One night only... at Madison Square Garden!!

CHENEY v. EDWARDS

That was a great debate. And I know the reviews have been mixed. Some have called it a draw. NBC has gone with Cheney. CBS cast its lot with Edwards. (Though I have to ask if CBS really counts as a judge anymore??)

But I must declare this one for the reigning Vice-President. I think he gets to keep the belt.

I had to write another post this morning, after my letter, to make a few comments about last night. Take, for instance, this great left hook from Cheney:

CHENEY: (paraphrasing) Your record as a public servant isn't very distinguished, Mr. Edwards. In fact, in your home state they've taken to calling you Senator "Gone". You have missed 30 of 34 meetings of the judiciary committee, 70% of the Senate votes... etc.

EDWARDS: (blank stare)

CHENEY: (NOT paraphrasing) Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.

KNOCK DOWN!

1... 2... 3... 4... and he's on his feet again but looking a little wobbly.

***************

One question I did have is this: What in the world were they talking about on the Tort reform issue???

To Mr. Cheney: In Texas we passed tort reform to limit the awards in medical malpractice suits and the last I heard, it hasn't helped. I read an article a couple months ago that doctor's insurance premiums aren't going down. Some have actually gone up.

Its the insurance companies. They're blowing the smokescreen. Okay, so you want to limit the power of the jury? Fine. Now that all we've done is limit the liability of the insurance companies, can we create a little control there also???

To Mr. Edwards: What?!

That is all I have to say to Edwards. The man is a trial attorney. He knows of which he speaks.

Only 5% of all the lawsuits filed actually make it to trial. FIVE PERCENT. With that statistical figure, I find it hard to believe that a good portion-- or even a small portion-- of that 5% are "frivolous lawsuits". Most never make it beyond the first stage of the process. The rest die somewhere along the way. There are already precautions built into the system. We don't need more.

I can not believe, were Edwards speaking to a group of attorneys, he'd have been able to keep a straight face giving the answer he did last night. I don't fault him, though. What's a trial attorney to do? Bush/Cheney clearly have the upper-hand on this issue.