Torty Turtles, Every One Of 'Em

What do Governor Schwarzenneger, President Bush and Senators Rick "Man On Dog" Santorum and Tom DeLay have in common?

If you guessed that they're all proponents of so-called "tort reform," you're right.

But if you guessed that they've all filed lawsuits for damages, you'd also be right.

Shwarzenneger sued an Ohio auto dealer for unauthorized use of his image (in California courts, not less, despite the ad in question not running there). Santorum sued his wife's chiropractor for malpractice. (in what venure, I'm not sure -- he hasn't actually lived in PA for years.) DeLay sued a manufacturer for producing a defective copupling that played a part in the accident that killed his dad. And Bush sued Enterprise Rent-A-Car for renting to a driver with no insurance who got into a fender-bender with his daughter.

Now, I can't comment on the quality of the lawsuits. As far as I can tell, many, if not all, of them have merit of one sort or another. I've got no problem with them filing them. The courts can decide if anyone was in the wrong.

But you'd think that someone who's used the courts to redress injustices that happened to themselves or their families might be more sypathetic to other people who want to do the same.

I guess the world just looks different from the pocket of Big Business.

Rob