They're Now Mad As Hell, Too

Patt Morrison on the latest self-inflicted wound of New York's GOP gubernatorial candidate, Carl Paladino, who spoke at a synagogue even though female reporters were barred:

Would Paladino have agreed to appear at an event at which the organizers had said, OK, but no black reporters allowed? No Latino journalists? Had that happened, Paladino would have had an even bigger self-made mess on his hands than he does now.

We Collect From The Select

It's all clear to me now. Reads Revelation 7:4:

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

For those who tend to take Revelation as a series of end-time predictions, the idea of that small a group of select usually amounts to something of a riddle. The State of California's budget crisis reveals that while a select few may or may not be treading the golden streets of heaven, they're definitely paving the roads in the Golden State. State finance official H. D. Palmer, appearing on Patt Morrison's KPCC-FM program this afternoon, revealed that 50% of the state's revenue comes in with the top 144,000 returns. The next you meet a rich person, better say thanks.

Roman Scandal

Iran's revealing secret nuclear sites, shooting off missiles, and threatening Israel, and we're arguing over convicted child molester Roman Polanski. (I wrote it that way because a sociologist on Patt Morrison's KPCC-FM program this afternoon said, in fairness to other child molesters, that's what we should be saying instead of "Oscar-winning director".) Okay: Root around here, and you'll learn that Polanski copped a plea to a crime that sounds nowhere near as bad as what he might actually have done to his 13-year-old victim. On the other hand, was Polanski right to believe that the judge in the case, now deceased, had committed misconduct? Maybe. Either way, I'm with former LA DA John Van de Kamp. Polanski should stop wasting our time, fly home on his own nickel, and make his best case. It's what he would've had to do years ago if he weren't rich and famous.