Will he sign on to preventing himself from saving the environment if necessary? We are likely to find out what Richard Snyder's soul and spine are really made of, very soon.

Defective Albom: Several readers have asked why I haven't gone after Mitch Albom for using the Free Press to shamelessly promote his mawkish Ernie play. Well, mainly, I try to write about public policy issues where there is some chance of improvement.

Sometimes, I write about journalists, or people or institutions I respect. But none of those categories applies here. I knew Ernie Harwell long before Mitch Albom did, knew him very well.

However, I would have shot myself rather than have attempted to exploit him. Even if he did give some sort of play by Mitch his blessing before he died, the spectacle of Albom dragging a dying Ernie around to promote himself was deeply offensive.

What is amusing is that both the Free Press and its marketing tool are fast each becoming their own worst parody. Last week, the dying Freep ignored the most momentous Canadian election in years — and gave us Mitch's thoughts about Osama Bin Laden being dead. This was appalling, but not nearly as funny as his column about fashion a few weeks ago.

True, nobody has yet seen Mitch strolling the Cass Corridor with a mattress strapped to his back. But as Yogi Berra never told him at some game he didn't cover, it ain't over till it's over.

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