Inside the Beltway

Fan of Camelot

“And next January, I look forward — as president of the Senate — to swearing in Richard Burton as the next — Richard Burr — as the next senator from North Carolina.”

— Vice President Dick Cheney, at a fund-raising reception in Winston-Salem, N.C., this week for Republican congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Richard Burr.

Uh-oh

We hereby warn Minnesota congressional candidate Jim Mork, who was a district judge for 22 years, that he’s breaking the law.

Stepping down from the bench in 2001 to practice law, Mr. Mork announced recently his independent candidacy to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht.

“It is time to raise the bar on integrity in Washington,” says Mr. Mork.

Actually, it’s the former judge who needs to examine U.S. law surrounding the “misuse” of the official seal of the U.S. House of Representatives, which we find at the top of his campaign logo in his official Web site: www.mork04.com.

U.S. Code Title 18, Section 713, clearly states: “Whoever knowingly uses, manufactures, reproduces, sells or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”

No couch potato

On the heels of this column observing that George W. Bush has “no nose for news,” Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, walked onto the House floor to express his astonishment.

Interviewed by Bill Sammon, senior White House correspondent for The Washington Times, for his new book, “Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, John Kerry, and the Bush Haters,” Mr. Bush admitted:

“I don’t watch the nightly newscasts on TV, nor do I watch the endless hours of people giving their opinion about things … I don’t read the editorial pages; I don’t read the columnists.” In fact, Mr. Bush said he barely “skims” four newspapers delivered daily to the Oval Office: “The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Washington Post and USA Today.”

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