Woody Lewis

When Sean Taylor, a rising star with the Washington Redskins, was fatally shot in his own home while his fiancée and daughter cowered in the next room, media coverage was quick to point out his troubled past. He was killed by one of four young men who were also black. That they were there only to burglarize his home, which they thought was unoccupied, is of no consequence, despite the argument of one of their defense lawyers. It’s an unfortunate fact that society sees this first as a black-on-black crime. We’re automatically suspicious, having seen one too many stories about athletes and guns. Once again, the stereotype is reinforced.

Pat Robertson’s recent endorsement of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign is like something out of Star Wars. The force is with you, Rudy, but do you know what you’re getting into?

The Aeneid tells us that the Greeks, weary of their 10-year siege of Troy, built a huge wooden horse, filled it with their best warriors, and left it outside the city gates. The Trojans watched the rest of the Greek army withdraw. That night, they pulled the horse inside and celebrated what they thought was the end of the siege. When the Trojans were asleep, the Greek warriors emerged from the horse and opened the gates for their colleagues, who joined them in sacking the city, killing all the Trojan men, and enslaving their women and children.

On Oct. 14, 2007, the online edition of New York magazine contained an article entitled “One, Two, Three, Four, Can a Columbia Movement Rise Once More?” The photograph of a somber-looking junior named David Judd, and the caption indicating his membership in the International Socialist Organization, remind me of my friend Rudd, who was chairman of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) when he led the April 1968 occupation.

In Nov. 2004, Shi Tao, a reporter for China’s Contemporary Business News, was detained for e-mailing “state secrets” to foreign reporters. The Chinese Communist Party had warned of possible civil unrest around the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and had directed journalists not to interfere.

General David Petraeus sits in front of a Congressional committee testifying "candidly," a word he uses to tell lawmakers that some parts of the war in Iraq are not going well. Rows of gleaming medals and campaign ribbons adorn his tunic, reflecting the TV lights bearing down on him as he leans forward, hands clasped, head cocked like a golden retriever. He's a very sincere-looking man.