Laugh along with the Moroun family: We don't normally think of the Moroun clan as a barrel full of fun. Mostly they are busy paying off politicians (in thinly disguised "contributions" that are the moral equivalent of bribes), filing incessant lawsuits, and doing everything from running lying TV ads to hiring the ultimate sleaze, the toe-sucking Dick Morris, to mislead the public.

The man who owns the Ambassador Bridge will do anything to keep his monopoly over moving heavy freight across the Detroit River. Things haven't been going well for the 84-year-old billionaire lately; the governor and even the Detroit Free Press have now turned against him. So he's launching a charm offensive.

Last weekend, his only spawn, the 40-something Matthew Moroun, tried to convince the Freep that they are now the kinder and gentler Morouns. For years, the family has refused to tear down, fix up, or do anything about the city's biggest eyesore, the ruin of the Michigan Central Station — except to try once, with Kwame Kilpatrick's connivance, to palm it off on the city for a police headquarters. Now, however, they say they'll clean it up, put on a new roof, replace the smashed windows.

Believe that, comrades, when you see it. Matthew did give me a giggle, however, when he called the depot "kind of a magical place." Swell. Let's see him and Mommy and Daddy camp out there overnight.

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