First of all, let me thank David Beito for the invitation to be a guest blogger here at Liberty and Power. If you read my blog (linked at right), you already know that I spend most of my time writing about popular culture. So, for the next week, I'll probably confine my observations to that murky realm where politics and culture meet, marry and have a long and bitter divorce. Think of politics as an abusive spouse.

Fortunately, the morning news was kind to me. It seems that Steve"Crocodile Hunter" Irwin has run afoul of Australian authorities in a very Michael Jacksonesque sort of way. The famed naturist was caught on tape feeding one of his friendly crocs with one hand and holding his infant son in the other.

After having a talk with the Irwin family, and being assured that no such antics will happen again, Queensland's department of children's services dropped the matter.

The Irwins are lucky they live in Australia and are famous. Were they nobodies in the United States, they might never have seen the tike again. My cynicism is born of experience. For the past several months, I have followed the trials of a Guatemalan immigrant who, until recently, was denied access to her infant son by the Alabama Department of Human Resources because the child had scabies, a skin condition that is hardly life threatening.