Good comparison of Clinton with OJ and Rodney King in today's Slate - OJ never confessed/apologized, now he's nothing. Since President Bill has, he'll probably avoid that fate. Rodney became a martyr since the videotape just showed his beating, not the crimes leading up to it. The cops' acquittal was the catalyst for the 1992 LA riots. William Saletan's analysis ends this way:

A prolonged prosecutorial beating of Clinton by Starr and the Republicans might be the only thing that could trigger a riot by Democrats at the polls this November, possibly costing the GOP control of the House of Representatives. We already know that lack of self-restraint is Clinton's fatal flaw. Now we'll find out whether the same is true of his enemies.

Returned to Palo Alto this evening, to acquire a book at Borders. Also had to try the new Pluto's; my grilled chicken sandwich (on foccacio) was delicious, as I expected; also it got very crowded - as the novelty wears off those crowds should thin out. Afterwards I walked down University Ave a block and bought The Practical Nomad - How To Travel Around the World - yes, I'm giving the Ground Orbit very serious consideration, although it can't happen until next year - too late to add it into my Europe trip this Fall, I've got to be here to deal with taxes, car registration renewal, and the holidays; and besides, I want to travel west when I circumnavigate. (Here's some excerpts from the book.) Inside Borders a rough-looking, drunk-sounding man accosted me - my Truman button (affixed to the collar of my denim overshirt) caught his eye, but he confused it with something else - said he thought those were captain's bars(?) and after a moment I snarled "And you better salute me, buddy!" and his tone shifted into the unpleasant and he responded with "I may give you twenty pushups but I ain't gonna salute!" and I was already taking evasive action, putting distance and bookshelves between us but I could still hear him muttering loudly for a while, off in the distance.

Took lunch off-base today (at this Mexican place I like in Santa Clara called "Cactus Fresh") - at the adjacent comic store, I found an all-new issue of "Too Much Coffee Man"! Haven't seen one of these in years; instead Shannon Wheeler's been compiling magazines out of his weekly strips.

Concerning the film critics on NPR:

"Morning Edition" usually has the Washington Post's Tom Shales; "All Things Considered" uses their in-house critic, the loathsome Bob Mondello. I've learned to turn him off immediately he comes on, since he doesn't actually review movies - instead he describes everything that happens in the film. Spoiler Alert! Tom Shales, on the other hand, is pretty good, but the best movie reviewer is KCRW's Elvis Mitchell, who rarely gets heard nationally. Now they give him a weekly show.

Here's a "USA Today"-style factoid I extracted from a "San Jose Mercury News" article I read in the sauna this morning: "People made 43 million visits to [Minnesota's] Mall of America last year, more than Disney World, the Grand Canyon and Graceland combined."