Dennis! When I went to the Cleveland Slavic Festival, everyone was wearing yellow DENNIS! stickers, and the Dennis! booth was handing out trading cards with pictures of Dennis! as a teenage football player, and as a young politician bonding with truckers.

John McCain would have been a far better choice for president in 2000 than either Al Gore or George W. Bush. On the one hand, he would have gotten us past the partisanship of the Clinton years. On the other hand, he wouldn't have responded to 9/11 by invading Iraq. McCain stands at the center of American politics (which is why he couldn't get the GOP nod), and, as a pre-Baby Boom senator, he isn't interested in re-fighting the Culture Wars of the '60s. I haven't voted for a Republican in 10 years, but I'm thinking of voting for McCain.

That's my amateur Freudian analysis of Camille Paglia.

Thanks for the clarification re: Southfield. I must have been dazzled by that roomful of well-dressed Republicans, and those bronze office towers. I would have been better off writing "Oakland County is Romney County," although that would have required another level of explanation for non-Michiganders.

Ted

In a column entitled “What Clout Is and Isn't,” which appeared in the Daily News on June 7, 1973, Mike Royko tackled a definition of clout:

[W]hat clout is in Chicago is political influence, as exercised through patronage, fixing, money, favors, and other traditional City Hall methods.

The easiest way to explain clout is through examples of the way it might be used in conversation.

“Nah, I don't need a building permit—I got clout in City Hall.”

“Hey, Charlie, I see you made foreman. Who's clouting for you?”

“Lady, just tell your kid not to spit on the floor during trial and he'll get probation. I talked to my clout and he talked to the judge.”

“My tax bill this year is $1.50. Not bad for a three-flat, huh? I got clout in the assessor's office.”

“Ever since my clout died, they've been making me work a full eight hours. I've never worked an eight-hour week before.”

“My clout sent a letter to the mayor recommending me for a judgeship. Maybe I'll enroll in law school.”

Get the idea? Clout is used to circumvent the law, not to enforce it. It is used to bend rules, not follow them.

As you can see from the references to "my clout," clout can be a person, as well as a quality.

Classes in Chicago-ese are starting now at Richard J. Daley College.

I didn't get my impressions of Indiana from watching "Hoosiers." I've actually never seen that movie all the way through. I got them from working most of last year in LaPorte. A downtown that's barely changed since the '70s. Classic car rallies and motorcycles on Lincolnway. Demolition derbies at the county fair. Mansions a half-mile from slums. The Belle Gunness murders. It was small-town Midwestern gothic.

-- Ted McClelland

Don't like the direction America is taking? Stop sitting on the sidelines. As close as our elections are, 30 million progressive Canadians would change everything.

Not surprising coming from a Toronto writer. Toronto was settled and shaped by Presbyterians. The Presbyterian version of the Lord's Prayer asks God to "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help."

Obama is a politician. He hasn't been imbued with the Holy Spirit. His election won't make any of us richer, taller, prettier, happier or holier. It won't guide us toward salvation. I'm voting for Obama, but I'm worried that some of his supporters have burdened him with expectations no mortal can meet. And I'm concerned that his campaign has promoted the messianic imagery. I hope we all come down to Earth once he start governing.

A new paperback edition of "Fugitive Days" was released Nov. 5, and is selling well on amazon. I wonder if Ayers' publicist was working with John McCain?

The sad thing is, Ayers has become a hero because he was attacked by Barack Obama's opponents. Being the enemy of the left's enemy doesn't make Ayers a good guy. He's still the same spoiled rich kid who thought it was his right to take the law into his own hands -- and who, thanks to his father's influence, avoided legal punishment and social stigma for his misbehavior.

I was hoping LaHood would run for governor in 2010. Maybe that's why Obama got him out of Illinois.

akaplan,

LaHood's seat has already been filled. He didn't run for re-election this year. He'll be succeeded by Aaron Schock, a 27-year-old state legislator who will be the youngest member of Congress.

When my neighbor is out of town, I look after her dog. When I'm out of town, she looks after my dog. We save money on kennels, and our dogs don't have to live in a cage for a week.

I asked myself the same question. Then I remembered how I was bouncing up and down on the couch when Meb nearly won the 2004 Olympic marathon. He was American enough for me then! As the NYT article pointed out, Alberto Salazar was born in Cuba. The last American-born runner to win the New York Marathon was Bill Rodgers, in 1980.