Minutes from a miscellanist

Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden, stumping in some Iowan's backyard on the Fourth, called President Bush "brain dead." Let's see, love him or hate him, Mr. Bush twice was elected president of the United States. Sen. Biden, of Delaware, dropped out of the 1988 presidential race following revelations that he nicked lines from a British politician's campaign speech, plagiarized a law school paper and embellished his academic record. Guess it all depends on the meaning of "brain dead," eh• ...

Another failed Democrat presidential candidate, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, has endorsed Hillary Clinton. And he'll serve as an economic adviser to the campaign. Mr. Gephardt is a big fan of keeping taxes high in recessionary times. Oh, there's something frighteningly Freudian about his appointment. ...

The vociferous debate over amnesty for illegal aliens reportedly has prompted a rush by legal alien residents to apply for U.S. citizenship. Ah, the ripple effect of having the audacity to not aid and abet the trampling of the rule of law. ...

Speaking of immigration, Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, reminds in National Review magazine that "many statutory tools already exist to make enormous headway against illegal" aliens. Mr. Krikorian says the Bush administration "has presided over what can only be described as a Silent Amnesty, refusing to enforce the law as it's written today and even taking steps to help illegal aliens embed themselves in American society." Consider it a violation of the presidential oath of office. ...

With tales of airlines losing more and more luggage, coupled with tale after tale of outrageous flight delays (at a 13-year high, by one accounting), just about everybody is trying to offer tips to ease what has become the significant pain of flying anywhere. "Fly first thing in the morning" appears to top the advice list. Here's a novel suggestion -- don't give the airlines your business; drive or take a train. You might just arrive sooner. ...

A California fella by the name of Joey Chestnut is the new world-record holder for eating hot dogs. The engineering student, 23, devoured 66 wieners, with buns, in 12 minutes on Independence Day. What gastronomical event occurred immediately after the stuffing is not clear. But he is the first American to win the Mustard Yellow International Belt this decade. Who says America is falling behind the rest of the world. ...

"China finds poor quality in its stores," read the headline on a story that went on to note how nearly one-fifth of food and consumer products sold inside China are substandard or tainted. Isn't it comforting to know that the Chinese are out to cheat, maim or kill their own people and not just those of us in the United States• ...

Reminds a recently obtained and wonderfully wonkish 1925 tome, "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States" by Columbia University politics professor Charles A. Beard: "The Constitution was ratified by a vote of probably not more than one-sixth of the adult males." Ah, the American predilection to not vote was born early, you see. ...

Amy Finkelstein, a public finance economist at MIT, says E-ZPass-type toll road collection systems have given turnpike-types easy cover to raise tolls -- and in some cases, sharply. It seems it's easier to raise tolls when motorists forget what they're paying. Governments use the same trick in deducting taxes from your paycheck so you don't have to bother cutting the government a check. Remember: When government says something is for your convenience, it's usually for the government's -- and at a premium you always pay . ...

And finally this Sunday, to put a coda on these minutes from this miscellanist:

Perhaps Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is employing the right strategy in keeping his New York junkets and corporate-covered golf outings to himself. After all, it seems as if every time he does open his mouth he sticks his foot in it and raises even more questions about his ethical standards. (Certainly there's a campaign slogan or billboard in this for Republican challenger Mark DeSantis, right?)

Indeed, as 11th/12th-century German theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart once put it, "In silence man can most readily preserve his integrity." But Mr. Ravenstahl must realize this is the 21st century and the reality is he's a public servant accountable to the public.