Why does my alma mater produce so many would-be felons and villains? Senator Frist is Princeton ’74. And The Nation sizes him up about right:

“Poor Bill Frist, he can’t be proud of what he has become. He ran for the Senate with a simple mission: prevent health care reforms that might pose a threat to his family’s $800-million stake in Columbia/HCA, the nation’s leading owner of hospitals. There was never going to be anything honorable about his service, but nothing all that embarrassing in a Washington that welcomes self-serving senators with open arms.”

Now, of course, as Senate Majority Leader, he has to clean the Bush-Cheney outhouse on a weekly basis:

“Last week, Frist took to the floor of the Senate to denounce [Richard] Clarke. ‘Mr. Clarke makes the outrageous charge that the Bush Administration, in its first seven months in office, failed to adequately address the threat posed by Osama bin Laden,’ Frist began. ‘I am troubled by these charges. I am equally troubled that someone would sell a book, trading on their former service as a government insider with access to our nation’s most valuable intelligence, in order to profit from the suffering that this nation endured on September 11, 2001.’

“That was rich, considering the fact that Frist’s Senate service has been all about profiting from the suffering of the nation. By blocking needed health care reforms, pushing for tort reforms that would limit malpractice payouts and supporting moves to privatize Medicare, Frist has pumped up his family’s fortunes at the expense of Americans who are lacking access to health care.”