New Haven, Conn., is a city in which African Americans and Hispanics account for nearly 60 percent of the population; yet, by order of the U.S. Supreme Court, the city must be served --"as it was in the days of undisguised discrimination -- by a fire department in which members of racial and ethnic minorities are rarely seen in command positions."

We are down to the last rounds of the health care debate. The ideas are on the table. The estimated costs are published. The insurance industry lobby is up in arms. The White House and congressional leaders are starting to push. Now it is a question of will.

Last Wednesday in Washington, D.C., James W. von Brunn, an 88-year-old anti-Semite and white supremacist, allegedly took a .22-caliber rifle into the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and shot and killed security guard Stephen T. Johns. Earlier this month, Dr. George Tiller, who ran a clinic that performed late-term abortions, was murdered while serving as an usher at his church, allegedly by anti-choice zealot Scott Roeder. In April, three Pittsburgh police officers were shot to death, allegedly by a right-wing extremist who thought the president was going to take his guns away.

'The fight for American manufacturing is the fight for America's future," President Barack Obama declared as he pledged billions to help save and reorganize Chrysler and General Motors. Yet, he also says he doesn't want to manage the car companies.