Out of His Element

Christopher Caldwell's analysis of what ails Mitt Romney the presidential candidate is as sound as anything I've read.

Stay Todd

When I first heard Rep. Todd Akin's idiotic remarks about rape, I didn't think too much of it because after all the Republican party, especially in recent years, has routinely uttered outrageously stupid things about a variety of subjects. That Akin made his observations in the midst of the 2012 presidential campaign apparently compelled the Republican party establishment to call upon the congressman to abandon his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri for fear of further alienating women. But frankly I hope Aiken resists all efforts to drive him from the race and stay the course through November, when hopefully he and his party go down to a crushing defeat.

Al Freeman, Jr. 1934-2012

Al Freeman, Jr., actor and Howard University professor, is dead at 78.

Sherman Hemsley 1938-2012

Sherman Hemsley, who portrayed the irrepressible George Jefferson on the seventies situation comedy The Jeffersons, has died.

Penn State Removes Paterno Statue

Penn State's removal of the Joe Paterno statue was all but certain once the Freeh Report revealed that the saintly head coach had attempted to conceal the Sandusky scandal since 1998.

The Silly Season

The outrage of some United States politicians, among them Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, over the temerity of the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision to outfit American athletes with uniforms made in the Peoples Republic of China, depending on one's perspective, either raises or lowers the bar on the silliness often associated with the governing class. That designer Ralph Lauren turned to the Chinese to manufacture the goods indicates the reality of living in a global economy rather than notions of patriotism and nationalism.

Bieber Mania

Justin Bieber, the soi-disant Canadian pop sensation, reportedly has sold out his U. S. tour within one hour; thus, concretely confirming H. L. Mencken's observation, "No one ever when broke in underestimating the taste of the American public."