MATT WELCH WRITES that the FBI and Los Angeles’ Mayor Hahn failed the truth test after the LAX shooting:

Well, at least now we know how Mayor James Hahn and the local FBI leadership will treat the public during a time of violent crisis:

Like children, who need to be lied to. . . .

It is one thing to be reluctant about jumping to conclusions — a perfectly normal and admirable tactic in high-profile law enforcement. But it is quite another to cross the line into actively encouraging a rattled public to conclude that it wasn’t an act of terrorism. . . .

Residents of L.A. need to trust that their leaders, when under fire, will shoot straight. Hahn and company have failed their first major test.

Welch rips them a well-deserved new one in this Daily News column. Also check out the L. A. Examiner’s report on L.A. videographer Mitchell Crooks, a “homeless, confused Nader fan.”

And, in an entirely unrelated item, Mickey Kaus explains why miscegenation is cool now!