So, in the same 24-hour period, Barack Obama argues for the viability of his candidacy on the basis of the US being a post-racial society (Washington Post); and the Supreme Court strikes down by a 7-2 vote the capital murder conviction of a Louisiana man on the grounds that the prosecution’s peremptory jury challenges were blatently racist (New York Times). Oh, and Clarence Thomas writes the dissenting opinion. Could it be that he wants to keep racial bias viable in American society thinking he would not have his job but for affirmative action? [Should I fall on my sword, as Geraldine Ferraro did, for saying that? — FmH]