Every once in a while, George Will gets something right. His review of Shelby Steele's "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win," is one of those times. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Nevertheless, for his comparison to Fred Astaire alone, Will deserves credit:

So far, Obama is the Fred Astaire of politics -- graceful and elegant, with a surface so pleasing to the eye that it seems mistaken, even greedy, to demand depth.

See why over the fold.

There, now that you've had the entertainment, it only seems fair to return for a moment to the person who brought George Will to the light. Because, Shelby Steele, whom Will refers to as America's foremost black intellectual has not left well enough alone. Indeed, he felt it necessary to weigh in on the Wright kerfuffle and the audio record is well worth attending to. Not least, because, as Steele asserts, his own life experience, which has left him ensconced in the Hoover Institution, at Stanford University, is just like Barack Obama's and he wouldn't have spent twenty years in the company of radical critics of the U.S.

Of course, if one listens closely, then one almost has to conclude that jealousy is clearly not restricted by race. It would seem that the return of the Secretary of State of the United States to Stanford may fall short of the bright future some of her former colleagues may have envisioned for themselves in the wake of her success. If the community organizer from Chicago is installed in the White House, it's likely to be a game-changing moment.

The suggestion on the Shelby audio that Barack Obama joined up with Trinity United as a cynical ploy to get him some African American creds strikes me as particularly shallow. Why not just conclude that the three-in-one principle of the triune godhead simply appealed? After all, the focus on the United States of America and the effort to bring all fifty states (as well as a couple of protectorates) into the political process has been real in every sense of the word. Why question Obama's commitment to unity?

In any event, lest you not bother to read Will's column to the end, I just want to add that his observation that

No one, however, would have given Astaire control of nuclear weapons, so attention must be paid to Obama's political as well as aesthetic qualities.

needs to be countered with the reality that neither Reagan nor the Bushes should have been entrusted with the control of nuclear weapons. Indeed, as far as that's concerned, we might be wise to make sure that the next occupant of the Oval Office has some practical talents beyond pushing buttons, dropping bombs or downing shots.