Last fall Thomas Ravenel was elected as the treasurer of my state of South Carolina. Now he has been indicted on charges of cocaine possession with intent to distribute. In fact, here is the indictment. That was a pretty quick fall from grace. There are a few interesting angles on this. One I found via Avedon is this interesting way the drug is mentioned. Some call it "cocaine" and other "crack cocaine" as analyzed here. What's the difference? Crack cocaine carries stiffer penalties than does the same amount of powder cocaine. "Stranger" is pointing to a conspiracy theory but I think it is way too early for that when the possibility of some reporters just being wrong is alive. The indictment doesn't use the word crack, so wouldn't that be the operational point, and what does it matter how it is spun in the media? What really matters is whether the physical evidence they submit is a bag full of powder, or chunks.

Another interesting wrinkle is that Ravenel is the SC campaign manager for Giuliani's presidential bid. It will be interesting to see if there is any political fallout in that direction. It kind of makes sense because as John Perry Barlow pointed out several years ago, cocaine is a Republican drug.