An old, white man stood

over an empty chair and

spoke down to the President

of the United States of

America, thus rendering the

black man invisible before a

cheering almost totally white

crowd.  Improv among the straight-

laced? Clint brought down the house

with a reference to an obscene, imposs-

ible act in four letters attached to

yourself, uttered silently by the

invisible man. They really roared?

Blue-haired tastelessness. An

empty chair, a metaphor is born

for a clue-less crowd. Ralph Ellison

hovered.

Nobody ever bought a bicycle

he

didn’t want to ride,

said the

new, newspaper owner

who always,

always wanted to

write.