...like a turtle on its back

I normally don't rail on the dead, but I'll make an exception for former Enron con-artist Ken Lay. As a reminder, he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy after ripping off billions from Enron employees/investors as well as electricity consumers. Then the old fart went and died on us back in July before he could be sentenced. Now a judge throws out the conviction because Lay is too dead to appeal. I know what you're saying - who cares?!? he's rotting in hell now. Yeah, well this overturn means the government can't go after more than 40 million that he left in his estate. I'm sure when his old hag wife is lighting her Virginia Slims with $100 bills the 4,000 people that lost their jobs due to this twat will be OK with this decision.

Second, here's a hypothetical: A candidate running for office happens to also been in charge of that very election because of his current job. Said candidate is getting smoked in the polls so he considers using his position to remove his opponent based on a technicality. Sounds a little like Soviet-style politics? Try Ohio. Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is now running for governor. His opponent, Ted Strickland, is beating him by almost 30 points. Now Blackwell is considering throwing Strickland off the ballot because there are rumors that he may not live in the Ohio home that he registered to vote in. They argue that he actually lives in a condo that he owns - which is still in Ohio. Where's the problem? The problem is that Blackwell is a twat and a cheat.

Slate.com has been running this Election Scorecard, which is pretty interesting. Right now, they are showing a 49-49 split in the Senate with the momentum shifting towards the Democrats. In the House, my count shows that there are 22 incumbent Republicans that are losing or tied in at least one poll. Some of those are blowouts, although others look to be questionable. The stunning one to me is that somehow George Allen is winning in Virginia despite making overt racial slurs in a public appearance, having a Confederate flag in his office, and going crazy after he was asked about his Jewish heritage. Yeah Virginia. Again, why is the South still allowed to be part of the Union? Maybe its the oil or the fried food.

Another page scandal? Yep. Oh wait. There's actually a third. Who are we electing?

Finally, despite his connections to Jack Abramoff and the investigation into his being bribed to pass a defense spending contract, Jerry Lewis is still considered a safe bet to win back his seat as the Representative from the 41st district where I grew up. I warned them. Now it appears that they are going to the shit like the rest of the 909. Oh well, I live in the 626 now