Is clock ticking on Riordan? **

I don't think Richard Riordan is long for the state education secretary post, but we'll see. The latest is that the mother of 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, who our ex-mayor teased by informing her that her name means "stupid dirty girl," told AP that her daughter was startled by the exchange but is over it. A visitor to L.A. Observed claiming to be the mother, Trinity Lila, also posted a comment here. She praises Wednesday's column by the Times' Steve Lopez and writes:

I am so proud of her for standing up to him and not accepting his comments as truth, simply because he is an adult. In fact, Isis didn't even tell me what had happened with Riordan - I was told the story by the library director when she apologized for the incident.

After hearing the story again from my daughter's perspective, I asked her why she didn't tell him that what he said was rude. She said, "I didn't want to hurt his feelings" (as though he wasn't very bright and she pitied him).

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee editorialized about the gaffe yesterday, saying that Californians should wonder about Riordan's fitness to be education secretary. A Daily News story today notes that Riordan apologized before going on vacation to Sun Valley, Idaho, and quotes political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe: "For better or worse, it's classic Riordan." And in the most (the only?) amusing note to the whole episode, state assemblyman Mervyn Dymally — the ex-lieutenant governor and congressman — cancelled plans to call on Riordan to resign after learning that Isis is white. In the Times, the California head of the NAACP and State Sen. Sheila Kuehl say Riordan should go anyway.

* Going national: Drudge picks up the story, and The Smoking Gun has the video. 10:45 a.m.

** Episode as farce: At GayAmerican.org. 2:40 p.m. Also, the Riordan story makes the front page of today's Santa Barbara News-Press, but rather than extend its reach outside the community, the paper limits online access to people who already get the print paper. You can also pay by the article. Photo above comes from the News-Press, via the Drudge Report. 4:55 p.m.

Previously on L.A. Observed: Lopez ponders Riordan gaffe, Odd Riordan incident