The novel "Atonement" marked Ian McEwan's coming of age as a novelist, and I've been reading his novels, and waiting for such a breakthrough, since "Cement Garden" came out in 1978. I was not looking forward to "Atonement" when I saw that it was playing in London when I was there last month, but I had an afternoon free and went to see it anyway. I am so glad I did. The first section of the movie, especially, is pure genius. Knightley and McAvoy are the perfect Cecilia and Robbie. These are two actors that I hadn't really noticed before, and now I can't wait to see what they do next. As long as they are the focus of the film (Knightley emerging defiantly from the fountain after retrieving pieces of a vase is one of the finest images ever captured on film), the movie is exceptional. It only flags a bit in the second half, perhaps because we understand that these characters, Briony included, are doomed. There is one lovely scene involving a wounded French soldier (played by an all but unrecognizable Jeremie Renier), and Vanessa Redgrave certainly justifies her screen time, but it is the first half of the film that truly captivates. See it for the first half, then, but see this film, and then tell me Keira Knightley can't act.

Let's be honest about this. Most Christians are reasonable people who believe in the separation of church and state. Just because Romney and Huckabucks are fire-breathing hypocrites (it was Shakespeare who said "The devil can cite scripture for his purpose"), we shouldn't tar all religious people with the same brush. If 90% of the population in America do indeed profess to be Christian (and I have seen such a statistic in a recent poll), we're going to need a few Christians to get Mrs. Clinton elected.

The question has now become, which strong woman would you rather see in the White House: Hillary or Oprah?

All this negativism has helped me see the light. When Mrs. Clinton is president, she should not, as I have previously suggested, appoint Barak Obama to her cabinet--she should appoint Oprah.

I got in on the second half of the debate, enough to see Alan Keyes embarrass himself. My old pal Huckabee was amazing. He sounded like the head cheerleader at an Up With People rally. He couldn't have been sunnier had he been doing one of those coca cola commercials from the early '70s ("I'd like to teach the world to sing," etc). And, am I mistaken, or has the good Lord given the old reprobate back some of his hair? Where's the bald spot we in Arkansas had all come to know and love? Gone the way of his apidpose tissue, I suppose (do hormone injections come with bariatric surgery?) No, he didn't manage to offend anyone, and, yes, Keyes was embarrassing. But I'd take Keyes' honesty (for all his wrongheadedness) over Huckabee's snake oil charm anyday.

If I lived in an alternative universe and were forced to vote Republican, that is.

I'm sorry you were bored. Gee. Have you ever thought about changing jobs? I may be mistaken, but once upon a time, long before reporters and anchors and pundits were being paid millions of dollars to swig brandy and exchange quips about this candidate's hair or that candidate's laugh, some stalwart souls in the fourth estate actually enjoyed their jobs and went after the meat in a story with a vengeance. At least that's the way it seemed to me. Now all the press consists of is a gaggle of Marie Antoinettes whose attitude seems to be, "Let them eat scandal!" Get up off the chaise longue and take a look around. The world's still a pretty intersting place, if you just give it a chance. Heck, there might even be a decent story in the candidates' health care plans, or, I don't know, their vision of a post-Bush American foreign policy. "Honesty and wit are so rarely combined," says Monsieur Bellegarde in the French film "Ridicule." Exactement, mon amis.

Huckabucks is guilty of one of the oldest crimes in the book (the book being Homer): Hubris. He likes to play god. And like the gods of old (not this new-fangled Christian god), he exacts revenge when slighted and rewards when appeased. This is the way he operated in Arkansas. You want a pardon? You got a pardon! Now what can you do for me? And when he could combine his hatred for the Clintons with his love of playing god, then so much the better. The people who worshipped at his altar came away with benisons (read pardons, in the case of Dumond and others); the people who dared question his majesty were punished (e.g. the staff at the Arkansas Times). In other words he is a pagan, not a Christian at all. He is Dathan, not Moses (that's Edward G. Robinson, not Charlton Heston, to the uninitiated). He promises his followers the Golden Calf, along with a mortgage on a triple-wide. The problem is, the Golden Calf is just one of Huck's old fat suits.

Hillary looks better to me all the time. I look forward to seeing her, me, and the country all grow old together.