The Word Masseur

Consider this quote from David Axelrod, “Chief Strategist” for Barack Obama, when asked last Monday about the administration’s plans for Wisconsin’s recall vote:  “Our entire field operation is committed to it.  We’ve got hundreds of lawyers up there for voter protection programs, so we’re very invested in it and we’re very much in the corner of Mayor Barrett.”

Let’s zero in on this particular statement: “We’ve got hundreds of lawyers up there for voter protection programs.”  Hundreds of lawyers.  He sounds like an army staff sergeant confirming that an infantry detachment has been deployed to hold a bridge on the Rhine.  All kidding aside, it’s an unfortunate truism in today’s world:  if there’s even a whiff that something might even be remotely controversial, send in the lawyers. Don’t worry about letting people think and act for themselves – send in the lawyers.  In this case, instead of allowing for what should be a simple, time-tested process to take place – 1) voter goes to polling place 2) voter casts vote 3) voter leaves – the government felt the need to send a few coach buses full of tort-fanatics to make sure everything’s on the up and up.  I’m not saying the idea was totally pointless, but I don’t think that the expected level of chicanery and strong-arming in Madison was reflective of the need for a “hundreds of lawyers”.  Cairo, sure – but not Madison.  Sending “hundreds of lawyers” anywhere other than Gingrich Lunar Estates is a bad idea.

Further to that last sentence, I guess I’m baffled by the notion that someone would dispatch “hundreds of lawyers” to anything, as if doing so would actually be helpful and not a hindrance.  I wonder if these lawyers billed at a reduced rate because they served the country’s greater good — or if the government paid them overtime because a) the recall went past 3pm, and b) they had to get their asses from DC to Madison. Yes, I’m completely discounting the idea that the government sent hundreds of Wisconsin-based lawyers to do the job, because the idea reeks of practicality.

IOH: -129,357.  When Judge Judy is America’s number-one daytime show, there’s a problem.

This is not Judge Judy:

Comments are closed.