Deacon, you said it all

Deacon, you said it all about George Ryan. I have only one footnote to add: while it is true, as you say, that it isn’t necessary to speculate about Ryan’s motives to condemn what he did, it is nevertheless noteworthy that he has just departed office under a cloud of scandal. This brings to mind one of the basic points that Ann Coulter makes in her book Scandal: If you have skeletons in your closet (Robert Byrd), a dead girl in your past (Ted Kennedy), or are merely of sub-par intelligence (take your pick), you have to be a liberal. Liberalism buys immunity from exposure in the mainstream press. I have to think that Ryan sought protection from his own foibles (or perhaps crimes) by joining the anti-capital punishment movement. And I’ll bet it works.