Where Left Is Right / The Old Site

Maybe you've been lucky and have always worked for yourself. Or maybe you just haven't been in the workforce that long -- which I wouldn't call "lucky," because you in this category are in for some rude shocks to your understanding of human nature.

Most of us, though, have worked for a variety of bosses. There was the boss we revered despite her stern demeanor; the graying Solonic mentor; the politician (often on the job only a few weeks, propelled by ambition or fiasco up or down the hierarchy). And then there were <shudder> the others, like the one who took all the credit for successes rightly ours alone, but generously shared with us the consequences of his own misfeasance...

It has sounded to me recently (as it does to Bob Herbert) that the state's attorney for Pinellas County, Florida, is less than enthusiastic about pursuing Michael Schiavo for his imprecise recall of an hour of time, fifteen years ago. One question I haven't seen discussed anywhere, though, is: What the hell motivated Jeb to take on this conspiracy-nut project? Did Terry Schiavo's family ask him to do this? is this the brain(dead)child of some up-and-coming whiz kid on his staff? did a ray of sunlight perhaps smite him upon his forehead as he traveled via limousine the few short blocks between the Governor's Mansion and the Capitol in Tallahassee (à la Saul en route to Damascus)?

You've gotta love the guy's shrugging, gee-I-just-gotta-satisfy-my-curiosity explanation, such as it is:

"I understand that these events took place many years ago, and that you may not be able to collect all the relevant records and physical evidence. However, Mrs. Schiavo's family deserves to know anything that can be done to determine the cause and circumstances of her collapse 15 years ago," Bush wrote. "The unanswered questions may be unanswerable, but the attempt should be made."

I never knew Jeb was one for the relentless pursuit of unanswered but critical questions -- like, oh, say, what really happened in Florida in November, 2000?

Freaking weasel.