degrees of separation

When I was a Boy Scout I shook the hand of Rep. Frank Horton (R-NY) when he presented me with a BSA "Skill Award". That put me one handshake away from then-President Richard M. Nixon.

Flash to the present. My father's lady friend (name withheld for her protection) knows Attorney General Alberto Gonzales personally (closely enough to be on a first-name basis with "Al"). She tells me that when she watched his confirmation hearings and accompanying media interviews it was "one lie after another", particularly when discussing his children. He claimed that his son Jared was thrilled about Al's new job and that the younger ones didn't really understand what was going on. She tells me that Jared actually can't stand Al, and furthermore his young children barely even know him.