HOW DYSFUNCTIONAL IS THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS?: The Commission has a tradition of passing resolutions honoring civil rights figures who have recently died. I have always dutifully voted in favor of these resolutions regardless of whether I agreed with everything (or indeed anything) the particular person had said or done while living. It was enough that one of my colleagues thought the person was worthy of such a tribute.

Then, in December, Walter Williams, a civil rights hero of mine and probably of many Instapundit readers, died. I asked my special assistant at the Commission, Alex Heideman, to write up a tribute to Dr. Williams. I thought this would be routine.

It wasn’t. After much delay, the tribute finally came up for a vote at the end of April. It passed, but just barely. The vote was 5-3. (Thank you, Commissioner Yaki, for breaking ranks with the progressive members of the Commission and voting with the conservatives.)