I'm not an attorney, FWIW-- and I don't play one on TV, although I do work with them every day.

I just want to note that I've always considered the phrase "trial lawyers" to be a canard; it's at bottom a meaningless pejorative, like "carpetbagger".

Apart from the eternal temptations to kill all the lawyers and such, it simply stands to reason that the Rule of Law relies on trials to sort out legal disputes. So the trial needs a tryer of fact, parties, and advocates. But people don't go around bitching about sinister "trial judges", "trial juries", "trial witnesses", "trial bailiffs", etc.

These other players have their own pejoratives, e.g. "hanging judge". But the "trial lawyers" shibboleth is just a cheap way to stereotype-- well, with all due respect, Glenn, even I can't write "honest lawyers"-- so let's settle for respectable lawyers. The phrase is meant to evoke variations on an amoral, nihilistic, self-serving Snidely Whiplash villain, twirling his (or her) mustache and oozing into a courtroom like a giant slug.

This shape-shifting, er, monster, can take the form of such diverse persons as John Edwards and the late Johnnie Cochran-- and in his day, Clarence Darrow, perhaps the archetypal Trial Lawyer, was decried by his critics as a vile, nihilistic, Trickster who somehow devilishly bamboozled honest judges and juries into finding his obviously guilty and heinous clients innocent, or at least declining to execute them.

It's not as if there aren't individuals who may fit the stereotype; I grew up in an era where teachers piously inculcated the need to avoid the error of subscribing to stereotypes and generalizations. So be it. But IMO, it's disingenuous or hypocritical to not accept that stereotypical people exist. The error is in attributing the qualities of a known "ambulance chaser" to the entire class of attornies.

Duh. I know all this is bleeding obvious, but this particular stereotype seems too blatantly dumb and phony to live, much less retain potency. That it does is, I fear, another proof of Amerika's dumbed-down citizenry.

The corporate media is happier than the proverbial pigs in shit about stories like this.

Our celebrity infotainwhores and self-appointed Moral Arbiters* absolutely revel in supercilious sanctimony and melodramatic moral outrage.

Agree or disagree with the merits-- the serious, rational, dispassionate analysis provided by Glenn is atypical, though much welcomed by his appreciative readers. But to the extent that this contretemps develops "legs" (shapely, smooth, wide-stanced oiled legs), those legs will run on the low road. It's the kind of thing that will generate a tsunami of cheap shots, from late-night teevee monologues to a plethora of articles on blogs like the trash-tabloid Huffington Post.

It will be the usual two-pronged assault: pearl-clutching, severe High Dudgeon from the New York Times and Beltway media elite, and jeering snark from the pop culture segment.

And unlike the reprehensible Vitters and Craigs, who are essentially tolerated and supported by their colleagues, my guess is that Spitzer will be hung out to dry, and left twisting slowly in the wind.

I'm especially looking forward to the press conference by Hillary Clinton-- with her soul mate Holy Joe Lieberman at her side to radiate pious disapproval.

* I am objectively pro-Ironic Capitals.

The Politico always struck me as a transparent attempt to graft the self-important, self-serving, power-worshipping Matt Drudge One-Man trash-tabloid, political Hedda Hopper "ethos" onto a news bureau framework.

That is, they put out Drudge-class crap in ensemble, rather than as a one-man show. This flimsy veneer of pseudo-respectablility has worked to the extent that "Politico" pieces and bylines are disseminated along with AP releases, etc. For instance, "Common Dreams" prints Politico columns occasionally. Such incremental advances in respectablility obscure the fundamental rottenness upon which their organization is founded.

If my most pessimistic scenarios are confirmed, in twenty years Michael O'Hanlon will be a fixture in venues like the Lehrer News Hour: a distinguished senior foreign policy expert.

Yes, this news is indeed encouraging, although IMO not quite rising to the level of "promising". ;)

Or so I thought-- before I entered comments and encountered the metastasized version of Orwell's boot: an eternal pachydermic stomp on the face of the US Constitution and the rule of law.

And now the Gray Breath is upon me, and I see that it is vain to contend against the Dark Lord and his minions. Toot! Toot! Peanut butter...

Yes, I suppose I do come off as a bit of a Gloomy Gus regarding political affairs.

But the least I can do in appreciation of Glenn's heroic work is to publicly acknowledge that he indeed possesses the gift of softening the hardened heart. Perhaps my relationship with Glenn is comparable to that of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present; I still fear that I am too old to change, but I appreciate the pains he takes to demonstrate that public pressure can produce positive results, while unchecked apathy and despair never will.

So I humbly endeavor to profit by his example-- at least to the extent of not throwing out the embryo with the amniotic fluid.