Diary of a Mad County

SUNDAY, Oct. 31 Whattya know? Says here that Greg Haidl was arrested last night for causing a head-on automobile accident while driving with a blood-alcohol level of .02. Now that's not a lot—our production staff is on a mandated .06 buzz—but Greg isn't supposed to be nipping on anything as part of his conditions for bail. Haidl's lawyer says Greg is under a doctor's care for depression, and I shouldn't wonder. I'd be really depressed if cops kept showing up every time I was nailing a 16-year-old or crashing my car into someone. That would totally bum me out. Hey, here's a fun fact: the car Haidl wrecked was a 2005 Scion—I'm guessing a present from his folks. Now there's some tough love. Of course, tough love is what landed Greg in all this trouble.

MONDAY, Nov. 1 Exhausted.

TUESDAY, Nov. 2 How is it that when I picked up my morning paper today and saw that a political party had fought and won the right to harass people at the polls, I knew that party was the Republican Party? They'll be checking people at the polls in Ohio—Ohio is the new Florida—asking questions, causing long lines and chaos. And you'll never guess which neighborhoods they'll be doing this in. Did you say upper-middle-class white neighborhoods? You'd be wrong. Get this: they're going to be harassing voters in African-American precincts. It's all part of a Republican effort to return to traditional values.