WASHINGTON INSIGHT

ETHICS HOLIDAY: In the wake of the battle surrounding the ethics investigation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), the House early this year imposed a moratorium on the filing of ethics complaints to give a task force time to consider how to reform the whole ethics process. Originally cast as a “time out” in the ethics wars, the moratorium is shaping up as a cancellation of the whole game. Although the moratorium was supposed to expire April 11--the same time the House, one supposes, would have returned to ethics as usual--its life has been extended several times, with the task force saying it hasn’t finished its work. The latest delay extends the moratorium to June 12. Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) says he’s confident that this time the deadline will be met.

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SPEAK SOFTLY, BUT . . . Soon after he injured his knee, President Clinton began padding about with the “stealth” crutches, dubbed for their sleek, black appearance. But last week he graduated to a cane--also not your everyday walking stick. As he left Barbados Monday, the president scaled the stairs of Air Force One with the aid of an elaborate, hand-carved cane created by Mexican sculptor Efron Chacon Godas. The ornate walking aid features the Mexican symbol of an eagle holding a snake in its mouth, along with imagery of warriors equipped with bow, arrow, sword, shield and spear. As if that weren’t enough for Beltway warriors, the handle is carved in the shape of a panther’s head.

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ON THE CASE: Clinton took a few moments during his weekend summit with Caribbean leaders to advocate for the West Virginia couple who have been jailed in St. Vincent since October. Jim and Penny Fletcher are being held in a murder case on what the State Department calls “a scintilla of evidence,” and Clinton asked James Mitchell, prime minister of the island nation, to ensure that their case is handled fairly and that they receive humane treatment in prison. State Department officials, meanwhile, weighed in with the island’s attorney general. A spokesman for the National Security Council says Mitchell agreed to honor Clinton’s request, but the Fletchers’ lawyers aren’t so sure. They say Penny Fletcher has yet to be treated following a bad Pap smear result discovered more than a month ago.

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BY THE BOOK: Elizabeth Drew, a Washington author whose book “Politics and Money: The New Road to Corruption,” accurately predicted the current fund-raising scandals, has written a new book, “Whatever It Takes,” that has become a prime source for the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee’s probe into questionable fund-raising by Democrats and Republicans. Committee chairman Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and ranking Democrat John Glenn of Ohio both have copies of the book with passages underlined. The book traces questionable fund-raising by Republicans and Democrats in the 1996 elections.

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LOAN HUMOR: Democrats still are seething over former Republican Sen. Bob Dole’s loan to cover the $300,000 fine assessed on Gingrich for various ethics transgressions involving the misuse of tax-exempt foundations. But the bailout has provided ample opportunity for comic relief. At a recent Democratic National Committee retreat for large donors in Miami, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) noted that the Dole loan was not an unprecedented act of GOP generosity. After all, 94-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-N.C.) “helped pay Abe Lincoln’s way through law school,” he cracked. Harkin added that the Dole loan marked “the first time in history that a human saved an air bag.”