Herman Cain's glib confusion

For a while during last Tuesday’s Republican debate, it wasn’t clear if Herman Cain was running for president of the United States or the Fruit Vendors Association. Responding to a criticism of his “9-9-9” tax plan, Cain said, “This is an example of mixing apples and oranges. The state tax is an apple. We are replacing the current tax code with oranges.”

When more criticisms came, he again took refuge in the produce aisle. Cain was not taking a position on apples, but he was stoutly in favor of oranges, and he was adamant that they should never be placed in the same bag.