In about 20 minutes, I’ll leave my desk for minor shoulder surgery which will put me in a sling for a few weeks. How I’ll manage to type, which is life itself for me, I don’t know.

So a last blog note before going under. On Yesterday’s “On Point” broadcast on NPR, host Tom Ashbrook introduced a show about what he called “a sickening culture of corruption” in the Republican party. I do not sympathize with bribe-takers like Randy “Duke” Cunningham, but I do want to remind Mr. Ashbrook of an earlier Presidential administration. Maybe three names will do the trick: Mochtar Riady, John Huang, Ron Brown.