Stayin' Alive While Saddam Swung

In a year in which party control of the US Senate hinged on the utterance of a previously largely unknown racial slur, and in which the Supreme Court granted review in a case that poses the question of how much protection the First Amendment affords to the expression "bong hits for Jesus," perhaps the most surreal news came on the very last day. Having learned yesterday that President Bush went to sleep (at 9 pm EST) about an hour before the scheduled execution of Saddam with instructions that he not be awakened with news of the latter's death, I learned today that Tony Blair was unavailable for comment on the execution because he was busy vacationing at the Miami home of former BeeGee Robin Gibb. I don't have a distinctly "legal" take on this piece of news, which strikes me as mostly weird, and a little sad.

Happy New Year. I'll remember 2006 as the year I launched "Dorf on Law" and so let me thank my loyal readers, especially those who post comments, and my team of bloggers.