Sometimes something is so wrong that it forces some of us to interrupt our vacations and the rest of us into a stunned silence.

This story is just such a "something." The woman who famously said that only "little people pay taxes"

. . . cut two of her grandchildren out of her $4 billion fortune, but left her largest bequest to Trouble, her tiny white Maltese.

A source said the $12 million trust was created to care for the dog, who once starred in ads for the Helmsley Hotels.

Helmsley even stipulated that the dog be buried beside her and her husband, Harry, in a five-star mausoleum that will be maintained with a $3 million perpetual-care trust.

Since I think that inherited wealth can be pernicious on many levels, I don't care about Helmsley cutting out her grandkids. But $12 million for her dog? Her dog!

E.J. Dionne noted that this story broke "a day after we learn that the number of Americans without health insurance has gone up by roughly 2.2 million." Some of you will see the connection as a non sequitur; for others, including me, the phrase Cows of Bashan comes to mind.

Comments

[Terrell]

I'd be willing to bet that Leona would give anything for someone to come touch her lips with just a little water, maybe one the the little people taxpayers she scorned.