Can the biggest private foundation in the world, now channelling Mr Buffett's fortune as well as Mr Gates's, really be so impotent?

ECONOMIST: A moral dilemma interrupts Warren Buffett's love-in

And this is why this association argument is so weak and impotent.

CNN: Commentary: Why Ayers case is risky for McCain-Palin

In the euro-zone crisis the threat of sovereign default renders some governments impotent, while those which could act have chosen not to do so decisively.

ECONOMIST: The euro zone is in intensive care