Bush's smoke-friendly environment

The New York Times began reporting last week on the sudden decision by the Justice Department to reduce the penalty it had demanded from tobacco companies, from $130 billion to a mere $10 billion. This, after five years, at the close of a months-long trial and untold hours of work by Justice Department attorneys.

Today's revelation is a stunner:

The newly disclosed documents make clear that the decision was made after weeks of tumult in the department and accusations from lawyers on the tobacco team that Mr. McCallum and other political appointees had effectively undermined their case. Mr. McCallum, No. 3 at the department, is a close friend of President Bush from their days as Skull & Bones members at Yale, and he was also a partner at an Atlanta law firm, Alston & Bird, that has done legal work for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, part of Reynolds American, a defendant in the case.

Sigh. It's just one of those days when you wonder if ANYone is paying attention.