How Redskins' chief came to suffer deep hurt

example, are not finding it as easy as they'd expected to move to a

greatly enlarged stadium across the Potomac river. In fact, they've had

to abandon the idea.

Virginia's Governor Douglas L. Wilder, who had offered the team 300

acres for new quarters on the outskirts of Alexandria, found that the

local citizenry and the state legislature didn't share his enthusiasm

for the plan.

Jack Kent Cooke, the Redskins' owner, says he was ''flabbergasted'' by

the Virginia voters' negative reaction to the prospect of turning a

large area known as Potomac Yard into a home for his internationally

famous football team.

''I thought they would welcome the Redskins with open arms,'' Cooke

pouted. ''It hurt me very deeply.''

He complained that people jumped to conclusions about the cost of the

projected stadium. Virginia's state lawmakers, after evaluating the

deal, said Cooke would have to give up or share some of the huge profits

offered him by Governor Wilder, and none of his counter-proposals seem

to have come to anything.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, who, earlier this

summer, characterised Cooke as a ''billionaire bully'', is biding her

time. When the prospect of the Redskins' moving came up, in early

summer, she allocated $60m of the city's money to improve their present

home, the RFK Stadium, and she offered Cooke a share in the money

generated from parking lots and concession businesses. She also

reassured taxpayers in the hard-pressed District of Columbia that they

wouldn't have to pick up the tab for any new building, not with so many

people here so hard-pressed and homeless.

Now that the Virginia deal is off, Jack Kent Cooke is quietly meeting

with representatives of the District of Columbia, and presumably trying

to reopen negotiations although he says he doesn't want to deal directly

with Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly. Not after what she said about him. But

the Redskins do need a home base, and what they have at present in

Washington is better than nothing.

WHOEVER lives in the White House over the next four years will enjoy a

beautifully restored mansion. The outside of the famous building has

been enveloped in dustcloths for months but now they're coming off, in

time to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the laying of the

foundation of the presidential home in October l792.

The house is built of sandstone and the blocks were cut by Scottish

stonecutters. The original interior was gutted by British troops during

the War of l8l2, and since then many changes have been made in both the

public and private quarters. Every First Lady has had her own ideas, and

over the two centuries the l32-room house has been gradually modernised.

Structural repairs became so necessary in the late l940s that the

First Family had to move out and live across the street in the Blair

House, which was designed for visiting heads of state.

History-conscious President Harry Truman insisted that the restoration

be meticulously accurate. Later, Mrs John F. Kennedy brought in interior

decorators and made the residence the beautiful showplace it is today.

The present First Lady hasn't had much time, lately, to enjoy her

house. Barbara Bush, always far more popular than her husband, has been

campaigning tirelessly for him, together with her daughter Doro, three

daughters-in-law, and even a few grandchildren.

Looking like everyone's favourite grandmother, Mrs Bush delivers sharp

answers to questions about the economy and international affairs. She

likes to be photographed in schools, emphasising her interest in

literacy. Her book about Millie, the First Dog, has now been translated

into German and Japanese, and brought in over a million in royalties

this year, all of which went to charities.

Millie gets 7000 letters a year, according to her owner.

If the Clintons replace the Bushes in the White House, the First Pet

will be a black and white feline of the breed politely called American

domestic shorthair, in common parlance an alley cat.

Currently, staffers in the White House office quarters are said to be

busily writing and sending out resumes, in case they find themselves

among the unemployed in January. President Bush did make a stronger

impression during the third and last debate with the other two

candidates, and no election is a sure thing, but whatever happens, there

will be a big turnover in jobs in the next administration.

ALTHOUGH it's estimated that people enjoy celebrity status in America

for only 15 minutes, Professor Anita Hill, the quiet young woman who,

this time last year, accused the Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas

of sexually harassing her, remains in the news. And her credibility has

increased.

During those three gruelling days in October l99l when she testified

before the all-white (and all-male) Senate committee appointed to

confirm the judicial appointment, public opinion polls found people

believed Thomas's flat denial of impropriety rather than Anita Hill's

accusations by a ratio of three to one.

Exactly a year later, public opinion is running 44% in her favour. One

reason is Judge Thomas's record on the bench. During the hearings, he

claimed he had no knowledge of or opinion on the controversial Roe

versus Wade legislation which permits abortion.

Once confirmed, however, he demonstrated in the various decisions he

has prepared that he did indeed have strong opinions. He's against a

woman's right to control her own body.