Bob Herbert Is Angry

If I was a New York Times columnist, I think I would have two different pictures on the site: one for happy columns (on rodent-life or similar nonsense) and one for scolding columns. I'd at least put up a neutral picture, like that reptilian Nixon-apologist William Safire did (or the regal visage of Jim "Dragon" Kelly to this post's immediate right). Bob Herbert's charming, Pepsodent smile belies the anger of most of his columns lately. But expressions notwithstanding, I find myself in a similar watercraft with Mr. Herbert; it's hard to avoid apoplexy whenever the subject of extraordinary renditions comes up. I work a block from the National Japanese-American Memorial, with its etched names of WWII deportation camps like Manzanar and Topaz. When I think of the crimes being openly perpetrated by the US government these days against suspected terrorists, I can't help but think that the only outcome will be one more sad, sorry episode that we look back on with embarrassment and much head shaking. By that time, no doubt, W. will be smiling at us from the dime.