Bare-Ack? Some of those readers who didn't like Harvard Rules, or thought that it was too tough on President Larry Summers, faulted my emphasis on his social graces, or lack thereof. They missed my point. My opinion about Summers' manners wasn't the issue; Harvard's opinion was, and Summers' boorish manners had repeatedly handicapped his ability to lead the university. That's why I wrote about them at length.

In today's Globe, Marcella Bombardieri reports on a classic example: At this weekend's reunion of Harvard's African-American alumni, Summers repeatedly mispronounced the name of law school alumn and U.S. senator Barack Obama (Bare-Ack instead of Buh-rock).

As I wrote in the book, that fact that Summers' mispronunciations occur primarily with ethnic-sounding names doesn't help him when he's trying to reach out to minority constituencies.

Obviously, enough people remarked on this for it to make the Boston Globe, and for Obama himself to make a joke about it at another speech when Summers wasn't present.....  ¶ 4:42 PM