51.   And no mainstream politician is eager to explain the virtues of racial diversity to parents of white applicants whose places are taken by nonwhites with lower test scores.

52.   And politicians are always happy to lash out at a target as unpopular as insurance companies.

53.   And politicians are dumber than fans.

54.   And politicians like Takemura are well aware a boycott is likely to have zilch impact.

55.   And it just may be too hard to tackle in a campaign year, when politicians are loathe to offend any large constituency.

56.   And many politicians are uninformed about the issues, he said.

57.   And that particularly holds true when the politician is not expected to run for public office again.

58.   And politicians are more likely to regard intellectuals as a liability than an asset.

59.   And some people worry about what could happen if our politicians are more willing now to do the buying than they were even back then.

60.   And so charges of ethical misdeeds have become a staple of political campaigns, cheapening them and contributing to the public belief that all politicians are corrupt.