[politics] Speaking of limits...

...and fascists, evidently: Microsoft is canning Ralph Reed. Hey Ralph! Don't let the door hit'cha where the Good Lord split'cha, 'kay? Thanks to John at AMERICABlog, who picked it up from The Seattle Weekly (trying to scoop The Stranger, I guess - ain't real competition great?). Read the Weekly's article - it's pretty interesting:

"...there's another potential cause of his deletion from Outlook address books at Microsoft: Reed is now caught up in the influence-peddling scandal in D.C., which includes accusations he worked in concert with two other top Republicans also once engaged by Microsoft. One of them, Jack Abramoff, lobbied for Microsoft in the late 1990s while a member of the Seattle law and lobbying firm Preston Gates Ellis—the firm of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' father, William H. Gates II. Abramoff is under investigation for possibly bilking millions of dollars from former Indian tribal clients and improperly using his friendship with House Speaker Tom DeLay, who is facing ethics charges and is the subject of federal investigations. (See "Following the Money," April 6.) Abramoff's questioned activities include a suspected money-laundering scheme that involves both Reed and fellow Microsoft adviser and lobbying superstar Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform."

Whatever the reason, I'm glad he's gone - the article still has pleny of nuggets to raise concern, but still... I'll take good news like this every day, particularly in light of boneheaded shit like Microsoft's new patent on XML serialization. Sigh. Like I said... Right now I gotta make the best of the good moments, 'cause the bad ones keep coming fast and furious...