"A Different Kind of Slavery"

Douglas A. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, has written Slavery by Another Name, a book that chronicles how companies controlled by two prominent Atlantans uses forced labor, thousands of black laborers, to rebuild Atlanta, Georgia. An excerpt was recently published in the paper's weekend edition:

Between the Emancipation Proclamation and the beginning of World War II, millions of African-Americans were compelled into or lived under the shadow of the South's new forms of coerced labor. Under laws enacted specifically to intimidate blacks, tens of thousands were arbitrarily detained, hit with high fines and charged with the costs of their arrests. With no means to pay such debts, prisoners were sold into coal mines, lumber camps, brickyards, railroad construction crews and plantations. Others were simply seized by southern landowners and pressed into years of involuntary servitude.

At the turn of the 20th century, at least 3,464 African-American men and 130 women lived in forced labor camps in Georgia, according to a 1905 report by the federal Commissioner of Labor.

Hillary's Bosnia Story

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, in Getting Mrs. Clinton, identifies the significance of Clinton's Bosnia tape and what it reveals about her character:

I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign. This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't. There's no dodging now. You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't. You either understand who she is, or not. And if you don't, after 16 years of watching Clintonian dramas, you probably never will.

That's what the Bosnia story was about. Her fictions about dodging bullets on the tarmac -- and we have to hope they were lies, because if they weren't, if she thought what she was saying was true, we are in worse trouble than we thought -- either confirmed what you already knew (she lies as a matter of strategy, or, as William Safire said in 1996, by nature) or revealed in an unforgettable way (videotape! Smiling girl in pigtails offering flowers!) what you feared (that she lies more than is humanly usual, even politically usual).

But either you get it now or you never will. That's the importance of the Bosnia tape.

Clinton Urged to Quit Race

Hillary Clinton's story about coming under sniper fire while visiting Bosnia in 1996 as first lady might have been a case of misspeaking, as she insists, but it isn't an exaggeration that she's metaphorically coming under sniping of the worse sort as the calls for her to withdraw from the presidential campaign intensify. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, an Obama supporter, is the latest to weigh in, arguing that Clinton has little chance of winning the nomination and that she should get out of the race to allow the party to unite behind Obama. "There is", said Leahy, "not a good reason for drawing this thing out." Leahy is correct but I suspect that in Clinton's mind, this race has more to do with her personal ambition than the welfare of the Democratic party.

Obama's Rhetoric

British writer Jonathan Raban, in the London Review of Books, observes that Barack Obama's rhetoric is something more than "empty optimism":

Those who hear only empty optimism in Obama aren’t listening. His routine stump speech is built on the premise that America has become estranged from its own essential character; a country unhinged from its constitution, feared and disliked across the globe, engaged in a dumb and unjust war, its tax system skewed to help the rich get richer and the poor grow poorer, its economy in ‘shambles’, its politics ‘broken’. ‘Lonely’ is a favourite word, as he conjures a people grown lonely in themselves and lonely as a nation in the larger society of the world. (Obama himself is clearly on intimate terms with loneliness: Dreams from My Father is the story of a born outsider negotiating a succession of social and cultural frontiers; it takes the form of a lifelong quest for family and community, and ends, like a Victorian novel, with a wedding.)

The light in Obama’s rhetoric – the chants of ‘Yes, we can’ or his woo-woo line, lifted from Maria Shriver’s endorsement speech, ‘We are the ones we have been waiting for’ – is in direct proportion to the darkness, and he paints a blacker picture of America than any Democratic presidential candidate in living memory has dared to do. He courts his listeners, not as legions of the blissful, but as legions of the alienated, adrift in a country no longer recognisable as their own, and challenges them to emulate slaves in their struggle for emancipation, impoverished European immigrants seeking a new life on a far continent, and soldiers of the ‘greatest generation’ who volunteered to fight Fascism and Nazism. The extravagance of these similes is jarring – especially when they’re spoken by a writer as subtle and careful as Obama is on the printed page – but they serve to make the double point that America is in a desperate predicament and that only a great wave of communitarian action can salvage it.

Richard Widmark

For fans of actor Richard Widmark, who died earlier this week at 93, I strongly recommend Dave Kehr's appraisal, A Star Who Mastered A New Moral Ambiguity in Saturday's New York Times. Whatever the role, hoodlum or hero, Widmark throughout his long career consistently exhibited professionalism and an unswerving commitment to his craft.

