(TIME, Oct. 26) -- At least one group in Washington has escaped the long arm of the Lewinsky scandal: AmeriCorps. The national service program is a favorite of President Clinton's, and its supporters were worried that it might be a target for his congressional critics. But the four-year-old program has won over skeptics by emphasizing its grass-roots structure and its alliance with respected nonprofit organizations around the country. Members are selected by and work for such groups as Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Habitat for Humanity. AmeriCorps prevailed on a key Senate funding vote in July by 58 to 37, winning over such former Republican critics as RICK SANTORUM of Pennsylvania and Daniel Coats of Indiana. On Friday, Clinton will preside at a White House swearing-in ceremony marking the program's 100,000th member--a benchmark the Peace Corps took more than 20 years to reach.

TOO FAR, TOO FAST

For weeks, former Senator Bob Dole has been warning the Republicans investigating Bill Clinton to avoid overreaching, which may explain why House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde last week floated the idea that the panel might focus on just a few of the 15 charges that are facing Clinton. Such downsizing may be a shrewd move, considering some of these great moments in the history of overreaching.

Strong Man with a Strong Hand:
Then He Overreached...
On the Bright Side:

Strong Man with a Strong Hand: French Emperor Napoleon, who by 1812 had conquered most of Europe
Then He Overreached... ...and invaded Russia. His army was destroyed.
On the Bright Side: Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is an irresistible toe-tapper

Strong Man with a Strong Hand: Confederate General Robert E. Lee, whose troops on Day 1 at Gettysburg routed the Yanks
Then He Overreached......spent the next two days shattering his army against the Union defenses.
On the Bright Side: The battlefield is now a great boon to tourism in central Pennsylvania

Strong Man with a Strong Hand: Lieut. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, who in 1876 led the 7th Cavalry against the Sioux
Then He Overreached......divided his forces before knowing how big the enemy was, and was wiped out.
On the Bright Side: Whenever there's a movie about him, we get to hear Garryowen

Strong Man with a Strong Hand: Franklin Roosevelt, who got mad when the Supreme Court overturned New Deal laws
Then He Overreached......and tried to pack the Supreme Court, damaging his reputation.
On the Bright Side: WWII came along and ended the Depression

Strong Man with a Strong Hand: The intensity of actor David Caruso helped make NYPD Blue a first-year hit
Then He Overreached......and then he threatened to quit unless he got a fabulous contract.
On the Bright Side: He was replaced by Jimmy Smits, a better actor with a better butt

Strong Man with a Strong Hand: Riding public discontent with Clinton, Newt Gingrich led the G.O.P. to victory and passed the Contract with America
Then He Overreached......and when he couldn't get concessions out of Clinton, shut down the government, a P.R. disaster.
On the Bright Side: It was during the government shutdown that Clinton met pizza girl Monica Lewinsky

ASK DR. NOTEBOOK

What's with the Masks?

DEAR DR. NOTEBOOK: The hot Halloween costumes are Clinton masks and White House-intern getups, featuring blue dresses, berets and wigs. Why isn't there an official Monica mask and costume?

The answer may be simple: fear of a lawsuit. About half the states recognize a right of publicity, which generally keeps people from commercially exploiting another's name or face without his or her consent. These laws make licensing arrangements necessary, and so far, there's no Monica licensing deal. Clinton enjoys these protections too, but few public officials have deemed the cost and bad publicity of a lawsuit worth the bother. Moreover, a government official's lawsuit may violate free-speech protections.

NAME BRAND

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Not since Queen Victoria has one individual been so pre-eminent that her name could be both a benchmark in morals and shorthand for a political era. This month, however, while Cosmopolitan holds up Monica Lewinsky as the gold standard of sex kitten, a panel at the Council on Foreign Relations was willing to apply her name to this era of diplomacy.

HAIKUS FROM THE STARS

Haikus are usually inspired by nature. But that makes writing haikus--three-line Japanese poems with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern--easy. Writing poetry when you have to spend your days listening to Bill Clinton or Limp Bizkit--that's hard. We asked some people thus employed to write a haiku about autumn.

Arianna Huffington, syndicated columnist

For Clinton on a Fall Beach
In Lame Duck Summer
Everyone wants to know
When the pond will freeze

Matt Pinfield, MTV veejay

The rise of the fall
brings new music to my ears
and tunes from fall's past

Tony Snow, Fox News commentator

Play's done. School bell rings.
Parents cling to fleeting things:
hopes, fears, loves, dreams--time.

FORE!

CLOSET REPUBLICANS?
For its November issue, Travel & Leisure Golf magazine unearthed a never before published photo, taken in 1959, of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara--gulp--playing golf.

VERBATIM

"Without John Hume, there would not have been a peace process. Without David Trimble, there would not have been a peace agreement."
GEORGE MITCHELL, former U.S. Senator and negotiator, saluting the Irish Catholic and Protestant leaders on winning the Nobel Peace Prize

"I would rather commit suicide than live next to a Serb again."
HAMIDA REXHAJ, an Albanian mother of six

"I hope you all know how very sorry I am that so much attention was brought to the building."
MONICA LEWINSKY, in a letter to her neighbors

"You have overstepped your bounds. If you persist, you will be escorted out of the building."
A SECRET SERVICE AGENT, to a bodyguard for the Duchess of York, in a security turf battle at a benefit in New York City

Sources: Mitchell (AP); Rexhaj (USA Today); Lewinsky (USA Today); Agent (New York Daily News)

By Tam Gray, Daniel Levy, Jodie Morse, Michele Orecklin, Alain Sanders and Joel Stein

Cover Date: October 26, 1998

• Sen. Feingold's push for campaign finance reform could cost him his seat
• The notebook
• Holbrooke's next mission
• Hawaii ballot measure forces showdown over gay marriage
• The new gay struggle
• Wily Al D'Amato is fighting for his political life
• Going for total victory
• Public eye: Laws of the last resort

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