JAMES TARANTO: They’re Desperate Now: ObamaCare supporters crank up the racial rhetoric.

Sometimes it’s obvious when somebody states the obvious, and we’ve seen a lot of examples of late as America’s left-liberals have struggled to come to grips with the disaster of ObamaCare. Example: “The mismanagement of the website HealthCare.gov and the cancellation of millions of policies pushes an underlying question out into the open: Is the federal government capable of managing the provision of a fundamental service through an extraordinarily complex system?” Arguably the answer is no less obvious than the question.

It is nonetheless remarkable for its source: Thomas Edsall, a “contributing op-ed writer” for the New York Times (we surmise that means he’s not on the New York Times Co. health-insurance plan). Edsall goes on to admit that “recent developments . . . strengthen the most damaging conservative portrayals of . . . big government”–to wit, that “too much a part of our lives, too invasive, too big, too scary, too regulatory, too in your face” as well as “incompetent, bureaucratic and expropriatory.”

Which, of course, means it is necessary to change the subject to something more comfortable: race.

Yawn. Race-talk is employed when Democrats are losing. Nobody takes it seriously anymore, not even Democrats. “The charge of racism is a sign of desperation. Expect to hear it more and louder in the coming weeks and months as the ObamaCare failures multiply.”

MARK TAPSCOTT: Federal bureaucrats get it right on four out of five payments and we’re supposed to cheer?

ED DRISCOLL: …But His Fonts Were Perfect.

THE NEW YORKER: Tim Geithner And The Revolving Door. Despite this piece’s weird combination of unconvincing excuses and humblebragging, this sounds like another good argument for my Revolving Door Surtax. Of course, Geithner would probably just not pay it. . . .

THE HILL: States warn Obama about health fix. “President Obama met with state insurance commissioners at the White House on Wednesday in an attempt to quell concerns over his plan to allow insurers to continue offering policies that do not meet ObamaCare’s requirements. The insurance commissioners, tasked with setting minimum insurance standards within each state, have complained about the president’s executive order, arguing it injected chaos into their insurance markets.” Injecting chaos seems to be his modus operandi.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Why Obamacare May Be Obama’s Katrina, Iraq. Here’s one difference — in Katrina and Iraq, the press was doing its best to drive Bush’s approval down into the 30s. With ObamaCare, Obama’s approval has sunk that low despite the press’s best efforts to prop him up.

THE WHO’S ROGER DALTREY SLAMS BRITISH IMMIGRATION POLICY. “The Who frontman Roger Daltrey said Britain’s loose immigration policy has created a poor work atmosphere for ‘my mates’ and, for that, he will never forgive the nation’s leading politicos.”

The Labour Party did this, of course, for political reasons, and out of oikophobia. Luckily, nothing like that could happen here.

CHUTZPAH: After “Fast & Furious,” Feds Plan Regulations On People Who Lose Guns. “It is unclear precisely what the draft regulations, drawn up by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and under review at the White House’s regulations office, would do.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A gilded goodbye for many private college leaders: Presidents’ retirement pay and perks can run into the millions, one more driver of soaring college tuition costs.

“There is puzzlement from faculty about why he gets paid at all” by Brandeis, said Gordon Fellman, a sociology professor at Brandeis. “His term as president ended.”

Like Reinharz, many other college presidents across the country are negotiating huge exit packages when they step down, which critics say is emblematic of schools’ unrestrained spending on everything from administrative salaries to elaborate new buildings that drive up the cost of higher education. Schools and public records say:

Lawrence S. Bacow, president emeritus of Tufts, received $1.7 million in 2011 for “end of service compensation.” At Harvard, president Lawrence Summers kept his presidential salary of $580,000 for several years after he stepped down in 2006 (even as he earned millions working for a hedge fund). And Wellesley College had two former presidents on its payroll in the last six years, including one who received $430,000 a year for two years after she retired and her duties ended.

Reinharz, formerly one of the best paid college presidents in the country, has received at least $1.2 million more from Brandeis since his 2010 retirement and is in line to receive hundreds of thousands more in coming years.

“We’re seeing more and more of these farewell packages to presidents,” said Andrew Gillen, senior researcher with Education Sector at American Institutes for Research, a Washington think tank. “It’s symbolic of the growth of the cost of college.”

Rising administrative expenses are one reason that the average cost of higher education has soared 70 percent during the past decade — twice the rate of inflation — and elite schools such as Brandeis now charge nearly $60,000 a year or more for tuition, room, and board. The number of college administrative jobs has increased 57 percent during 10 years while pay for university presidents has ballooned, with dozens of college leaders receiving at least $1 million a year.

Public-choice economics has an explanation for this . . . .

CHANGE: Whatever happened to the “Republicans are committing suicide” meme? It was all the rage back in September.

SCIENCE: The Evolution of Bitchiness: Women engage in indirect aggression and slut-shaming, even in clinical research studies.

AT AMAZON, new deals every day in the Electronics Gift Guide.

Also, coupons galore in Vitamins & Dietary Supplements.

Plus, Warehouse Deals in Videogames.

YES, THIS IS KEY: Earlier warnings saved lives in tornado-ravaged town.

That’s why I have a weather warning radio.

Related: The Invisible Successes Of Meteorology.

AT AMAZON, deals on Shoes, Handbags, and More.

Also, it’s not to late to shop the Amazon Thanksgiving Store.

And, today only: Panasonic Men’s 3 Blade Electric Razor, $54.99 (63% off).

Also today only: 50% Off Women’s Classic Denim.

HISTORY: “You Ain’t Never Seen Trouble Till You Lose a Youngun.”

There’s a new book by James Agee and Walker Evans. Yes, you read that right.

MOONLIGHTING: Stripping On The Side. “Jenny once told me in polite conversation that if she’d had to grow up in Ohio, she would have killed herself—that’s how awful she imagined the Midwest to be. Even though her comment was stupid and mean, I remember thinking that Jenny was right: There was nothing more damning than having grown up in the Midwest.” Plus, the inevitable daddy issues.

PLANETARY PROTECTION: Are We Turning Into Mars’s Helicopter Parents?

NOT A VERY TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE: Fidel Castro: ‘Oswald Could Not Have Been the One Who Killed Kennedy.’ I blame George W. Bush.

Related: Why Lee Harvey Oswald Fled to the Soviet Union. “What made this, of course, more alluring from Oswald’s point of view was that no country represented the total refutation of America and of everything he came from as much as the Soviet Union.”

STUPID BACTERIA TRICKS: Staphylococcus aureus bacteria turns immune system against itself.

THIS WILL BE WORRYING DEM STRATEGISTS: Hispanic Republican Woman Elected to Wisconsin Legislature Special Elections Show Surprising GOP Strength.

HAVE WE REACHED “PEAK SCHADENFREUDE” YET? WATCH Kathleen Sebelius As Obamacare Website Crashes In Front Of Her: ‘Uh Oh!’

YA THINK? Baby Boomers Need To Think Harder About Their Retirement Income. Of course, it’s tough when your pre-retirement income has taken a big hit, as so many people’s has.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Women Can Be Sex Addicts, Too. This is hardly news to anyone who’s paid any attention.

HMM: NHTSA Will Investigate Tesla Fires, Musk Not Worried. Nobody’s been hurt.

READER BOOK PLUGS: From Dana LaRue, The Broke-Ass Bride’s Wedding Guide. A book for our times.

And from reader Brian Moore, IT Sustainability for Business Advantage. Send a copy to Kathleen Sebelius — she’s probably had time to get through Building a Web Site For Dummies by now . . . .