What am I missing here? The Bush administration wants to jump into the lawsuit of Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith. This suit is every monied family's worst nightmare. Smith is suing to collect from her deceased husband's estate. When Smith was a 26 year old topless dancer in Houston, she married J. Howard Marshall II, the 89 year old oil man.

This case is a probate case. It was tried in Texas probate court and Smith lost out to Marshall's son. The case should have ended there. There is no reason to treat this as more than a probate suit, except that the deceased was rich and the plaintiff is a stripper\model\headcase.

Nonetheless, the case has been to bankruptcy court, where Smith won. It was reversed in Federal District Court. Smith lost some, but not all. It was completely reversed in Federal Appeals Court. Smith lost it all, not just her top.

Now the case has been appealed to Federal Court so they can try the issue of whether the federal courts can hear state probate matters. This is where the Solicitor General comes in, filing briefs on behalf of Smith. The reason they did this is supposedly to protect federal jurisdiction. I am disappointed that the Bush Administration would ignore State sovereignty and proceed in this fashion, and especially in a case with no more merit than this.

The best part is that Smith plans to attend court. If you ever saw her tv show, where she could hardly stand up half the time and was almost always incoherent and gross, it would serve the Solicitor General right if she sits right beside him. It is no telling what will happen.