European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A primary lesson in Barry Back by Frank Rich new York times a Hen America has been looking for a laughingstock in the 1990s, there have been few better candidates than Marion Barry the former mayor of Washington. The videotape of his humiliating Fri bust at the Vista hotel four years ago is As indelible As most Washington monuments and to those who enjoy melodramatic morality tales vastly More entertaining. But the easy jokes have always left me a Little uncomfortable while barrys behaviour was reprehensible in the final disastrous years of his 12-year Rule of the nations capital Wasny this downfall More do pressing than comic i grew up in pre Home Rule Washington and remember the Barry of More than a Quarter Century ago who spoke up eloquently for the rights of a mostly Black City that was ruled like a Plantation by racist congressman. Perhaps this is Why the new late night gags and the widespread Tut cutting about barrys shocking incredible terrifying a you pick the adjective a democratic primary Victory two weeks ago virtually assuring he will be elected mayor come november gave me  moralizing seems a bit Pat. As the received Wisdom has it Barry suckered the City a monolithic Black underclass into registering and voting for him by making demagogic Hay of his professed recovery from crack addiction alcoholism and womanizing. The two other Black candidates both vying for the responsible Middle class were doomed. Might there be another perspective less in Thrall a to racial cliches and Battle lines that does no to portray Many As a machiavellian rogue and Many of his Vot cars As an easily deluded mob trying to find such a fresh take i spoke to the least chronicled and  All Barry primary voters his few White Marion Barry in april 1992, escorted by . Policemen into a Church after his release from prison. Supporters in the City a Only remaining solidly White enclave Ward 3, my old neighbourhood. Given that Barry got Only 601 votes out of 17,451 cast in Ward 3, one of which was my fathers i was Able to interview 2 percent of this anomalous group. Most said they voted for Barry Only after being convinced that his recovery was for real. All cited his political cunning and Unsung intellectual and Bud Gitary acuity. A a he a a disgrace to our City but he a probably the smartest Guy around a said Lewis Mulitz 68, who is the ceo of a Small steel company. According to John Plunket a 38-year-old businessman in real estate finance a Barry a hobbled by the use of drugs is a very capable Guy. His fault was giving into weaknesses of the flesh. He was a Crackhead and drank Brandy All the time and he does no to anymore a the most unlikely of the Barry voters 1 found was Emily Vetter 44, president of the City a hotel association a Trade group whose livelihood is tied to Washington a not to mention the Vista hotels Good name. She feels Barry has a a aggressive ideas to rein in crime and the City budget but is treated hypocritically. A a let stalk about Betty Ford a Vetter said. A her problem was no secret and she recovered and helped a lot of  of the Barry voters i queried Only one attacked the Media for Caric Turing the candidate my father. He was enraged that Abc ran the Fri video while polls were still open and objects that Barry who did time for a Misdemeanour is More often referred to As a criminal than is Oliver North who escaped a felony conviction on a technicality. Dad now 73, is a businessman whose f Street store never recovered after being looted in the 1968 riots. He ended up working for the Barry administration to help redevelop downtown. This year he a agonized until the last minutes Over his vote and May agonize again Between now and november. My father and i done to always see Eye to Eye about politics but in a racially apocalyptic City with dwindling options open mindedness like his is one of the few alternatives left to All the cynical dead end jokes. Clarence Page is on sabbatical. Lower casing of crimes Andy Rooney what punctuation to use and where to use it is a problem for everyone who writes words Down on paper. Editors and teachers often disagree with the writers decision on punctuation. In the newspaper business the copy editors Bible is / he associated press Stylc Book or a manual of style put out by the University of Chicago press. A columnist can twin against a copy editor. I know i be mentioned this before but it annoys me so in a going to mention it again. For years now in be referred to the president of the United states with a capital p. When i refer to him i Call him a the  if pin talking about the president of general motors i done to. I Reserve the capital p for the president of the United states. Copy editors Al. Ways take it Down and make it a Small p. Not just a sometimes. They always do. We should All accept some Standard Rule but i. Think we should always occasionally inspect those rules to see if they still make sense. Another problem i have with editors is using commas. I tend to use More commas than editors like and they often take out some of mine its my opinion that while no one writes As he Speaks and no one Speaks As he writes a persons writing style should come closer to his or her speaking style than it usually does. Commas help a Reader hear the writers voice. The time has come when it makes sense to drop those apostrophes. Ive just finished writing a Book that will be published in the Spring. In it Ive done something Ive always wanted to do. Ive left out the apostrophes indicating an elision in All the familiar contractions everyone uses. Let me see if i can think of most of them a a. Ive int Arent   dont Doest wont cant Hes Shes _ hed shed there. There must be More. For years in the personal letters i write Ive left out those apostrophes because there unnecessary. Not Only Are they unnecessary there intrusive on the Page. Every Dot on a paper catches our Eye and for a fraction of a second at least gets our attention and slows Down our Reading Speed. We have to take it into consideration and even if that consideration is almost instantaneous it delays us. I admit there Are problems. When you take the apostrophe out of a a can to a you have another word  even worse when you elide a she would and make it a a she do you have the word  those Are minor problems. There Are thousands of words that have More than one meaning. When the sense of the words in a sentence Means a she would a no one is going to confuse her with a building in Back of the House. You must be breathless for me to get to the end of my Story. The end of my Story is i lost. Just As in be lost the a president Quot argument with editors for years in be lost the contraction argument with my editor at random House. A is anyone going to say this is a better Book because you left them out a he asked. A Well probably not a a i answered. Is anyone going to say its an annoying affectation a he asked. That Hurt. I can withstand criticism from the grammar police and the punctuation police because i get that All the time. I can stand getting a letter from the retired ladies who taught school for 43 years who write to Tell me in a illiterate a but i done to want to be accused of an affectation in my Book so i m spelling a a in my and those other words with an apostrophe. Tribune Media services Andy Rooney is a former stars and stripes reporter. Page 18 sunday september 25, 1994