Three weeks ago Joe Klein accused Lanny Davis of "spreading the poison" for having the temerity to voice his discomfort with Reverend Wright in public. Since then, of course, Rev. Wright has been spreading some poison of his own.

Now, Klein is back to talking about Wright in this week's issue of Time magazine calling him "smug, disdainful, outrageous." Klein does this knowing full well that Wright broke no new ground on his recent tour, but merely reiterated the views many Americans - including Lanny Davis - were offended by weeks ago.

By his own standard then, Klein is now "spreading the poison." I guess that's what happens when you browbeat people to try and shut down debate of a legitimate issue, and then that issue reemerges. I'm sure Lanny Davis isn't holding his breath for an apology from Klein, but he deserves one.