Whistling past the graveyard
Lawmakers are rushing to defend Al Franken. Here’s some highlights:
…now that it’s been vetted out — he took responsibility quickly, didn’t hide behind the, ‘I didn’t understand,’” she [Rep. Shelley Madore] said.
No, he hid behind the “it’s my accountant’s fault” excuse, and he only took responsibility after he was exposed by the evil right wing screeching squad.
“What it points out to me is how well someone can take care of problems when they come up,” said [Rep. Tom] Tillberry.
Well, this isn’t the first time it has come up. Just ask New York. By “come up” Tillberry seems to be alluding to when the problem finally gets public scrutiny. So, Tillberry is impressed with how well Franken does damage control on issues he should have taken care of a year ago. How’s that for an “atta-boy?”
“I think we should talk about the issues and move on,” said [Sen. Don] Betzold.
Translation: This subject is really bad for my guy, can we change it please?
“I think people aren’t geared up yet for an election — maybe that’s a plus for him (Franken),” said [Sen. Rick] Olseen. “It’s not really on the radar screens yet,” he said.
Credit Olseen with the most honest response, which essentially boils down to “thank goodness no one is paying attention.” Wrong, and a tad condescending, but honest.
In other news, Franken’s accountant is still being muzzled and blamed. That Franken sure is a great guy.
Olseen was more than a tad condescending with that comment. He actually presumes his constituents are mostly ignorant.
Then again, a majority of voters did vote for HIM last go ’round…
This all seems just a tad self-righteous. I suppose you defend the GOP problems with Abramoff bribes, Ron Carey’s autism money problems, the Republican Congressional Committee’s treasurer embezzlement, the Mark Foley scandal, Tim Pawlenty’s campaign finance violations, etc. etc.
Franken’s problem is that he paid his taxes to the wrong places. How does that rank in comparison to the above mentioned “problems”?
Did you show similar righteous indignation then?
Actually, my “tad self-righteous” attitude stems from the fact that all the shrieking about scandals when it is a Republican seems to up and disappear when it is a Democrat in the cross hairs.
In this case the media couldn’t even be bothered to do its job, which had to be done by a blogger, which is common for left scandals.
Indeed, the party that created the phrase “culture of corruption” seems all to willing to turn the other cheek when one of their own is storing tens of thousands of dollars in his freezer (Jefferson), has taken money from Abramoff interests (Reid), agrees to accept bribes (Murtha) assaults capitol police (McKinney), kills innocent passengers (Kennedy), has sex with staff (McGreevey), or associates with people up on criminal charges (Obama), makes promises about state Supreme Court decisions (Johnson) and on and on and on.
Had Franken been a Republican, the condemnation of the “rich” candidate who “doesn’t care” about paying his taxes on time would have filled volumes.
My indignation is not that Franken didn’t take care of his taxes. It is that he especially, and Democrats in general, would have crucified him had the tables been turned. Since it is they who have been railing about “corruption” lo these many years, it is especially hypocritical.
Yea,it’s all the media’s fault. They pick on Republicans too much. Or, surprise, surprise, the Democrats only point out Republican issues. I can tell what kind of “facts” we will be seeing in this blog, just from that comment about:
“kills innocent passengers (Kennedy”. Maybe I should get on the Republicans killed Wellstone bandwagon, too. If you are going to write a blog at least attempt some credibility.
I’m merely trying to hold politicians in one party to the standards they set for the other. Surely you can’t have a problem with that Nbuster. If you are a member of that party, than you want to see to it they live up to the standard they set for others, don’t you?
Perhaps the answer is in how quickly you changed the subject from scandals to my credibility.
I must say I’m a little confused about your comments regarding Kennedy, Wellstone, and facts.
Mary Jo Kopechne was killed when an intoxicated Ted Kennedy drove his vehicle into a river. Kennedy fled the scene for which he was given a year of probation. It’s not a conspiracy like Wellstone death nonsense, it’s a fact. You can look it up if you like.
If characterizing Kopechne’s death the way I did offends delicate sensibilities, that is regrettable, but I’m confident my credibility is intact.