Entry 4:

I was savvy enough not to identify myself. In a public forum such as this, I always leave the ID to the powers that be. My mentor Jason Epstein once told me that an editor should be a valet to his writers. So as for the dropping of names (oops! a rare moment of discretion), that should be reserved for all too frequent instances of getting over.

Now back to the Donald and off-reservation gambling sites: My point was not necessarily racial; the line about "parting white fools from their money" referred to the absurd demand for money by some so-called "minority" members as payment for the sufferings endured by their anonymous ancestors. (I myself have wondered: To which African dictator should I appeal for reparations, some of his countrymen no doubt descendants of Africans who collaborated in the slave trade!) The special casino dispensation to Native Americans is a condescending form of reparation. Of course, fools of any stripe who believe they can beat nearly impossible odds (including numbers-playing black people) deserve what they get. (I just learned something last week: Although gambling is illegal in Israel, some grimly determined Israelis will not be deterred. At sunset in Eilat, they board a cruise ship, go out into Egyptian waters to party hard and gamble the night away, only to return fired up, out of it and poorer, but happy at dawn!)

 By the way, you promised to get back to Dubya and the presidential debates but didn't. As to what I'm reading, I be deep into the National Enquirer and the New York Review of Books. Talk to you tomorrow.