Thanks, Bwana Pat Buchanan

Pat Buchanan, occasional presidential candidate, nativist, crypto-Nazi and unreconstructed racist, advises black folks in the United States that they never had it so good. "America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest level of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known."

Cover Nonsense

This cover of Vogue magazine, photographed by Annie Leibovitz and featuring basketball player Lebron James and model Gisele Bundshen, is getting a lot attention from some hypersensitive souls who feel it is racist because the depiction of James and Bundshen bears an uncanny resemblance to King Kong and Fay Wray. Perhaps it is naivete but one would hope that in 2008 we could debate issues slightly more weightier than a magazine cover.

The Consequences of a McCain Presidency

Professor at King's College, Cambridge and senior fellow at the New America Foundation Anatol Lieven, in a Financial Times oped, warns that a John McCain presidency might make Americans look back nostalgically for the Bush Administration. Lieven writing from a European perspective argues, "The problem Mr. McCain poses stems from his ideology, his policies and above all his personality." Ideologically, writes Lieven, McCain is firmly in the camp of the neo-conservatives. He points to a 1999 speech of McCain's: "The US is the indispensable nation because we have proven to be the greatest force for good in the world . . . We have every intention of continuing to use our primacy in world affairs for humanity's benefit."

Hillary Clinton's Mea Culpa

(Hillary and Chelsea under sniper fire while visiting Bosnia in 1996.)

Hillary Clinton claims she misspoke in describing her daring trip to Bosnia amid sniper fire in 1996 as first lady. Of course, Sen. Clinton's admission comes after CBS introduced video footage that suggested that the whole story was a fraud, a concoction. Clinton has consistently maintained that she has the requisite experience to assume the responsibilities as commander-in-chief on day one, and the Bosnia trip was held up as emblematic of that experience. But misspoke is not the appropriate word. Sen. Clinton did not misspeak, she misstated. There is a distinction between the two words, and the distinction matters. To misspeak means to state incorrectly with no intent to deceive or mislead. Misstate, in contrast, means to state wrongly or falsely, and suggests a willfulness to mislead or deceive. Her original story reminds me of her husband's propensity to play fast and loose with the truth: inhaling marijuana, depends on what is is, and I did not have sexual relations with that lady.

The Gospel According to James Carville

James Carville, Bill Clinton's former campaign manager in the 1992 presidential election and CNN political contributor, in a recent Financial Times oped, wrote, "Politics is messy business, but campaigning prepares you for governing. It prepares you to get hit, stand strong, and, if necessary, hit back."

The Carville Dictum was put into action on Easter Sunday when Mr. Carville blasted New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for endorsing Barack Obama as "an act of betrayal [it] came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out [Jesus] for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic." No word on what sort of remuneration Gov. Richardson received for his act of betrayal. Nor is it exactly clear how attacks like Carville's foster good governance, if his candidate should get to the White House.

To Gov. Richardson's credit, he refrained from responding in kind: "I'm not going to get in the gutter like that. And you know, that's typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton. They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency."

Bomani Armah on Barack Obama

Bomani Armah is a Washington D.C. poet, hip-hop artist, satirist and educator. His article Okay, Barack. Now Show' Em Your White Side, in the Washington Post Outlook section, is must reading for those trying to get a grip on Obama's tumultuous week with the revelations about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's inflammatory remarks which quite predictably the mainstream media, particularly the right-wingers on cable television have obsessed over. Among Armah's more interesting observations, check out the following:

But Bomani, we need to appeal to the historic significance of his being black, or try to make him non-racial!

Not so. In all honesty, the more I watch Obama talk and interact with people, the more I'm convinced he's a "soul brother." He walks with a rhythm, slaps skin when he shakes hands with even the most white-bread politician and speaks in a cadence that would make Rudy Ray Moore proud. Even though these attributes are part of the reason he has garnered support among important blocs of voters -- African Americans, young people, liberals, antiwar activists and the highly educated -- they will also serve to galvanize a voting bloc that hasn't had to come together before in the history of our country. That is the all-important "Aw Hell No!" voting bloc.

That's right. The "Aw Hell No!" political bloc has lain dormant for 200 years, waiting for a moment to flex its political muscle. Don't forget that this country is more than 60 percent white and that less than half the population votes. This means that a lot of white people could care less about the political process. They believe that national politics are really out of their reach and that it's not worth taking time off from work to participate. As long as the federal government stays within some superficial norms, they aren't worried about who does what in November. That is, until a black man (and to be honest, a woman) got a real chance to become president.

