Koetter Carve-Up

No, this ain't some artist's rendering of Dirk Koetter post-whacking; it's the scary new statue of Pat Tillman at You Pee Stadium

Comments (0) By Stephen Lemons Thursday, Nov 30 2006

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This fowl cried foul over what was clearly a First Amendment issue, and it wasn't alone in its squawking. John Stossel of ABC-TV's 20/20 weighed in on the issue during the November 17 edition of the long-running newsmagazine show. During his regular "Give Me a Break" segment, Stossel examined the battle Basso was enduring and lambasted his critics as "killjoys."

In response to this sort of backlash, the AG's Office and the nursing board beat a hasty retreat. At its most recent meeting earlier this month, the board voted to "take no action" on the matter.

Steve Jansen

The hero's last words: "Cease fire, friendlies! I'm Pat Fucking Tillman, dammit!" Really.

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The Bird rang up the AG's Office, but according to press secretary Andrea Esquer, they can't comment "due to attorney-client privilege." The office acts as the official lawyer for all state agencies. Convenient.

Though state officials are mum on why they turned tail, Basso thinks it's, in part, 'cause of this rancorous rooster's rantings: "I figure they backed down because of all the attention they got from you and from Stossel."

The whole thing's been a boon to Basso's business, and the publicity keeps on coming. Recently, he was visited by German TV, and Basso says national radio talk show host Tom Leykis has scheduled a February visit.

Says Basso with a shit-eatin' grin, "It would've been great if [the AG's Office and the nursing board] would've kept this thing going for years."