Capital briefs

* MEDIA DERELICTION: The national media jumped on the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton story with fervor last week, but many conservatives charged that if the press had shown as much diligence in 1992 in pursuing the charges made by Gennifer Flowers, there wouldn't be a Lewinsky story-or a President Clinton.

* MARCH FOR LIFE 1998: The annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., was held, as always, on January 22, the anniversary of the Supreme Court's controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand. Twentyfive years and 30 million abortions later, the American prolife movement continues its struggle, encouraged by the public revulsion at the horror of partial-birth abortion. In fact, many of the speakers at the rally preceding the march down Constitution Avenue from the White House to the Capitol and the Supreme Court focused on Clinton's veto of the partialbirth abortion ban and Congress's attempt to override it. Tens of thousands of people, many of them high school- and college-age, turned out to show their support.

The Constitution makes "no mention of abortion;' Sen. John Ashcroft (R.-Mo.) stated to the Senate on the eve of the March for Life. "The Roe decision has fared no better as a matter of modem medical practice than it has as a matter of constitutional law. RoWs trimester framework was an oversimplification-nothing more than a whole-cloth creation of Justice Blackmun's legal mind. Developments in medical technology, from the widespread use of ultrasound to the miracle of in utero surgery, have completely undermined [Roe]. .

. . These are the sonogram pictures taken of my daughters unborn child. If the Supreme Court saw this picture 25 years ago, would they have allowed this life to be taken?" * FIDEL OFF HOOK AGAIN: Just days before Pope John Paul I's historic visit to Cuba, President Clinton yet again waived the Helms-Burton Acts sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Americans' stolen property on the Communist-controlled island. Dictator Fidel Castro nationalized foreign-held assets after he took power in 1959. Clinton has never allowed the Helms-Burton law to go into effect, instead choosing to grant a waiver every six months by claiming that Cuba is progressing toward freedom and democracy. The anti-Communist Cuban exile community is upset over Clinton's repeated actions, but the World Trade Organization, Canada and European nations are pleased.

* WHERE HAVE ALL THE FOBS GONE? "While we have begun a new year, I expect that this investigation will continue to face many of the same old obstacles," House Government Reform and Oversight Chairman Dan Burton (R.-Ind.) said in his statement last week opening the Bruce Babbitt-Indian casino portion of the campaign finance irregularities probe. "Twenty-four witnesses have either fled the country or refused to return for questioning. Forty-six witnesses have taken the 5th. This is a total of 70 people-some of them close friends and appointees of the President-who have refused to cooperate with this investigation. I think that fact is just astonishing."

* CLINTON PLAN FLAWED: Contrary to the First Politician's claims, experts say the President's new Medicareexpansion plan cannot pay for itself. Clinton wants to allow Americans from ages 55 to 64 to enroll in the soon-to-be-- bankrupt program. But Robert Pear of the liberal New York Times reported January 20, "Robert J. Myers, who was chief actuary of the Social Security Administration for 23 years; William F. Bluhm, vice president of the American Academy of Actuaries; and Julia T. Philips, a health actuary who works for the Minnesota Insurance Commissioner, said in interviews that they doubted Mr. Clinton's plan would pay for itself at the premium rates he has proposed" But higher rates, Pear's experts said, might drive healthy people out of the program.

* ANOTHER CLINTON GIRLFRIEND? Paula Jones' attorneys are preparing to subpoena Sheila Lawrence, widow of the late Democratic donor and ambassador to Switzerland Larry Lawrence, about an alleged affair with President Clinton that began in 1992. So says columnist Arianna Huffington, who reports that "rumors of the affair have been widely circulating among media folk in Washington and social folk in Shelia's hometown of San Diego." Huffington last year exposed Larry Lawrence's fraudulent claims about serving in the Merchant Marines, forcing the removal of his remains from Arlington National Cemetery.

Huffington raises the question: "Did Shelia Lawrence get a payoff from the President in the form of a government appointment" in return for the couple's silence about the affair? In 1993 Mr. Lawrence was named ambassador while his wife was appointed U.S. special representative to the World Conservation Union.

* BY GEORGE! Republicans were surprised by the bluntness of former close Clinton advisor George Stephanopoulos in commenting last week on the latest charges against Clinton. "If they're true," said Stephanopoulos, "they're not only politically damaging, but could lead to impeachment proceedings.