So that's the serious lede to this post. This is the humorous rest of the post which is taken from CNN:
It's a case so mysterious that it borders on preposterous: A US senator allegedly tackled by a neighbor while mowing his lawn, an attack so vicious that Rand Paul ended up with six fractured ribs and bruises to his lungs that made it hard to breathe.
...
After suffering from a neck injury, Boucher patented a therapeutic vest for people with back pain. In a divorce filing initiated in 2008 when Boucher was 49, his then-wife said he was out on disability as a result of a bicycle accident...
...
The only potential motive that emerged from interviews with a neighbor was that the two men had a long-running feud over leaves and lawn clippings along the property line they share.
...
[Of] more than a dozen GOP strategists and Paul donors, most were mystified by the strangeness of the incident. They mulled how such a brutal event could unfold between two slightly-framed men...
...Jim Skaggs, who was the developer for the neighborhood known as Rivergreen years ago, told CNN that there has been a "long-running disagreement" between them over property maintenance.
"[Paul] believes in less restrictions on property rights. He has strong beliefs on this subject," Skaggs said. "He had to be told very sternly that he needed to follow the rules and restrictions. He did not do anything wrong. But he had to be told sternly to follow the rules. He did not like the rules."
"He's a deep believer in his own thoughts," Skaggs said. "And he believes his own thoughts are right -- and they are right 100% of the time."
"Can you imagine living next door to that guy?" said one congressional colleague who has regularly tangled with Paul over policy. "I'm pulling for the neighbor."
"I think the story is the weirdness of the story. It's about lawn clippings and he crushes ... his ribs?" one GOP strategist said incredulously. "That's the story?"
Another GOP strategist questioned whether the "coastal elites," particularly reporters, were failing to understand "the leaf blower wars that take place all across Middle America."
It's a case so mysterious that it borders on preposterous: A US senator allegedly tackled by a neighbor while mowing his lawn, an attack so vicious that Rand Paul ended up with six fractured ribs and bruises to his lungs that made it hard to breathe.
...
After suffering from a neck injury, Boucher patented a therapeutic vest for people with back pain. In a divorce filing initiated in 2008 when Boucher was 49, his then-wife said he was out on disability as a result of a bicycle accident...
...
The only potential motive that emerged from interviews with a neighbor was that the two men had a long-running feud over leaves and lawn clippings along the property line they share.
...
[Of] more than a dozen GOP strategists and Paul donors, most were mystified by the strangeness of the incident. They mulled how such a brutal event could unfold between two slightly-framed men...
...Jim Skaggs, who was the developer for the neighborhood known as Rivergreen years ago, told CNN that there has been a "long-running disagreement" between them over property maintenance.
"[Paul] believes in less restrictions on property rights. He has strong beliefs on this subject," Skaggs said. "He had to be told very sternly that he needed to follow the rules and restrictions. He did not do anything wrong. But he had to be told sternly to follow the rules. He did not like the rules."
"He's a deep believer in his own thoughts," Skaggs said. "And he believes his own thoughts are right -- and they are right 100% of the time."
"Can you imagine living next door to that guy?" said one congressional colleague who has regularly tangled with Paul over policy. "I'm pulling for the neighbor."
"I think the story is the weirdness of the story. It's about lawn clippings and he crushes ... his ribs?" one GOP strategist said incredulously. "That's the story?"
Another GOP strategist questioned whether the "coastal elites," particularly reporters, were failing to understand "the leaf blower wars that take place all across Middle America."
That is my favorite. That is tickled, wry, brilliance.
