Former state senator (and current indictee) John Ford continues to make news, and, as usual, it isn’t good. According to this Commercial Appeal story, Ford “applied for tags for a new, $80,000 Mercedes on the very day he filed court papers seeking a reduction in his court-ordered child support.” That takes some serious nerve.

More recently, Ford bought a $40,000 BMW, even though he has claimed to be unable to pay child support because of his limited income. As of 2005, according to the CA, he was earning $356,000 per year. (He draws down $2,500 per month from his state pension, at the very least, these days.) He might also be hiding money in a “legal defense fund” for which he refuses to document expenses. According to his lawyer, Ford’s dog ate his homework: “My client is not a great record keeper. He’s done the best he can with what he has.”

It sounds like the main thing Ford has done his best at is car shopping, at the expense of his organizational skills.

I’ll be honest: This sickens me, as have many reports about Ford that I can recall since around 1990 or so, but it’s not a partisan issue for me. I think there are plenty of crooks on both sides of the aisles, and hopefully still a few relatively honorable people holding public office.

All of us, in my opinion, have an ugly side, and we do things we shouldn’t when we think other people aren’t looking, but most of us don’t make a spectator sport out of it.