Bill Clinton Again

Perhaps there is something about being in the Carolinas that compels former President Bill Clinton to place the proverbial foot in his mouth. During the South Carolina primary, he injected race into the campaign, suggesting that Barack Obama's victory was not terribly significant because after all Jesse Jackson won South Carolina. Now, after being under wraps, he is at it again although this time employing a more subtle, nuanced approach. Appearing before a VFW audience in North Carolina, Clinton spoke glowingly of the friendship between Sen. John McCain and his wife:

I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country. And actually people could ask themselves who is right on the issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics.

Leaving Barack Obama out of the equation, the implication is clear: Bill Clinton was questioning Obama's patriotism and love of country. In light of the Jeremiah Wright controversy, the Clinton campaign will undoubtedly continue to use this tactic in raising questions about Obama's electability.

White House Press Secretary Defends Cheney

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino mounts a remarkably incoherent defense of Vice President Dick Cheney's dismissal of public opinion polls that consistently show high opposition to the war in Iraq. Perino argues that President Bush and Cheney will not "chase popularity polls but . . . hold themselves to a stand that requires people not to like them." She acknowledges that the Administration is "not able to change public opinion, we also have to follow a principle and stand on principle." And when asked about input from the American people, she says, "The American people have input every four years, and that's the way our system is set up."

But this is hardly surprising. Perino is the same individual who a couple of months ago confessed to ignorance about the Cuban Missile Crisis when fielding a question from a reporter during a briefing. She said, "Wasn't that like the Bay of Pigs thing?" Perino explained, "I was panicked a bit because I really didn't know about . . . The Cuban Missile Crisis. It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure."

Cheney's Contempt

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the start of the War in Iraq, this exchange between Vice President Dick Cheney and ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz speaks volumes:

Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

Cheney: So?

Raddatz: So? You don’t care what the American people think?

Cheney: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. There has, in fact, been fundamental change and transformation and improvement for the better. That’s a huge accomplishment.

McCain Gaffe

Sen. John McCain, who has moved from presumptive to the all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee, often touts his considerable expertise and experience in foreign affairs as his forte. The other day in Amman, Jordan, the straight talking McCain said:

We continue to be concerned about Iranian [operatives] taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back. [It is] common knowledge and has been reported in the media tha al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran; that's well known. And that's unfortunate.

After Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman whispered to him, McCain corrected himself, "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

Ivan Dixon 1931-2008

Actor-director Ivan Dixon is dead at 76 from kidney failure. Most obituaries lead with Dixon's portrayal of Staff Sergeant James Kinchloe in the sixties World War II TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes. That role neither defined nor took the full measure of Dixon as a man and artistic contributor. Besides Hogan's Heroes, Dixon had roles and directorial credits in several series: The Waltons, The Rockford Files, Magnum P.I., and The Heat of the Night. His theatrical film credits include Trouble Man and The Spook Who Sat By the Door. But for me his most significant role came in the 1964 film Nothing But a Man, one of the few films of its time to portray the fullness and complexity of black life. Dixon played Duff Anederson, a railroad worker in an Alabama town, who along with his schoolteacher wife Josie (Abbey Lincoln) tried to live with dignity despite pervasive racial injustice. "That was me" Dixon said. "I had to live every moment . . . I was living my whole life on film."

Obama's Speech

Obama's speech in response to the uproar created by Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s inflammatory comments was, as expected, impressive in both tone and substance. In the short run, it will reassure supporters that Obama is who he says he is - a candidate who wants to transcend the racial and political divides and bring people together; however, it will not quell his detractors and critics who desperately want to marginalize his candidacy and, as such, will resort to anything to discredit him. And while I commend Obama's willingness to confront the matter of race, I am reluctant to view the speech as a watershed moment in the history of this nation. That is an assessment that cannot be made without the benefit of hindsight.

Cheney Slips In

Vice President Dick Cheney paid an unannounced visit to Iraq. The trip was kept secret, as they say, for security reasons. A few weeks ago, Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad was welcomed by the Iraqis under somewhat different circumstances. Unlike Cheney, Mr. Ahmad-Nejad was treated to the customary pomp and circumstance associated with and befitting foreign dignitaries. Indeed, Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister and America's ally in the War on Terror, and Mr. Ahmad-Nejad, the titular leader of one of the triumvirate of the infamous axis of evil, embraced warmly in unabashed public displays of public friendship and affection. Cheney is not likely to be treated similarly.

