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Foster Friess Can't Shake Spotlight

His birth-control joke won't soon be forgotten.

Following the bad old-man joke heard round the world, Foster Friess is now the center of political and media attention. The wealthy Rick Santorum financier already apologized for claiming that back in his day women avoided getting pregnant by putting a Bayer aspirin between their knees, but he can't erase the public's memory that fast. Former Republican senator Alan Simpson defended his Wyoming neighbor's comments, acknowledging that his joke was "bizarre" and "not appropriate." Still, he noted, "I know there is a fine line between smart humor and smart-ass, and I've crossed that and I think he did." Sen. Patty Murray told MSNBC that between Friess's comment and yesterday's Capitol Hill birth-control panel made up completely of men, "I feel like I'm waking up on a set of Mad Men." Rick Santorum personally thinks this whole controversy over his backer's words "is just crap."