obert Wright on missile defense, in Slate: "Finding people who 'insist it will never work' is going to be hard." We wish. Just a few days before Wright shared this thought with the world, Lars-Erik Nelson, in his New York Daily News column, wrote that President Clinton "is opting for an anti-missile defense even though the evidence says it can't work." Yesterday, a New York Times editorial stated: "More than a decade and a half after Ronald Reagan first proposed it, the idea of shielding the nation against thousands of nuclear-tipped missiles has gained new life. Now as then, this Star Wars fantasy remains technologically unworkable."

Our favorite Luddite comment on missile defense came a year and a half ago from John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists, who is the media's preferred source of anti-missile-defense soundbites. Following several test failures, Pike said, "I'm rather amazed they've gone so long without hitting anything. . . . Maybe Mother Nature is trying to tell us something." (No, she wasn't: The system Pike was criticizing went on to score hits.)

There are plenty of arguments to be made against missile defense: about cost, about priorities, and so on. But saying it will never work isn't a very good one. Contra Wright, that argument is still being made.

The Next Census
A few days ago, we reported on a Zogby poll in which 77 percent of respondents said that the Census form should not ask questions about race. We're happy to note that Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth-Hage, the Idaho Republican, has a bill declaring that the purpose of the Census is to allow for the apportionment of representatives among the states, and that penalties should not be levied for refusing to answer questions irrelevant to that purpose.

A New Kennedy
Army Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, whose political allegiance is unknown, in Parade: "I think I could be a wonderful vice president — but give me 10 years. I will have done things that will broaden my experience outside the military."

Happy May Day
New Russian presidential economics advisor Andrei Illarionov confesses that he's a fan of Ayn Rand. "Every tax acts against our freedom," he said last week. He also mentioned that president-elect Vladimir Putin owns a copy of Atlas Shrugged.

Funk Soul Brother
The Gore campaign often plays the Fatboy Slim song "Praise You" at events, as the McCain campaign also did. But the album it's on comes with a "Parental Advisory Explicit Content" sticker. Don't tell Tipper.

(To view the album cover, complete with sticker, visit here.)