Kwame Kilpatrick Seeks Refuge

"Patriotism," Samuel Johnson famously said, "is the last refuge of a scoundrel." The same can be said for politicians and other public figures who invoke racism after finding themselves compromised by ethical or legal difficulties. Supreme Justice Clarence Thomas introduced "high tech lynching" to the lexicon amid Anita Hill's sundry utterances about Coke cans, pubic hairs, and Long Dong Silver. The latest practitioner of this particular maneuver is Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the erstwhile self-proclaimed hip hop mayor, who finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal stemming from his extramarital relationship with his former chief of staff and possible perjury charges. In a stirring coda to his state of the city address, Mayor Kilpatrick said:

In the past 30 days I've been called a nigger more than any time in my entire life. In the past three days I've received more death threats than I have in my entire administration. I've heard these words, but I've never heard people say them about my wife and children. I have to say this, because it's very personal to me. I don't believe a Nielsen rating is worth the life of my children or your children. This unethical, illegal lynch-mob mentality has to stop.

Obama and Rev. Wright

Sen. Barack Obama's denunciation of inflammatory remarks by his former pastor and spiritual adviser Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. is unlikely to put the issue to rest and will almost certainly be used by various groups if Obama emerges as the Democratic presidential nominee against Republican John McCain in the general election. In a sermon following the September 11 terrorists attacks and widely disseminated the fair and balanced Fox cable network, Rev. Wright said: "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost." In a campaign statement released Friday, Sen. Obama said, "I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue." Frankly, it strains credulity that Obama as a member of Rev. Wright's congregation for 17 years was unaware of some of his spiritual adviser's more controversial statements.

The 3 a.m. Phone Call

Prophetic words from singer Al Green, Love and Happiness:

Wait a minute...
something's going wrong
someone's on the phone
three o'clock in the morning
talkin' about how she can make it right

Adieu Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro today left the Hillary Clinton campaign amid a barrage of criticism for her disparaging remarks about Barack Obama's bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee. But before saying goodbye to the former vice presidential nominee, two final points. One, Ms. Ferraro apparently has an irresistible compulsion to say something stupid whenever a black man runs for president. In 1988, of Jesse Jackson's bid, she said if he were not black "he wouldn't be in the race." And two, in an lucid interval, she said, "If my name were Gerard Ferraro, I would have never have been chosen as a vice presidential candidate."

Sinbad and Clinton's Red Phone Moment

Sen. Hillary Clinton attributes her vast experience in foreign affairs to the official visits she took as First Lady. In 1996, singer Sheryl Crow and comedian Sinbad accompanied her to Bosnia. According to Sinbabd, "I think the only 'red phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'"

Geraldine Ferraro: Obama's Lucky

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro claims that Barack Obama's success is attributable not to his skills as a politician or his ability to reach out and connect with voters but rather his membership in one of America's most favored groups: black males. Ms. Ferraro said: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. and if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Ferraro's comments are despicable but especially so when one recalls that she was selected as Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984 not based on her accomplishments - she was a congresswoman of no particular consequence - but based solely on the politics of gender. Needless to say, Obama has proved his substance and worthiness by waging a campaign that has garnered widespread support.

A Clinton Ploy

Recently, both Bill and Hillary Clinton have mentioned Barack Obama as a vice presidential running mate. This is remarkable when one considers that Obama leads Clinton in pledged delegates 1,578 to 1,468 and that he is likely to maintain that delegate advantage regardless of what Clinton does in the remaining contests, including Pennsylvania. All this makes it difficult to view the proposal as something other than a strategic but cynical ploy to placate Obama supporters, particularly black voters and attract voters sincerely torn with having to choose one over the other. For if Hillary Clinton sincerely believes that Obama is insufficiently experienced to assume the responsibilities of commander in chief, it surely follows he is no more experienced to be vice president, given that the vice president must be ready to assume the presidency in the event of the president's incapacity. (This talk is also absurd for another obvious reason. If Hillary wins the nomination, the position of vice president, for all intents and purposes, will fall to husband Bill. Anybody who believes otherwise is not dealing in reality.)

Apparently not to be outdone by his boss, febrile Howard Wolfson, Clinton's chief spokesman, told reporters in a conference call: "We do not believe that Sen. Obama has passed that key commander-in-chief test" supposedly required by Clinton in a running mate. But not to fret, Obama, Wolfson believes, can bolster his credentials before the Democratic Party national convention in Denver in August. Thanks Howard.

