Those of us in Arkansas are living through an amusing demonstration that being rich doesn't make you smart. I will eventually get to the point.

Sam Walton proved that the U.S. trailer trash retail market is wider if not deeper than the world's petroleum reserves.

His descendants, and the humorless professionals who have taken over his descendant corporate structures that must make a Faberge egg look like an Eight Ball predictor, seem to occupy themselves with choking the trashy geese that laid their golden eggs, killing the union movements that would put money in the hands of their most likely future customers (many of whom would be their employees), and fighting the transfer taxes that would finance the local, state, and national governments that have made their personal fortunes possible, out of the money they will not have time to spend in their lifetimes.

Lately, Sam's heirs have funded a "Foundation" at the "education department" at the U. of A. at Fayetteville which publishes editorials at the Wall Street Journal, and seems bound to protect their wealth while adversely educating their future consumers.

There is a parallel tale at a more local (to me) level, maybe a couple of levels of magnitude in stock value down. I was there. Didn't invest. I'm so smart.

A fellow named Sheridan Garrison assumed the reins of his father's trucking business somewhere between Kennedy and Nixon. Northwest Arkansas had developed into a trucking power because Don Tyson's dad had developed an industry for the export of frozen (now called "fresh") chicken carcasses. Someone had to ship something back.

Sheridan had the wisdom to fold his father's business when Ronald Reagan visited the virtues of deregulation on the trucking industry. Being a bound Republican, Sheridan blamed it on the Teamsters. After a couple of years of Republican virtue, Sheridan began buying back in the early 80's his competitors assets for pennies on the dollars they had enjoyed during Regan's deregulation.

What had been Garrison Freight became Arkansas Freight became American Freight became Fed-Ex. Sheridan survived a second wife who went to France to shop for furniture, and Parkinsons implants. To this day, his kids have never pretended to be important.

Makes them smarter than Sam's kids.

There is no one so foolish about money as a rich man.

Can we please quit believing that Ralph Nader was anything but stupid back when he was important?

Ralph made his career, to this day, attacking the handling characteristics of the Chevy Corvair. When Ralph launched his career, the Corvair had the same nasty rear suspension, called a swing-axle, that it shared with the VW Beetle and and a bunch of Mercedes. Camber change and thrust steering that any motorcyclist would squelch at the spinal level.

By the time that Ralph launched Unsafe at Any Speed, the Chevy Corvair had double u-joints in its rear suspension, and the Corvair was the best-handling American production vehicle.

The only thing that made Ralph Nader ever once important was that someone with a big corporate budget 40 years ago decided to pretend he was important. They were stupid.

The pardon clock for Libby won't start running until he's used up all the available time for appeals, since he surely will be permitted bail while the appeals are pending. The target date for the clock to strike will be the day before the inauguration, January, 2009.

without pictures.

I mean, c'mon, how are we supposed to reach a fully imformed opinion on a subject important enough to be posted in Salon without some good old before and after shots?

In the end, how is this different from some of the more extreme tattoos and piercings? If we're to trust them with control of their wombs, why not trust them with the rest? If we're not the ones they're trying to please, why do we get a vote.

Just askin'.

Can we puhLEZE quit perpetuating the myth that Bill Clinton committed perjury in the Paula Jones case?

If you believe that Bill committed perjury, then you must also believe that purse-mouthed Kenneth Starr had the opportunity to convict Bill of a federal crime under 18 USC 1631, with a potential 5-yea sentence, and elected out of the goodness of his black little heart not to do so. Sound likely?