Jacob T. Levy, commenting on a National Review piece by John O'Sullivan, thinks Trent Lott is hardly the racial moderate his defenders make him out to be (presumably in the “party to busy to hate” mold). Jacob's right. There's nothing in the Southern Strategy playbook about “persuad[ing] a resentful region to accept a steady movement toward racial equality,” as O'Sullivan claims; it's all about persuading a resentful region that you're equally resentful and you'll do your best to prevent those damned liberal Yankees and uppity blacks from using the power of the federal government to enforce the 14th Amendment and promote racial equality.

This form was missing from my copy of TaxCut. Can I get a refund from Kiplinger?

Here's a free hint: if you write an autobiographical song about yourself, claiming you're still “Jenny from the Block” and the same girl you were before you became this era's answer to Liz Taylor (at least in the serial matrimony department), you're no longer keeping it real. Instead, you're bordering on self-delusion.

And, if you've already reduced your name to two syllables, you're probably firmly in the self-delusion zone.