Who's a freak? Gary Coleman is a former child star who's fallen on hard times and is now trying to raise his profile by running for governor in the California recall election.

At 35, he doesn't come across as either unusually smart or breathtakingly dumb. (Although it's pretty amazing that he couldn't name the vice-president.) He has no more business running for governor of our largest state than most of the other 135 candidates. And, oh yeah, he's four-foot-eight.

So how does the New York Times' Charlie LeDuff describe him this morning? As "a captive of a freakish body." Right in the lead paragraph.

Gary Coleman is a normal person whose dwarfism is caused by a serious kidney disease. For a Times reporter to call him a "freak" is offensive. No human being should be described as a freak because of his physical attributes. What was LeDuff thinking?