Pete Rose used to set up shop during Hall of Fame induction week in Cooperstown, New York, a nonperson hawking his autographed products, a huckster banished to the edge of things. People flocked to the sideshow because they loved Rose, because America enjoys a spectacle and because the four-legged lady presumably was out of town.

Another day, another controversy in the White House, though the potential pardon of Pete Rose is meaningless to his Hall of Fame chances.