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October 14, 2006
It's not about the pork, Tammy
I just choked down another of Tammy Hall's blindly devotional columns in praise of Conrad Burns (9/1). What's my beef? It's not about the pork, Tammy. Conrad has been associating with unsavory individuals, and his continuing racist gaffes are just plainly distasteful.
In the name of political expediency, Ms. Hall appears to overlook little details like integrity and fairness. These things matter, don't they, Tammy? I look forward to her next column, in which she might explain away Mr. Burns's illegal behaviors, as well as his indecent public comments on the working classes of all races and religions.
Ms. Hall also fails to recognize that Mr. Burns is now a liability to Montanans, no matter what his past successes have been. The bus he's been driving has got the likes of Jack Abramoff sitting in the front seat. My friends, Republican and Democrat alike, are deciding to eschew his special brand of politicking; they're embarrassed and ashamed by it. And if one wants to be strictly pragmatic, we must realize that other U.S. senators will keep their distance from Burns from now on; they know a political liability when they see one.
This election will not be about political ideology or expediency. (Even Burns was in favor of term limits until he realized that it would cost him his job; by his own original standards, he shouldn't even be in D.C. anymore.) Montanans want an honest representative to take care of the state's needs. A junior senator might take a while to earn his clout, but at least we can pray that he'll do it ethically, and we can hope that he won't make national headlines with his latest bigoted insults.
I'm a mortgage lender, Tammy. Would you like to get fairly-priced home financing with me while I abide by the law and treat you with respect, or would you prefer a sweet hard money loan that I've brokered to the Mafia, for instance? I'm sure that you'd prefer the rightful and legal option (and I don't know how to do the latter!). I do know--for a fact--that my clients want to reap their rewards from honest, legitimate relationships.
Conrad Burns is apparently a U.S. senator by day, and we can only wonder what he's doing by night (maybe driving his cab or bus). But we do know that he's giving Montanans a bad name 24/7.
Eric Szemes
Posted by admin at October 14, 2006 05:45 PM