And Now a Few Words From Bonzo

For Reporters, Only One Place to Be

• Sure, our journalistic brethren and sistren are going all-out in their coverage of Ronald Reagan's death, but how does their interest compare with other media frenzies?

One benchmark is the number of official press credentials being requested to cover his funeral -- yesterday that hit 1,500. (But based on logistics, officials believe they'll have to cut that figure "significantly" to "ensure equitable coverage," Army Lt. Col. Michael Edrington told us.)

Other numbers (some estimated) over the years:

• Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's swearing-in: 630 credentials.

• The Iraq war: 500 "embedded" journalists and 1,445 "unilateral" correspondents.

• The 1996 Super Bowl: 2,356 credentials.

• The 1995 World Series: 1,029 credentials.

• Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration: 5,000.

• Reagan's 1985 inauguration: 4,500.

• Pope John Paul II's 1979 U.S. visit: 14,000.

This Date in Gossip

50 years ago:

Joseph McCarthy's credibility, which had steadily eroded during the televised Army-McCarthy hearings, was dealt a fatal blow at the conclusion when the senator attacked a young associate of Joseph N. Welch, chief attorney for the Army, as a member of "the legal arm of the Communist Party." In a response that became the talk of the nation, Welch faced McCarthy and said: "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. . . . Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

With Anne Schroeder