Something funny, and something not so funny

Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten takes on Bazooka Joe and provides more chuckles than Joe usually does.

The link was provided by Radley Rako as a break from his coverage of the Cory Maye case, the tragic story of a Mississippi man who shot and killed one of several armed men who burst into his house at 11:30 p.m. Awakened from his sleep by the commotion, Maye grabbed his gun.

"Maye fired three times in rapid succession. After the third shot, the remaining members of the task force shouted 'police!' and entered the apartment. At this point, Maye dropped his gun, put up his hands, and surrendered."

Now he's on death row.

As awful as the death of Officer Ron Jones was, seems to me that executing a man for defending his property (and his young daughter!) against unknown intruders is the textbook example of "cruel and unusual punishment." Oh, there I go again, talking as if the Bill of Rights means something in contemporary America. Silly me.