Tom Allard wrote:

...

Didn't her boss's murderer walk on the charge by using the defence that he ate too many Twinkies? No political intrigue here...

That was the defense, yes. Dan White was a former cop and treated like a hero by fellow cops. The prosecution never really challenged the Twinkie defense, nor did they bring up politics or homophobia as motives. With a prosecution like that, who needs a defense?

I remember that it was seen as being a message to the gay community that they were getting too "uppity" for their own good. (I wonder how they got that idea? <former cop kills a queer, gets treated like a hero, prosecuters play with Little Peter while he gets off for eating too many Twinkies, and Swinestein is waiting in the wings to do an "LBJ">.) The government is a lot like the Mob--other politicians can't really trust you until you've whacked somebody and they have it to hold over your head so that you'll play along. SwineMonger