European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Commentary the stars and Striper Pago 13. His mementos carted off the pictures off the Oval office Walls a foot out the door George Bush paused on his Way to retirement wednesday to take a slap at Saddam Hussein his persistent vexation. It was a strange Way to end a presidency. Historians could think of no parallel. Usually presidents at War at the close of their terms try to make peace a not engage in an act of War a As their parting gesture. In 1949, Harry Truman had initiated talks designed to end the korean War but it was up to his successor Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower to accept the Compromise with North Korea that got the country out of a Long stalemated unpopular War. And 20 years later Lyndon Johnson Over the bitter protests of his ally in Saigon stopped the bombing of North Vietnam in a vain attempt to wind things up before Richard m. Nixon took Over. It did no to work. Under Nixon the War flared anew american casualties doubled before Nixon pulled out the last american troops in August 1973. No sense of War emergency excited Washington this time a capital fixated on the unstated business of the incoming administration rather than the unfinished business of the departing Crew. Mike Feinsilber strange Way to the circumstances were a unique a acknowledged Bush a spokesman Marlin Fitzwater but the provocation he said was undeniable. No one expected that Bush a bombing raids in Iraq would have Lon term consequences on this country a or probably on Saddam a taunting belligerence that has left the two sides in a state of neither War nor peace for the last two years. / a i. In american eyes Saddam Hussein was a blowhard a pest who Many believe should have been squashed the first time around. Bush had compared him to Hitler. Saddam a motives mystify americans and his survival irks them. If Bush a raid brought anything to mind it was the untidy proceedings in the Oval office 12 years ago the last time one party turned Over the presidency to another. In january 1981, Jimmy Carter spent his last night in the presidency catching Catnap on a Couch while overseeing Midnight negotiations that led to the release of 52 american hostages held by Iran for 444 humiliating Days. Carters negotiator in those arrangements was Warren Christopher the Deputy Secretary of state. Now Christopher is to become Secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Next week he and Bill Clinton will in a Herit Iraq a and Saddam a from George Bush. Saddam outlasted Bush at an awful Price to his people. C tie associated press. 1 a a Ress have lot to learn the biggest egos in Washington belong to the 123 men and women who were sworn in last week As new members of Congress. Surrounded by adoring relatives and Campaign supporters flattered by the newly hired members of their staffs they Are understandably quite full of themselves these members of the largest freshman class since 1948. The feeling will survive Only until wednesday when Bill Clinton a. Contemporary of most of the freshmen will take the oath of office As the first member of the baby Boom generation to make it All the Way to the presidency. And the next morning 90 percent of the freshmen will inquire of the face in the Mirror a Why him a and not me a there a nothing new about David s. Broder the process of deflating freshman egos. A thoughtful Reader in Rockville md., Richard j. Muzzrole recently sent me the text of a dispatch that one Samuel Hubbard filed from Washington to the daily Telegraph of Nashua n.h., bling 90 just As Congress was assembling 90 years ago. The first paragraphs read a it usually takes the new congressman until after the midwinter holidays to rightly get his bearings to learn a where he is at a and find his place in the great governmental machine. The lessons he must learn Are not always altogether pleasant. There is Likely to be some disillusion As to previously conceived notions of his own greatness and importance. A it is naturally something of a Shock to the Man who was the most distinguished citizen of his District when the fact is borne in on his consciousness that he is after All a very Ordinary human being As he measures himself by the larger environment of the National capital a this May be somewhat painful to his Pride but it is wholesome. If he has come Here with the idea that during his first Terra he is going to Reform the whole political universe the sooner he gets rid of that notion the better for him and his future usefulness in the National  the first impression is that Many of the current congressional freshmen a elected along with Clinton a told voters in the recent Campaign that their Mission in life was indeed to a Reform the whole political  but perspectives do change. It was i believe the same William Jefferson Clinton whose name appears on the inaugural invitations who in weighed against the a brain dead politics of Washington Quot in his acceptance speech at the democratic National convention last july. But that did not Stop him from filling three fourths of the top jobs in his administration with members of Congress and alumni of past administrations the trick As Many of the freshmen already grasp is to make the system work rather than waste Energy trying to a fix Quot things that Only marginally impede such action. The measure of a a Reform is How Well the Public is served not How a pure Quot the system grades on some self appointed ethicist a score card. Clinton has demonstrated the Point by recruiting effective and seasoned Washington operatives for his government but at the same time moving quickly to close the a revolving door that in the past has seeded people like them out of government service and into lucrative lobbying jobs. Now Congress needs to do its part by rewriting Campaign finance Laws to end its current dependence on funds solicited or extorted from favor seeking lobbyists and their political action committees it needs to find a Way to provide challenger with sufficient resources so that most congressional districts see a real Campaign every two years. If it does that it need not worry about closing the House gym shutting Down the reserved parking lot at National Airport or Banning every other perk As some purists would have it do. Those things Don t affect its work. And much More can be done to restore Public Confidence in Congress by passing a realistic budget and health care plan than by raising the Price members pay for haircuts in the Capitol Barber shops. Odds Are the freshmen lawmakers already know this. They May be newcomers to Washington but most of them have served substantial apprenticeships in local or state office a especially in the Legislatures those Breeding grounds of craftiness. Catbe Washington Post