Salty governor Gov. Bill Clements let his feelings get the better of him up in Texarkana the other day and snapped out an epithet about President Carter. It made the front pages, though Clements lamely said he thought the remark had been [made in confidence during an interview with the Texarkana Gazette's editorial board. Anyway, Clements wasn't about to apologize. Instead of just considering the source, Democratic politicians made a great show of wounded piety. Attorney General Mark White, in a fine imitation of Parson Weems, called a press conference to deliver a hom- ily on the inadvisability of defiling the offict of the presidency. John Anderson is better in the role. Everybody awake knows Clements talks like an oilfield roughneck, dislikes Carter and is dedicated to the president's forced retirement. Of course, his remark was in poor taste. But the official breast-beating about the in- cident merely underscores the vacuity of this year's campaign, which is rather like stating the ocean is wet. a_57-1 ;i1 /47%5 /I I 11 /9,tv