Friday, February 27, 2004

"I did not have sex with that...lawyer"

Guns figure prominently in the news today. Once again, Scalia is in trouble for killing virtually flightless birds, this time -- yet another coincidence -- with someone intimately involved with a pending case. But, gosh, everybody's doing it.

And in more gun news, turns out the chairman of Smith & Wesson has intimate knowledge of his company's product.

"The chairman of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., the nation's second-largest gun manufacturer, resigned after it was disclosed that he spent time in prison in the 1950s and '60s for an armed-robbery spree and an attempted prison escape.

"James J. Minder, a 74-year-old management consultant and Smith & Wesson board member who became chairman in January, has had a clean criminal record since his 1969 release from prison. But the disclosure comes at an awkward time for the gun maker. It has had several tough years, including a public-relations debacle four years ago that hurt sales and a still-pending investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into its earnings restatements.

"Several Smith & Wesson directors initially backed Mr. Minder before he resigned, though people familiar with the matter say he still remains on the board. That could put the company, an icon of the gun world, in an awkward situation, because convicted felons aren't by law allowed to own or possess firearms."

I don't make this stuff up.

Speaking of making this stuff up, did these guys watch the same debate?

It was the first full debate I'd seen, and I was generally jazzed up by it -- how weird is that? I thought Kerry was good, certainly better than his advance reviews. Edwards looked like he'd been up all night cramming for the bar exam. But all this talk -- particularly Mickey Maus' perception that Kerry's body language indicated his loathing for the junior Senator -- I just didn't see it. Kerry seemed confident and both of them seemed to go out of their way to avoid dissing one another...or Sharpton and Kucinich for that matter (who appeared to be joined at the hip). All I kept thinking of was Ed Gillespie [to be described, on your own website, as "the president's political pit bull"...what is wrong with these people?] watching at home, ripping the flesh off his chunky cheeks, screaming, "Attack each other, for godsake. You're supposed to hate each other! And do our jobs." Just wasn't happening.

Kerry and Edwards are restoring some pride to the downtrodden dems with their performances in this primary. What a marked contrast to the Bush machine's shameless treatment of John McCain four years ago.

Poor Denny Hastert. Doing all the heavy lifting for Bush/Cheney/Rice. How long is the loveable lug gonna play the moustache twirling villain, ignoring the pleas of the widows of Sept. 11, 2001.

I guess not very long. The charade may be over.

Finally, the blogosphere, obsessed as it is with...well, beside itself...national affairs...hasn't focused on Haiti at all. That's unfortunate and I'm trying to educate myself on what's going on there and hope to share what I learn soon.

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