TONIC NOT SPRAY: The NYT's Charlie LeDuff is one of my favorite journalists, and sentences like this one -- from a recent piece on California recall leader and former car thief Darrell Issa -- are the reason:

"This stuff is 30 years old," said Mr. Issa [in reference to the car theft allegations], dressed in a blue polo shirt and khakis, his hair combed and parted with tonic, not hair spray as preferred by political veterans.

Every time I see this guy's byline I smile.