Peace activist in scrum over mulch

Here's a good one: the peace activist wife of Democratic senator Max Baucus of Montana beat up a woman at a DC gardening center. Apparently the dispute was centered over mulch. Reports the Montana News:

‘‘It's not exactly clear what happened, but at some point it appears Ms. Baucus was loading bags of mulch in her vehicle,'' D.C. Metropolitan Police Information Officer Joe Gentile said.

Gentile added that in the process of loading the mulch at Johnson's Garden Center, Wanda Baucus placed a bag of mulch in the path of another woman's car. The other woman's car was then blocked and prevented from backing out.

He said ‘‘words were exchanged,'' and then Wanda Baucus allegedly assaulted the other woman.

The other woman suffered bruises to the face and scratches on her shoulder, according to Gentile.

And, to add that delicious dash of irony:

This is not the first time Wanda Baucus has attracted media attention recently. A year ago, she was the subject of a gossip column in The Washington Post, after she posted a ‘‘Peace is Patriotic'' sign in the window of their Georgetown home.

‘‘I want the people in Iraq to have peace — the people whose lives are in turmoil because of the war, the children, their mothers, the farmers, the grandmothers and even the camels that are out grazing,'' Wanda Baucus told gossip columnist Lloyd Grove.

She is a painter and anthropologist and also expressed concerns about cultural artifacts.

‘‘When we watch the bombing on television, we really don't seem to understand or appreciate that some of these places are sacred. . . . I disagree with those who say that Saddam Hussein doesn't think about this,'' Wanda Baucus told Grove. ‘‘He cares about these places and their people.''

Sure, right. But would Saddam have beaten someone up over mulch?