John Kerry was elected

To be a jury foreman, that is. In one of those, "can you believe this?" stories, Kerry was selected for a jury near his home turf, and was of course selected as the foreman. Can you imagine him NOT being selected?

Aside from the legitimate question as to whether famous people can serve on juries wihtout tainting the fair dispensation of justice, the story quickly devolves into just another run of the mill Bush-bash:

"I just found him to be a knowledgeable, normal person," said Cynthia Lovell, a nurse and registered Republican who says she now regrets voting for President Bush in last year's election. "He kept us focused. He wanted us all to have our own say."

The hits just keep comin'.

Can you imagine having your case tried and discovering John Kerry or some other famous person was on the jury? It would seem a rather large distraction. According to the story, the lawyers from each side didn't complain about him being on the jury, which may or may not have any significance. Imagine how the press might react if one side wanted to kick candidate Kerry off the jury.

But Kerry did his duty as a citizen, as all Americans should:

"I was a little surprised," Kerry said of being selected for jury duty.

"I enjoyed it," he said. "It was very, very interesting and very instructive."

Agreed. Everyone should go through it once. As an aside, this suggests Kerry had never served on a jury previously. Wonder how many politicians would say the same? Probably a sizable number. But in politics, everything has a purpose. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts his advisors figured this might help. Remember, he still wants to be elected to a much higher office.

The issue of famous people serving on juries is a legitimate topic for discussion. My beef here is the politicization of something that shouldn't be--Kerry serves and the media quickly seizes on one jurist with an anti-Bush bent, which de facto helps Kerry's party score political points. I'm a bit surprised the reporter didn't remind us about those three purple hearts.