If you watched Bill Clinton's appearances on The View and Late Night With David Letterman yesterday and noticed his very tepid support of Barack Obama's candidacy, you're not alone. Chris Rock, who also appeared on Letterman last night, went off about President Clinton's reticence, lack of enthusiasm, and lukewarm-at-best compliments. Of course, he did it in a very loud way while Letterman nervously tried to change the subject. Rock eventually switched his focus to the Republicans and wondered why Michael Vick is in jail while Sarah Palin is dragging around "bloody mooses." [HP]

During an ABC News interview in Liberia yesterday, Bill Clinton got "a little testy" with a reporter, as he is wont to do these days. She asked him if he had any regrets about anything he did while he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton. He said he does, but not the ones we think, which tells me he's probably still in denial about how he might have damaged his wife's campaign.

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The Telegraph, which is where I go to get all of my American political news, has some choice quotes from a "Democratic source" who says that Bill Clinton is still angry, bitter and none-too-willing to assist Barack Obama in the coming months.

"He's been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn't. I've spoken to a couple of people who he's been in contact with and he is mad as hell.

"He's saying he's not going to reach out, that Obama has to come to him. One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support.

"You can't talk like that about Obama - he's the nominee of your party, not some house boy you can order around. Hillary's just getting on with it and so should Bill."

Since I can't see Barack Obama kissing Bill Clinton's ass, maybe Clinton will stay on the sidelines this time around. Considering how well he helped his wife, that might not be a bad thing. Then again, this "source" could be a phony. Ah, British press. [Telegraph]

Toni Morrison on whether she regrets calling Bill Clinton the first black president:

People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race.

For all that Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress and undeclared superdelegate, likes to say that he has remained neutral, he sure has a lot to say about Bill Clinton's conduct in South Carolina. Recently, he has said, "It’s pretty widespread now that African-Americans have lost a whole lot of respect for Bill Clinton," based on his either perceived or actual playing of the "race card." Clyburn is not the only person who has said this. What do you say?

BURNING BRIDGES Here's news: Rep. James Clyburn continues to be incredibly unhappy with Bill Clinton. “When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar,” Mr. Clyburn said. “I think black folks feel strongly that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation.” [NYT]

NOT BLACKLISTED Fox Newsies might think he's the devil incarnate, but the Detroit NAACP think Barack Obama's vilified ex-pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is more than good enough to be the keynote speaker at their 53rd annual Freedom Fund dinner, which usually draws about 10,000. Previous keynote speakers? None other than Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton. I wonder if Mayor Kilpatrick feels snubbed. [MSNBC]

All is fair in love and politics, although I would much rather hear Bill Clinton speak than go to a Dave Matthews concert. [TS]

Marijuana induces paranoia. If you feel that you need any more evidence to support that claim, read The Guardian's new interview with Snoop, in which he not only makes himself look like an ignorant wacko, but Barack Obama — whom he refers to as "that muthafucker" — also. (emphasis ours)

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Look who it is! It's the "controversial" Rev. Jeremiah Wright and President Bill Clinton at a Sept. 11, 1998 White House ceremony for religious leaders, where Clinton famously "repented" for his Monica Lewinsky fling. Hillary Clinton was there, too. The photo comes from the Obama camp, according to the New York Times, and the purpose probably isn't to show some close friendship between Clinton, who shook thousands of hands as president, and Wright, but to demonstrate that Wright was a well-regarded clergyman with enough clout and renown to get invited to an exclusive White House gathering and not some scandal-plagued, minor-league religious leader.

For her part, Hillary Clinton has studiously avoided direct mention of Obama's Wright scandal, instructing her aides and public supporters not to mention it directly, for fear of backlash or alienating voters.

• Bill Clinton calls the idea that he was being racist when he referred to Barack Obama as a fairy tale a myth. Wait, he's allowed to speak again? [CNN]

• Yep! He also said last night on Fox that black voters are naturally drawn to Obama, and it's not racist to point that out. [FOX]

• Florida's not doing a re-vote. Now it's up to the DNC to decide whether the vote they already did will count, either in full or partially. [AFP]

• Dire straits for Scott Storch. [HHE]

• Florida gets its first black female chief justice. [CBS4]

• An ad that recently hit Atlanta airwaves that directly relates black unemployment and immigration has some worried that it's widening the racial divide. [CBS46]

• Oh, did we know that guy Bill Clinton got in a fight with Sunday was black? Does it make a difference? [NB]

• The best way to win Texas is to appeal to the racists? [AAS]

• "Does Obama Have An Asian Problem?" asks Time. [TIME]

• Nine out of 10 NYC subway riders stopped by police are black or Hispanic. [AMNY]

• Racism in the workplace lawsuits hit the tire industry. [WOI]

• Deep questions for video game designers. [MTV]

• Bill Clinton spends some time in the black churches for his woman. [CBS]

• Can you spot the African influences in American architecture? [AAN]

IN OTHER ENDORSEMENT NEWS Toni Morrison, who, inadvertently I hope, launched what would become the long-lasting "Bill Clinton is the first black president" ridiculousness, has thrown her hat into the endorsement ring by sending a rather poetic letter of support to Obama's camp.
"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates," Morrison wrote. "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it.

"Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace — that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom," Morrison wrote.