Washington Insight

SOUTH SIDE STORY: As he prepared to address the nation amid the violence in Los Angeles, President Bush sat in the Oval Office surrounded by technicians. He cleared his throat once. Then twice. “Thirty seconds,” an aide announced. . . . “Tonight. Tonight,” the President said, practicing the first word of the speech. Then, inexplicably, the nation’s chief executive drifted into free association--and right into a song from West Side Story, the 1957 musical about gang violence in New York: “Too-niiiight, too-niiiight, huh, huh, huh huh, huh. . . . “ “15, standby sir . . . 10 seconds.” . . . There was a pause. The singing voice vanished and the voice of the President of the United States told the nation: “Tonight I want to talk to you about violence in our cities and justice for our citizens.” Which raises the question: Suppose the speech had begun with “Yesterday.” Can he do Paul McCartney?