Swelter

Politics as usual, one hand washing another. Levy, who'd met Clinton twice before A once at the Los Angeles home of producer Ted Fields, where Barbra Streisand performed for a glittering assembly, and again during a reporting stint with Post Mortem A getting in his own photo-op and a dose of face time. The president putting down his glass of Florida orange juice, Levy pointing out the controversy over spokesman-candidate Rush Limbaugh, Clinton intently listening to Levy's story about living with HIV and accepting a letter, our own little Bosnian orphan officially requesting a private audience at the White House. Nervy beyond measure and yet struck dumb by the ultimate celebrity, Levy somehow neglecting to mention his involvement with the Mangione concert, his moment in the sun brief but sweet. A few days off from Levy Land and then he's back again ("I'm cursed with the typical South Beach dilemma: fabulous but operating on the verge of major poordom"), juggling projects in development: the Miami premiere of Gus Van Sants's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, an AIDS awareness lecture tour with David Faustino, little Bud Bundy on Married with Children. Another American hustler, out there in the great beyond, pushing the limits and taking his shot at the big time. Truly, it's a great country, rife with promise and possibility, big enough for anyone's dreams.