Controversial Move: Bill Sali Didn’t Go to a Gun Show

But he almost did. Dan Popkey writes an article on outgoing Bill Sali field director Gerry Sweet:

Congressman Bill Sali says the resignation of his top aide in Idaho, former state Sen. Gerry Sweet, is unrelated to Sweet’s moonlighting as a gun salesman.

I don’t buy it.

I’ve got unsubstantiated speculation to go on and I’m sticking by it.

But whatever happened between the longtime allies, Sweet’s departure is right for Sali.

Who says anything happened? Sweet left, not fired. He left, a lot of people leave (and the boss says he left on good terrms), but Popkey’s got a lot of suspicions and they center around a gun show Bill Sali ALMOST attended, but I get ahead of myself.

With a praising headline, in the small print, Popkey attacks Sali for hiring Sweet because we all knew that Sweet’s gun business took time away from official duties:

Sali knew the business conflicted with Sweet’s part-time duties in the Legislature. In 2006, Sweet missed votes on 63 of 200 budget bills in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

And the Statesman Editorial board was well aware of this, but it didn’t stop them from endorsing Sweet for a 3rd term last November. But let’s not talk about that. On to the Gun show. Sweet scheduled Sali to appear for two hours at Expo Idaho, a big gun show where Sweet would also be selling. Wayne Hoffman thought it might raise a question of impropriety.

On April 13, Sali’s legislative director, Lisa Tanner, asked the House ethics committee for guidance. In an e-mail to attorney John Sassaman, she explained Sali would “meet and greet” while Sweet sold guns on his own time.

Sassaman replied that “the mere fact” Sali attended the show wouldn’t constitute a commercial endorsement of Sweet. Sassaman also wrote, “His business is an outside activity, and there should be an ethics ‘wall’ between this activity and his position as the district director.”

Tanner’s e-mail omitted the key fact that Sweet scheduled his boss to attend. Knowing the whole story, Sali canceled. Four weeks later, Sweet announced his resignation, leaving his departure date open.

Coincidence? Popkey thinks not!

Sali’s backing out was criticized by some in his natural constituency. Sweet apparently complained to Ee-Da-How President Arnold Burr. Burr told me he talked to Sweet about Sali’s withdrawal. Burr called Hoffman a “jackass” who, he said, aimed to hurt Sweet.

So, we follow this whole story for I don’t know how many graphs and here’s the key news: Bill Sali was going to attend a gun show and didn’t. Gerry Sweet allegedly talked to someone who expressed his feelings about Wayne Hoffman. Get it?

Me neither. However, Julie at Red State Rebels is out to take her swipe at Sali and Sweet. She takes to calling Sweet someone who pimps guns as I’m sure she and the abortion pimps in the Democratic Party call all people who are just excercising their Constitutional Rights.

Anyway her reaction to Popkey is:

Yes, but knowing that it was Hoffman, not Sali himself, who called foul on the potential ethical lapse sheds some real light on Sali’s judgment.

Sali made a mistake hiring Sweet, whose 2006 gun show gigs caused him to miss about a third of his votes on the legislature’s powerful JFAC panel. Perhaps 1st District voters will soon realize that they, too, made a mistake in hiring this extremist, tone-deaf legislator.

So, all Congressmen who depend on staff should leave the premises immediately. I wonder how long it would take for the building to empty. Really, any type of ethical question was kind of peripheral. This is a natural place for Sali to visit. It’s not like he’d be hawking guns for Sweet, but he chose to be cautious and be safe rather than sorry.

What Julie and the Dems would like you to focus on is insignificant fluff like this, not that Democrats have broken their promise on earmarks with more than 36,000 earmarks being proposed and hidden by the Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey.

Bill Sali said it best in the statement that Dan Popkey included with his article:

“Dan, the gun show is a non-issue — we routinely have discussions to make sure we are in compliance with ethics rules. We did that in this case as well. You should be applauding our due diligence instead of trying to create discord where none exists. My staff and I made sure I could attend the gun show without creating any ethical issues. Our lawyer confirmed it, but I nonetheless decided not to go to because I wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Your desire to attack me for exercising that level of diligence is very discouraging.

“Gerry Sweet leaves my office on good terms, as a friend and political ally. He helped my office accomplish a great deal over the last five months. We have successfully protected access to public lands and have helped obtain federal aid for our timber-dependent communities. We worked to secure substantial funding for state water projects. We’re working on legislation to secure our borders, help Idaho’s high-tech industry through patent reform and bring long overdue change to the way Congress works. My office’s caseworkers have helped countless Idahoans resolve the problems they are having with the federal government. And frankly, Dan, we’ve done all of this with the utmost transparency and commitment to the highest ethical standards.”

And you just keep it up, Congressman.

Avoiding the Need for Traditional Family

A study showing a link between increased Ritalin usage and divorce shows something we want to ignore: intact traditional families matter greatly and they make a big difference for kids and families.

We’ll tie ourselves in all kinds of knots rather than admit this fact. All family units and structures are equal is a central PC element. It’s simply not true.

