As if things couldnt

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

As if things couldn’t get any weirder, did you notice the name of the lawyer who made the Republicans’ unsuccessful arguments before that federal judge today? That would be Ted Olson, a man Washingtonians often refer to as a ‘Washington super-lawyer.’ Who is Ted Olson? Well, that would be the same one knee-deep in the Arkansas Project, which in league with the American Spectator spent a ton of money digging dirt on Bill Clinton in Arkansas. And, yes, he’s also the husband of Barbara Olson, author of Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton (which, in case you’re wondering, is not a flattering portrayal) and former investigator for Dan Burton and a bunch of other House committees.

Of course, Olson (Ted, that is) is also the Olson from Morrison v. Olson, the supreme court case which upheld the constitutinality of the Independent Counsel statute. Olson was against it. Come to think of it, we Dems now think he and Scalia were right. So maybe chalk one up in his favor.

But anyway, back to my story.

Republicans and most A-list pundits are running around saying Al Gore’s got to get Jesse Jackson out of Florida before anything can get settled. Jesse Jackson? What about Ted Olson? Olson is about as brass-tacks, down-in-the-dirt a partisan as you can find. I could say worse things; but I’ll leave it at that. I think we can assume the Republicans have set aside the high-road strategy they were pursuing at the end of last week.

Latest Editors' Blog
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: