There's a problem with attempting to quantify racism- how to accurately assess the quantity. There's no real way to do that accurately.

If one attempts to lump a population together and assess blame collectively, the responsibility of the guilty individuals is obscured and diluted, while the blameless are unfairly tainted.

For that matter, even if racist attitudes could be identified within a population with 100% accuracy, there's no way to disenfranchise someone politically for holding those views. As with stupidity, or militarism, or a host of other attitudes with political implications. Racism isn't a type of voting fraud.

Onerous as it is, that leaves only reasoned and persuasive argument on the merits of a program like universal health care. And if not enough people go for it...there's no way of telling how much of that is due to racism, in the absence of an admission by the people who feel that way, or blatant and overt appeals like "kill Grandma to pay for Pedro" (odious stereotyping that implicitly assumes that a) all illegal immigrants are Latino and that b) anyone named Pedro must be one of those "alien" Mexicans.)

The good news is that racism is so generally condemned in American society these days that almost all racists these days feel they have to conceal their views, for fear of bringing down massive censure on their heads. It didn't used to be like that.

That might not sound like much progress, but it's actually indicative of a huge realignment in attitudes, related to age and generation. Racists are on the defensive these days, the best they can hope for is an increase in violence and friction to aid their cause.

I think that accounts for the recent comments on Salon, enumerating the following list of grievances:

1) one video of a teenage white kid getting punched out by a couple of black hoodlum kids on a school bus 2) Henry Louis Gates getting mad at a police officer walking into his house when he went to go get his wallet (justifiably, imo) 3) Kanye West, criticizing some white girl for winning a music video award (and getting busted on pretty much universally across the board for it in return, including by the artist that Kanye would have preferred to win, a black female.) 4)

Yeah. That's it. That's their match, tinder, and kindling for a race war, circa the year 2009.

All I can say is, if that's all they got, we're going to be all right. Don't feed the trolls. Hop the island, and let history pass R~sh and his minions by.

Biggest problem for the Democrats' health plan? We still don't even know what it is...how am I going to support something- much less advocate for it or go to the mat for it- when I don't know what it is?

on commentary on commentary.

I'm not sure I can handle this much torque...I'm liable to end up a metanoid.

A meta-metanoid, even...

When I've previously posted a comment on your column, it's usually been to criticize something you're written here. Almost always, in fact.

Don't let that mislead you.

Being of the mind that the visual image content of television consists largely of empty calories, my preference has always trended toward radio, the electronic medium you can turn your back on and still enjoy.

And I've been enjoyed many an episode of Prairie Home Companion. Like your fellow Minnesotan Prince Rogers Nelson puts it, "we all got a space to fill."

Good to hear that you're still alive and well.