Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

In this case, the box of chocolates turns out to have worms in it. At least that's the story that Greg Dixon and his wife would like you to hear about John Mantooth. The episode six years ago that best exemplified why Mister Mantooth is such a lousy person, giving his daughter and son-in-law a "golden basket" filled with a pocket knife and the aforementioned worm-ridden chocolates, and why he would make such a lousy district judge. Did I mention the bag of "scentless potpourri?" That it came in a rush to the son-in-law and was intended as a Christmas gift for Mantooth's daughter?
Being a district judge, especially in Oklahoma where Mantooth is running, would apparently require a good deal of thoughtful consideration and careful adjudication. Mister Dixon and his wife Jan believe that this poorly offered and executed gift exchange is evidence enough to keep voters in District 21 to steer clear of dear old dad. That and the seven lawsuits they include on the web site, including one that lays bare the ugly details of the elder Mantooth's divorce from his first wife, Jan's mother. It's not a pretty sight, but consistent with the theme of worms in your chocolates.
All of which still begs the question, would this guy be a good judge? Is this guy's private life really the stuff we should be seeing in our voter guides? I'm guessing folks like Mark Sanford and John Edwards would probably like to continue to run on their records rather than their tabloid clippings, but that doesn't seem likely. It makes me glad that I don't have to roll up my pant legs and wade through the muck that is the Palin family politic. On a scale with the rest of these guys, a bag of scentless potpourri doesn't quite show up. I suppose that's the difference between local and national office. If you want to be president of the United States, you'd better have a secret love child in that golden basket.