Jump? How high?; More "Murphy"

[Barry A. Popik]

MURPHY'S LAW (continued)

   Nothing is ever easy.
   Some checking was done for the 5 January 1950 alleged date for the John
Paul Stapp news conference.  Nothing comes up in the LOS ANGELES TIMES,
AVIATION WEEK, and AMERICAN AVIATION.
   I checked to see who else has DESERT WINGS.  RLIN states that the Library
of Congress has it, but the LOC's entry clearly states it does NOT have it.
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin has DESERT WINGS on microfilm, but
only from 1983.
   WorldCat turned up the LA County Library, Kern County (CA) Library, the US
Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA, and the Pennsylvania
Newspaper Project in Harrisburg.  I called both PA places.  Harrisburg
doesn't have it and is a bad OCLC entry.  The MHI is open to the public
Mon-Fri 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m.  It doesn't have 1951 and is missing Dec
1952-March 1953, but otherwise has it.
   Carlisle, PA is about three hours away...

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JUMP!  HOW HIGH?

"To hear some people tell it, when Gov. George W. Bush says, 'Jump!'
Republicans in Washington ask, 'How high?'"
--HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 20 May 1999, pg. A17

"When Saudi Arabian prince says 'jump,' George Bush asks 'how high?'"
--William Safire, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 22 April 1992, pg. A15.

     Does anyone know anything about this one?  Here are four of the earliest
hits:

"The old-fashioned definition of military discipline holds that when the
commander says to jump, the soldier jumps--and asks how high on the way up."
--NEW YORK TIMES, 25 February 1987, pg. A16, col. 4.

"'When I was chief executive,' he (Donald Regan) explains, 'and I said
'Jump,' people said, 'How high?'  As Secretary of the Treasury, I say 'Jump,'
and people say, 'Well, do you have an environmental impact statement?  What
do you mean, jump?''"
--U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, 21 January 1985, pg. 23

"I don't know why they pick on me.  I'm the low man on the totem pole.  When
they say 'Jump' I say 'How high?'"
--WASHINGTON POST, 26 September 1982, pg. C1.

"Since Hatch has become Senate Labor Committee chairman, 'the committee no
longer says 'how high?' when big labor bosses say 'jump,'' he said."
--UPI regional news, Utah, 4 December 1981.