Daschle on Hillary Clinton's Experience

This morning former Senate Majority leader and Obama supporter Tom Daschle appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and was asked about Hillary Clinton's edge in experience over Barack Obama. Daschle pretty much demolished the myth of Clinton's experience. He said:

"I know what a good First Lady she was, but it would be hard for me to draw some degree of connection between being a First Lady and having experience to be the Commander in Chief. She served in the Senate, she's been on the Armed Services Committee and I give her credit for that, but in terms of numbers of years of elected office, the number of years served, Barack Obama has more years served than Hillary Clinton."

"So it's a specious argument. The fact is, both of them are qualified. They're good candidates. They both would make great leaders. I do believe that Barack offers a lot more in the capacity of leadership, but i don't think anyone can look at her experience as First Lady and say, for some reason, that qualifies her to run for President of the United States."

A Hideous and Powerful Fascination

Forbes magazine, an observer of the wonders of capitalism that annually publishes a listing of the world's richest people, announced that Warren Buffett has ended Bill Gates' 13 consecutive years as the world's wealthiest person. Mr. Gates has tumbled to the third spot behind Mr. Buffett and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. The Financial Times, in its March 7th editorial "Rich and famous", observed there are 7 reasons to dislike these compilations, while conceding that "listing the wealthy still exerts a hideous and powerful fascination."

Obama Wins Wyoming

Barack Obama wins the Wyoming caucuses. In a week that saw rival Hillary Clinton surging back with wins in Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas and the campaign somewhat off track with miscues by advisers, this is welcome news indeed.

Obama Adviser's Forced Resignation

Samantha Power, an Obama senior adviser and Harvard professor and foreign affairs specialist, was forced to resign from the campaign after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster." Power told The Scotsman": "We fucked up in Ohio. In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place that she can win. She's a monster, too - that is off the record - she's stooping to anything." Predictably, the Clinton campaign demanded that Obama dismiss Power and, of course, later she issued a statement apologizing for her remarks along with her resignation. But in truth, Power stated what people know to be true: the Clintons - and husband Bill must necessarily be included in the equation - are a monster, a two-headed monster that will resort to anything to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

Bob Dole's Strange Endorsement of John McCain

Former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole recently told CNN's Larry King that Sen. John McCain "does have . . .I guess you say temper. But I always sort of rationalized that because the poor guy had been locked up" by the North Vietnamese for 6 years. He added that McCain now "can control it. It's not a problem anymore." If Dole's statement is intended as an endorsement of McCain's temperament, I shudder to imagine what would constitute criticism. Dole's characterization seems to be consistent with many of McCain's colleagues in the Senate, many of whom regard him as being temperamentally unsuitable to be commander in chief.

Obama's Challenge

Having lost the luster of invincibility borne out by 12 consecutive victories, Barack Obama finds his momentum stymied - at least temporarily - by Hillary Clinton's victories in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island. And largely because of Clinton's willingness to go negative, Obama's readiness to assume the mantle of commander in chief has emerged front and center as an issue in this seemingly interminable campaign. So the challenge for Obama as the campaign turns toward the Pennsylvania primary in April is how "he faces questions about his toughness and vulnerabilities." Judging from his first comments since Tuesday, it seems that Obama finally got the message that he cannot afford to let Clinton's attacks go unanswered. On a plane heading back to Washington, Obama told reporters: "She's made the argument that she's thoroughly vetted, in contrast to me. I think it's important to examine that argument." That examination must be focused and unrelenting because his rival will stop at absolutely nothing to wrest the Democratic presidential nomination from him.

Obama Misfires

Sen. Barack Obama's losses to Sen.Hillary Clinton in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island were, in part, because he allowed himself to be defined by his opponent in the final days leading up to Tuesday's primaries and failed to strike back in any meaningful way. The infamous 3 a.m. crisis call ad raised doubts about Obama's ability to assume the mantle of commander-in-chief. The meeting between one of his economic advisers and the Canadians over what he meant or didn't mean on Nafta raised doubts about his truthfulness. And the start of the felony trial of Antoin Rezko, a former Obama fundraiser, and Obama's inability to answer questions about that relationship undermined his authenticity as a politician of a different sort.

