Republican John McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, along with the election is general, is lighting up the local blogosphere with three Floyd County writers weighing in on the process.

Blogging dean and self-professed tree hugger Fred First weighed in first, questioning Palin’s positions on environmental issues. David St. Lawrence — whose political philosophy is at the opposite end of the extreme scale from Fred — chimed in next, saying she would make the Presidential race interesting. Then Colleen Redman, another local liberal, joined the fray, commenting on the "failing of Sarah Palin." David has fired back with more pro-Palin posts and Fred has noted that Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama doesn’t fare well with Wal-Mart shoppers.  This election has certainly stirred emotions.  I hear heated debates over breakfast at Blue Ridge Restaurant and over coffee at Cafe del Sol. A debate over the Presidential election erupted into a shouting match Sunday night at Oddfellas Cantina.

Expect the rhetoric to heat up even more between now and the Nov. 4 elections along with political activity in our little corner of the world. Obama organizers came to town last week to organize local Democrats. Rumor has it that Mark Warner will be back sometime soon to campaign for Obama as well as for his run for Senator.

It will be fun watching this local drama play out over the next seven weeks. Stay tuned.

I spend a lot of time in court — not as a defendant but as a reporter who covers the court beat for The Floyd Press. Besides saddle sores from the hard bench seats in the County Courthouse’s one court room I come away with an incredible list of tales of woe from defendants who tell wild, and sometimes, entertaining stories to try and avoid conviction and/or time in jail.

One statistic is amazing:  It seems just about everyone who breaks the law in Floyd County is the sole support of a sick relative who cannot be left alone. So many brought before the judge tell hearbreaking tales of how they have to stay out of jail to take care of mom, grandmom or a sick aunt or uncle. They never have an answer on why they weren’t home taking care of mom instead of stealing a car, scoring drugs and leading police on a high-speed chase.

One woman told Circuit Judge Ray W. Grubbs she had an exotic, communicable disease and couldn’t go to jail because others might catch it. When Grubbs asked for a doctor’s statement she replied: "Oh, I haven’t been to the doctor yet but I know I have it."

One woman charged with forging her mother’s check said she "grabbed the wrong checkbook by accident" when leaving the house but she didn’t have an answer when asked why she signed her mother’s name and not her’s to the check cashed at a local store.

General Court Judge Ed Turner hears a lot of incredible stories from those caught speeding, ranging from "the accelerator stuck" to "the speedometer was wrong" to "the radar got it wrong."

But in a recent court session, a Floyd County man caught for speeding told the judge: "I guess it was brain fade your honor. I just wasn’t paying attention."

Turner laughed before giving the man a chance to clear his record by going to driver improvement school.