appealing tax cuts and resorting to what House budget committee chairman Leon pan Etta a Calif correctly called a smoke and mirrors to conceal the costs of this opportunism. The nation deserves better. C the Washington Post writers group