Bush Lite

Sen. John McCain, having clinched the Republican presidential nomination hours earlier, paid a visit to the White House to receive the "full throated" endorsement and blessing of President George W. Bush. The visit points up the symbiotic relationship between these once intense rivals for presidency. McCain needs Bush to shore up support among party conservatives, especially the talk show faction of the Republican party. Bush, despite his abysmally low general popularity rating retains support among conservatives. And Bush needs McCain to validate and cement his legacy, primarily the war in Iraq and to a lesser extent the Bush tax cuts. Democrats will very likely frame McCain's presidential campaign as, in effect, Bush's attempt at a third term or, in the vernacular, Bush Lite.

Bravo

Two Vermont towns, Brattleboro and Marlboro, approved measures calling for the indictment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for violations of the U.S. Constitution. The measures empower the police to arrest the two gentlemen, if they visit either of the two towns, or to have them extradited to another jurisdiction, provided there are not impeached first. Of course, the measures are purely symbolic but it's the thought that counts.

The Cost of the Iraq War

New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert, in The $2 Trillion Nightmare, writes about an issue that has received scant attention in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, namely, the cost of the war in Iraq. "The war in Iraq" Herbert asserts, "will ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers not hundreds of billions of dollars, but an astonishing $2 trillion, and perhaps more. There has been very little in the way of public conversation even in the presidential campaigns, about the consequences of these costs, which are like a cancer inside the American economy." He points out that the Bush administration, which has been remarkably inept at addressing other issues, "has tried its best to conceal the horrendous costs of the war. It has bypassed the normal budgetary process, financing the war almost entirely through 'emergency' appropriations that get far less scrutiny."

Tony Kornheiser and Perjury

Tony Kornheiser, co-host of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, believes that the American legal system would be better served if the perjury charges against athletes like Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, and possibly Roger Clemens and others caught up in baseball's steroids scandal are set aside. In Kornheiser's uninformed judgment, athletes lying under oath isn't such a big deal because they were merely trying to protect themselves. Perhaps this can be termed the athletes' perjury exception rule. Kornheiser's view gives credence to the notion that people should confine themselves to matters of which they have some knowledge. Perjury, the wilful telling of an untruth while under oath, is a serious offense that obstructs the administration of justice. As one federal court observed, "Perjury, regardless of the setting, is a serious offense that results in incalculable harm to functioning and integrity of the legal system as well as to private individuals." And that also includes persons who happen to be athletes.

Bill Clinton on Hope and Fear

In 2004 former president Bill Clinton while stumping for Sen. John Kerry said, without false modesty, that Clinton's law of politics states that when confronted with a candidate who espouses hope versus a candidate who espouses fear, voters would do well to choose the former. This is sage advice in light of Hillary Clinton's fear mongering ad about who answers the phone call at 3 a.m. in the White House.

A Bizarre Claim

In a long political campaign there is no shortage of silly statements and bizarre comments but Howard Wolfson, a senior Hillary Clinton adviser, takes it to another level. Mr. Wolfson claims that Tuesday's political contests are not about his candidate, the loser of 11 straight primaries and caucuses, but about Barack Obama:

If you are acting like the nominee, if you are essentially declaring the race is over, you ought to be able to win the contests that are coming up. and if you don't, it says something profound about Democrats' unease with handing the nomination to somebody with such little experience and so many unanswered questions.

Perhaps profundity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder but it is difficult to ignore that Wolfson's candidate thus far has been unable to thwart her less experienced rival's challenge. That suggests an unease with Clinton's erstwhile inevitable presidential nomination.

The Comfort of Rumors

Tonight on CBS's 60 Minutes, a white blue collar worker in southern Ohio says he's leaning toward voting for Barack Obama in next Tuesday's primary but has reservations because he heard Obama does not know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, did not place his hand on the Christian Bible when taking the oath of office, and is a Muslim. When told by interviewer Steve Kroft that all those statements were false, the gentleman responded that he was only going by what he heard. In a nation that proudly refers to itself as the information society, apparently there is no bar to vicious rumor and wilful ignorance.

Hillary Clinton urged to bow out

Sens. John Kerry and Dick Durbin, both Sen. Barack Obama supporters, and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson are urging Sen. Hillary Clinton to bow out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination unless she scores decisive victories in next Tuesday's Ohio and Texas primaries. If Clinton decided to make a graceful exit as suggested, it would undoubtedly surprise both her supporters and detractors alike. As one of the numerous talking heads observed today on one of the Sunday morning talk shows, inside the Clinton campaign the mood is, somewhat melodramatically, victory or death.