THE GUNS OF VILLARAIGOSA: LA's mayor declares war against the manufacturers whose weapons protect his city's police department.

But then, Mr. Villaraigosa is not a man known for his keen intellect or his grasp of legal nuance. Though he attended law school, he failed in four attempts to pass the California bar exam before forsaking a career in the law in favor of a less intellectually demanding life in politics, for which, happily for him, there is no qualifying examination. And if the mayor happens to be of modest wattage between the ears, it is a deficiency that scarcely distinguishes him from most members of the city council, for whom empty gestures like the mayor’s investment recommendation have come to be routine.

Villaraigosa is an archetype of the contemporary politician.