Posted by
reasonmclucus on Thursday, October 30, 2008 5:18:16 PM
I don't have time right now to check to see if any of those
newspaper
editors and columnists who are calling for
Alaska Sen. Ted
Stevens to resign are also
endorsing Sen.
Barack Obama. If any are doing both they are hypocrites and
probably partisan or even racist.
Sen. Ted Stevens was recently convicted of not
reporting
various gifts and home remodeling work from a powerful oil
services
industry company. Sen. Barack Obama received money from the
University of Chicago hospital in the form of a doubling of his
wife's salary after he was elected to the Senate and then attempted to
circumvent
the normal National Institutes of Health grant process by
earmarking brain trauma research money for the hospital. He also
attempted to earmark $1 million for a hospital expansion project.
Ironically, one of the critics of Obama's research
earmark was Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
Both Senators have accepted favors from those who wish their help in
obtaining government benefits. That used to be called
bribery. Why should one Senator who has taken a bribe have
to resign and another allowed to become president?
Is it because one is older than the other or of a different party or
has a different skin color?
We apparently have different standards here in Kansas than they do in
Washington. One of the county commissioners who is retiring this
year has an auto dealership. When the county purchased vehicles that
his dealership bid on he abstained from participating in the
decision. Local city council members abstain if a decision impacts
their outside interests.
If Sen. Stevens were honest he wouldn't have accepted favors from
a company that did business with government. If Sen. Obama were
honest he would have stayed out of any decision involving his wife's
employer instead of actively attempting to obtain funds for the employer.
Perhaps Obama could be excused on the grounds he is too young to know
any better, but if so he is also too young to be president.
We should have the same standards for all Senators regardless of their
party affiliations. Young Senators should be held to the same ethical
standards as old Senators.
Not all racists are anti-black. Some racists believe that blacks
are less capable of being honest and thus shouldn't be held to the same
ethical standards. I believe that blacks are just as capable of
being honest as whites and should be expected to adhere to the same
ethical standards. I don't recall ever working with a black
person whom I thought was dishonest, but there were a couple of white
law enforcement officers who became crooks.