right ear, The

GRADING LEADERSHIP: Where would George Washington, the man who created the institution of the presidency, set the parameters for its relationship to the other branches of government, established the basics of the foreign policy that the United States followed for a century, and indeed kept America together as a nation rank in terms of leadership compared to his successors? No. 3, according to a survey of historians conducted by C-SPAN to conclude its year-long "American Presidents" series. Topping the list was Abraham Lincoln, followed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, every liberal's dream President. Harry S. Truman, who many conservatives feel was responsible for the Korean War through weakness, and Woodrow Wilson, whose prideful utopianism, in many experts' opinion, helped create the conditions that eventually led to World War II make the top ten, while Cold Warwinner Ronald Reagan ranks only No. 11. Somehow, seven of the top ten are Presidents from this century. Bill Clinton is in the middle of the pack at 21, but the historians did concede something: They put the impeached President dead last, at 41, in a listing for moral authority.

WHAT HE WOULD FACE: If the Clinton Administration has its way, here's what Elian Gonzalez would grow up in: a persecution of dissenters from Cuban government dogma that "has grown so harshincluding brief kidnappings, secret jails, and a threatened clandestine execution-that human rights activists are calling it the worst in a decade," reported the Miami Herald February 17. Human rights monitor Elizardo Sanchez said that 304 dissents have been detained, 201 have had restrictions put on them, and 22 have been imprisoned, all since early November Oscar Elias Biscet, for example, may receive a ten-year jail term for criticizing the Communist regime, and Victor Arroyo is already serving six months for giving kids toys donated by exiles. Sanchez, who lives in Havana, told the Herald, "Our data make this the worst wave of repression in ten years." Said Hector Palacios of the Havanabased Democratic Solidarity Party, I have never seen a wave of repression so long and harsh that has drawn so little attention from the international media."

EITC WELFARE, The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which Clinton wants to expand, supposedly rebates to lower-income citizens the income and payroll taxes taken from their paychecks by Uncle Sam. In fact, the ErrC is a welfare program for large numbers of Americans, refunding more than they pay in taxes. "The EITC should be scaled back, reduced to a program offsetting payroll and federal income taxes, with its welfare component eliminated," said Naomi Lopez, author of a new report from the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI). Ten years ago, the EITC cost $7.5 billion annually. Now, checks totaling $30 billion a year go out, "making it today's fastest growing welfare program," says IPI.

LIBERALS FOR MCCAIN: Crossover Democrats and independents aren't the only voters boosting McCain. Last month, two nonconservative Bushmen announced they were leaving the Texan's campaign to support the Arizona senator. Moderate California Secretary of State Bill Jones, the highest elected Republican in the state, and liberal former Sen. Daniel Evans (R.-Wash.) both cited disgust with what they said was Bush's negative can-,7 paigning as the reason for switching to McCain. Apparently, they did not view McCain's comparing Bush to Clinton as negative. DULLES, TOO: The Dulles, Va., chapter of the National Organization for Women endorsed New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for Senate, soon after a poll found that Hillary is trailing Giuliani among white women in New York. Members said that as they "watched Mrs. Clinton's lifeless and seemingly perfunctory televised entry into the race, it reminded us of the role she played in the countless scandals tied to a discredited administration. This, added to her lack of independent professional achievements and the pattems of actions which regularly contradict proclaimed dogmas, contrasts sharply with the proven leadership of Mayor Giuliani."

KIDS ON DRUGS: A University of Maryland study found sharp increases in the number of children age 2 to 4 being put on drugs to control their behavior, from Ritalin to Prozac, even though most of these drugs have never been tested on young children. Frontpage. stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post never even alluded to family breakdown or the low state of popular culture as perhaps being factors behind the trend.

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