Polygadad

Infamous polygamist Tom Green, convicted in 2001 of four counts of bigamy and one count of nonsupport, is popping up his head from within the chasm between politics and common sense.

Green's most notorious marriage, to his then 13-year-old stepdaughter, is also the keeper. Now of age, Linda Green, will go forward as his legal wife and the woman he will live with — although the other, former, wives will be next door. (Except the one who has remarried and gone to court to try and keep him away from her and their five children.)

What makes Green's release interesting is how it clearly frames the difference between marriage and fatherhood. President Bush's "Responsible Fatherhood Initiative" is pointed in linking marriage and fatherhood. So, Green, a father of 32 and willing (in the past) to be married to five women at a time should be in the running as posterman for the program. But it seems unlikely he'll be a hero, sitting in the galley at the president's final State of the Union speech next January.

** A man makes a baby. Neither marriage nor a baby makes a father. **