Short Fuse

Governor's Council: Pay for nonperformance

Governor's Councilor Kelly Timilty showed up for a candidate forum Tuesday in Framingham, but not in a mood to answer questions about her lackluster attendance record. Timilty is one of eight councilors who earn $26,000 annually for a handful of duties, notably confirming or denying the governor's judicial appointments. Timilty was chided in a recent issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly for attending fewer than half the weekly council meetings during the past year. But Timilty waved off the no-show charge at the forum, saying her attendance record is "neither here nor there." The Governor's Council is light duty. Maybe pegging pay to attendance would help Timilty's turnout.

Politics: Indignation on a pig

Could we please skip the false indignation? Everyone knows what Barack Obama meant with the phrase "lipstick on a pig." He wasn't calling GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin a pig. He was saying that John McCain, in his recent attempts to claim the mantle of change and reform, is trying to put a new spin on a worn-out political agenda. That hasn't stopped McCain supporters, including former acting governor Jane Swift, from accusing Obama of sexism. Nor has the fact that McCain himself used the same phrase - and in reference to Hillary Clinton. Maybe Republicans, having claimed patriotism as their own exclusive political weapon, now want a monopoly on folksy analogies, too.

Advertising: Sweetening a bad policy

High-fructose corn syrup has a bad public image, so the Corn Refiners Association has launched a new ad campaign called "Sweet Surprise." But few things capture the failure of US farm policy like the prevalence of this sweetener. Because tariffs and quotas have artificially raised the price of cane sugar, food companies have looked for substitutes, and high-fructose corn syrup costs less than it otherwise might because of federal corn subsidies. There's another problem: Some evidence suggests the human body processes this syrup differently from table sugar, and with more ill effects. It would really be sweet if Congress abolished the tangle of farm subsidies and supports. It would also be a surprise.