repubgazette3-1-07hurryupvegaseastbushsuccess

Hurry up, West Virginia -- Ted Arneault opened another slot machine parlor in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, and we have to keep one step ahead, right?

In reality, the big opening yesterday in Pennsylvania offered a hint of things to come for the Mountain State. Here's how The Associated Press described the circus that accompanied the ribbon cutting at Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie:

Before the opening, several radio stations were broadcasting live from outside the casino, while employees served coffee and doughnuts to people who queued near the entrance. Police cars, their lights flashing, lined roads to help guide gamblers to the casino on a foggy morning.

The casino has more than 3,000 parking spaces and five shuttle buses to ferry customers to the facility. Motorists can wait for the buses in 16 climate-controlled shelters in the parking areas.

Arneault is not shy about what he's selling, as demonstrated by the fact that Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" was blaring over the loudspeakers as gamblers rolled in. At least he has good taste in music.

Part of that song's lyrics are:

Oh, there's black jack and poker and the roulette wheel,

A fortune won and lost on every deal.

All you need's a strong heart and nerves of steel.

Viva Las vegas, Viva Las Vegas.

Pennsylvania doesn't have black jack and poker or the roulette wheel yet, which is why West Virginia has to get there first. Of course, Arneault has planned ahead -- thousands of square feet have been set aside at Presque Isle Downs for table games if -- I mean, when -- Pennsylvania lawmakers approve them, which they soon will do so they can keep up with West Virginia.

Wait -- isn't West Virginia passing a table games bill so it can keep up with Pennsylvania? Oh, it gets so confusing. No matter. Arneault, the Jacobs families, etc., are all prepared either way, well versed in playing one state against the other, and laughing all the way to the bank in the meantime. They must have some enjoyable backroom chuckles at the rubes in the state legislatures who fall all over themselves to facilitate the expansion of their parlors, racinos and tracks.

State governments turning to gambling to solve their budget woes should just go ahead and add the following as an amendment to their state Constitutions:

I'm gonna keep on the run,

I'm gonna have me some fun,

If it costs me my very last dime.

If I wind up broke up, well,

I'll always remember that I had a swingin' time.

I'm gonna give it evrything I've got.

Lady Luck please let the dice stay hot.

Let me shoot a seven with every shot.

Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas.

The war in Iraq has become the sole gauge of the success or failure of the Bush presidency, and while, as Administration officials themselves say, mistakes have been made, the biggest mistake of all has been to allow the perception to spread that Iraq is a failure, or that because of Iraq, Bush is a failed president.

Try for a minute to put aside the Iraq war, and examine the other barometers by which all presidents are typically measured.

Jobs? Since August 2003, more than 7.4 million jobs have been created - more jobs than the European Union and Japan combined. Over half a million jobs (513,000) have been added in the past three months alone. Our economy has now added jobs for 41 straight months, and the jobless rate remains remarkably low at 4.6 percent.

The economy? Real wages rose 1.7 percent in the past 12 months. This means an extra $1,030 in the past 12 months for the typical family of four with two wage earners. Real after-tax income per person has risen by 9.8 percent – more than $2,800 – since the president took office. The economy grew a strong 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006. Overall, the economy grew 3.4 percent last year, up from 3.1 percent in 2005. Since the first quarter of 2001, productivity had strong average annual growth of 3.1 percent. This is well ahead of the average productivity growth in the 1990s, 1980s, and 1970s.

Medicare? After the initial Democrat-coordinated complaints and scare tactics, the President's prescription drug plan has in fact been a resounding success. Of the more than 42 million people eligible for Medicare, more than 31 million people now have prescription drug coverage and hundreds of thousands more are enrolling each week. Nearly 6 million more have an alternative source of coverage.

Education? For the first time, there are consistent national standards being applied in our public school systems, meaning an "A" in one school pretty much equals an "A" in another. Minority students are closing the achievement gap, and student achievement is rising – more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds in five years than in the previous 28 years combined, and reading and math scores for 9-year-olds and fourth-graders have reached all-time highs.

The fact is, when you take Iraq off the table, the Democrats and the leftwing national media have nothing to complain about. Which is why Iraq is always the only thing on the table.

OK, let's leave Iraq on the table. Even now, Bush critics continue to compare Iraq to Vietnam. But as the table accompanying this story shows, Iraq is nowhere near

Vietnam, especially in regard to casualties. In fact, Iraq is nowhere near any sustained war in modern U.S. history (in just three years in Korea we lost 10 times as many as we have in four years in Iraq).

Yes, mistakes have been made, just as they have been made in every war. But we removed a murderous dictator who, yes, did train terrorists in his county, we freed an enslaved population, helped bring about a freely elected government, and planted the seed of democracy in the Middle East. Not bad, and certainly worthy achievements of which every family of every soldier can and should be proud.

Frankly, the president could do a better job of reminding Americans of the successes in Iraq. The Bush family trait that it is inappropriate to boast sometimes hurts when you hold the nation's highest political office and are faced with 24-hour cable cycles devoted to a neverending barrage of bad news.

The worst side effect of the White House succumbing to the media mantra of failure is that it infects many grassroots Republicans. The GOP faithful must rally to do a better and more consistent job of defending the president and insisting that his many successes, both foreign and domestic, receive proper and appropriate attention.

Keeping the White House in the GOP column in 2008 will not be accomplished by apologizing for Iraq. A blinded nation must be reminded, often, that a Republican president has been great for the economy, excellent in preventing further terror attacks on U.S. soil, and successful in restoring a respectable level of personal behavior so school kids don't have to snicker about the sex antics of the President of the United States.

In regard to Iraq, while the media waits anxiously each day for another U.S. casualty to report, it is up to Republicans to remind America that our mission in Iraq is noble and just, and if we do not waver, future generations will be safer and freer tomorrow because we acted today.