Prepare yourselves for an assortment of dire cautionary tales about the corrupting influence of special interest money on supposedly independent-to-a-fault judges. Yep, it's election season.

First target up for popping looks like the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vote due Nov. 6. That one was already a state record-breaker last month, we reported Friay, and now it looks like the four candidates will spend well over $4 million running for two vacancies.

According to the website of campaign-finance watchdog Justice at Stake, we should be very worried about the numbers now coming out of Pennsylvania. Other eastern-based media are now picking up on the race and it looks like becoming a mid-Atlantic bellwether for the pernicious influence of lots of corporate cash on Supreme Court ballots.

But forgive us at LNL if we find it hard to "fear up" over spending of $2 million per bench cushion - not even this close to Halloween.

After all, the hardened veterans around here are more used to figures like $5.8 million total spending per Supreme Court seat. That's what the race between newly-installed Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler and Linda Clifford drew last spring in Wisconsin.

And you think that's some campaign spending? Try what divided Michigan Supreme Court's Chief Justice, Clifford W. Taylor, thinks will be spent on his re-election bid next year - $20 million. And that's to sit on a bench that's become a national judicial laughing-stock.

So take it easy on the Keystone State, watchdogs - looks like the Great Lakes states are where the real juicy meat's at.