On the Right - Invitations Ahead.(Yang Jiechi out of place at White House lunch)(Brief Article)

NEW YORK, MAY 1

Invitations can be tricky, as President Bush most keenly discovered on Monday when he invited the whole legislative gang to lunch and was greeted by only 193. We're told that Southwest chicken and Angus beef were served, which raises the incidental question: Were the kitchen staff advised by the relevant steward that only one-third of the invitees would show up? If so, how was the information gathered? Was the FBI called in, discreetly to inquire? But the FBI is a crime- fighting outfit, and it is not a crime to turn down a White House invitation. So it would have been a matter of guesswork: How many Democratic legislators, how many GOP, would turn up? Leaving unanswered the question: What was done with all the leftover chicken and beef?

Then there is the question of motive. Attention focuses on what it is that caused individual senators and congressmen to stay away. Observers were quick to point out that Monday is a busy day for congressmen, often spent traveling back from weekend work in their home districts. They just couldn't alter their plans on such short notice. But then there were others who were free, or could manage to be free, but chose not to accept the invitation. When that happened to another king, in another age, he was wroth; and sent forth his agents to get other guests, teaching us that many are called but few are chosen.

Social invitations that run up against politics cause potentially embarrassing situations. Might President Bush have accosted Congressman Gephardt, his mouth full of chicken, and said: "Remember, Dicky-boy, there's no such thing as a free lunch!" What would the minority leader have done? With the host? With the food?

Two days before the White House's failed lunch, the White House Correspondents had their annual dinner party, a huge affair with several thousand diners. A mischievous table arranger managed to seat, at a single table, Charles Colson, Pat Robertson, and the Ambassador from China and his wife.

The White House Correspondents' dinner calls for an amusing speech by the president and an amusing speech by a professional comedian, and the difference between ...