Ten: U.S. Attorney Flap

Fortunately, there is still a slight non-lawyer majority of the population in this country. Otherwise, we would be in worse trouble than we are. After listening to these prima donna ex-U.S. Attorneys who were fired, you would think that Bush had just taken the intellectual and moral equivalent of Fort Knox and shipped it all to, say, France. These guys want these jobs for exactly one reason - as a stepping stone to either elective political office, or to a plum position in silk-stocking law firm, which is essentially a non-elective political office. By political, I mean that what you do it not nearly as important as how you do it. It also means, that directly or indirectly, most of the revenue stream is coming from a government source. The bottom line is that these U.S. Attorneys are high paid errand boys. They are supposed to do what the boss wants. They are not federal judges (promised jobs for life despite poor job performance or even gross incompetence).

This cause celebre is simply another opportunity for the democrats to flex their muscle in preparation for the inevitable pendulum swing in the White House, which will follow what has already taken place in Congress. Bush is radioactive, and any republican who touches him will suffer the same permanent retirement which awaits Bush.

Nine: MOT and Icahn

The last time I wrote about MOT was to compare Ed Zander's results to Nardelli at HD (Nardelli got fired for being a jerk while making a lot of money for stockholders and keeping the stock price essentially flat; Zander took over a telecom behemoth after it crashed with the dotcoms, and has made a bad situation into a nightmare).

Now, after Icahn recognized the tremendous locked up value in MOT and began building a stock position, the MOT board advises shareholders not to fall for Carl's proxy because "the board does not endorse it." That's like telling a mugger not to take your wallet because you don't want him to!

What I can't believe is that Blackstone, Texas Pacific, and KKR are messing around with utilities when low-hanging fruit like MOT is ripe for the taking.