Its study follows a February story in The Tennessean that Frist, along with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., ordered the vaccine liability language inserted in a defense spending bill in December without debate and in violation of usual Senate practice.

I love that line. Gee, inconvenient to get something you want? Just stick it into the draft in the middle of the night so no one notices.

And while we're on the subject of amazing lines, check out this one.

"The lack of any restriction on jury trial is problematic," the analysis said. "Where injured parties have no other avenue for relief, juries are likely to find ways to award damages."

In other words, "we've already taken away every other way people can come after us, we want this one taken away too so people have NO recourse at all when we do something negligent."

At this point it isn't stupidity or incompetence, this is willful harm.

Vaccine makers helped write Frist-backed shield law - Nashville, Tennessee - Monday, 05/08/06 - Tennessean.com