You probably won’t hear it from the mainstream press, but our troops are making great progress in Afghanistan.

Finally, more hope for additional ethical sources of stem cells. So with all these sources of ethical stem cells, what’s the reason for pushing ESCR? We discuss it.

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Obiwan Keyesnobi

Remember Obi-wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie. He’d been minding his business when a cry for help arrives. Carrie Fisher delivering her most memorable line says, “Help us, Obiwan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

Apparently, Alan Keyes is getting much the same message, given the latest news, several folks are starting a draft website for Keyes to make a run in 2008. According to the press release:

According to a statement at the website — AlanKeyes.com — the organization’s purpose is to “determine and rally support for a presidential candidacy by Dr. Keyes.”

The statement adds, “We Need Alan Keyes for President, Inc., is a political action committee . . . not managed by Alan Keyes.”

The effort is spearheaded by several individuals at RenewAmerica, a grassroots organization affiliated with Keyes.

Stephen Stone, president of RenewAmerica, said, “At this point, Alan has not indicated that he will run. In fact, he has said that he would run only if enough people at the grassroots come forward to say they want him to run. Our job is to give them a chance to do so.”

This sounds…familiar. In fact, that was the terms in 2000. He spent months campaigning all around Iowa, but didn’t officially announce until August when he thought there was sufficient support. Though, in this case, he hasn’t been to Iowa or New Hampshire, at least as far as I know. This brings up a point. Part of the reason, Keyes doesn’t win elections is that he really doesn’t seem to want to run in the first place. Keyes has run for office five times. Take a look at the history:

1988: The Republican nominee for US Senate in Maryland dropped out of race. The State Party turned to a well-spoken American Enterprise Institute named Alan Keyes, who managed 39% in a State Dukakis won.

1992: In the only election, Keyes ran for without prompting, he found himself the GOP nominee against Maryland Democrat Boss Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) in a year that Bush was losing. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee cut funding, resulting in a 71-29% win.

1996: With a growing awarness of moral issues, Keyes decided to jump on the potential presidential candidate circuit, raise some issues, get other candidates talking about morality, and then go home. Keyes delivered an address that set the nation ablaze, “No Choice for Silence” as interest skyrocketed. Thus a campaign was born.

2000: Keyes spent the late ’90s concerned that someone would get in the race who would speak to the country’s moral concerns. He spent time in Iowa, but held off on officially announcing his candidacy for President, while candidates announced by the boat load, Keyes continued to evaluate a potential run based on people’s response. When he was finally satisfied in August, 1999, he announced. Of course, by then, many Conservative activists had already committed to other candidates.

2004: The plan was for Keyes to be running-in a Marathon. Unfortunately, scandal engulfed Jack Ryan, the Republican nominee for US Senate in Illinois. In describing what brought him there, Keyes said:

And so, I was resistant to the idea. As is always case, though, when people approach me with something that might make sense, I try my best to be fair to them, and at one point, they made the point that maybe if I looked at the record of Barack Obama, I would think differently, because it just seemed wrong, they said . . . .

[laughter]

Now, wait a minute. I’m just reporting here. It just seemed wrong that somebody with his record should kind of waltz into the United States Senate unopposed.

Thus, he went to Illinois and was dragged into a race he didn’t ask for, didn’t want, and then got thrown to the wolf by the party establishment, and ripped apart by the Obama-Daley machine.

He’s never run for President like a man with fire in his belly for the White House, but rather as someone who’s passionate about ideas.

Now, here in 2008, we have people putting together an effort to get Alan Keyes to run in an election he doesn’t seem to want to run in, in an office he has no desire to win. Meanwhile, media has grown more harsh, more fixated on winning, more everything that’s hampered Keyes for years. I respect Dr. Keyes a great deal, but even if I weren’t working for John Cox, I still would not be behind this draft effort.

I greatly expect many of the people involved. I bear them no disrespect, but I’ve seen enough. I’ve seen a man I greatly respect and admire dragged through the mud during the 2004 Senate campaign, much of the work done by Republicans who made the #1 mistake folks make with Alan Keyes: assuming you can change him from who he is into who you’d like him to be.

The Chicago media, the Daley machine, and the treacherous Illinois Republican leadership did a hit job that would make Tony Soprano proud. Bloggers ripped apart and dissected his family life, and he was made the goat of the whole affair, and despite entering 3 months before the election in an uphill battle, he recieved most of the blame. At that moment, his 2008 chances (which had been decent overall) went up in smoke.

He shouldn’t subject himself to this presidential campaign, there are other wasy he can make a difference.. The American people and conservatives need to learn some lessons in understanding the Constitution, what it means to be an American, etc. We need leaders all across our country who are declarationists.

As someone who respects Dr. Keyes, I’d like him not to enter this race, not to committed to Declaration principles. It’s those things that Dr. Keyes can spread without another race for the White House.

Tancredo’s Incomplete Solution

While Tom Tancredo has a point about opposing Senators who support amnesty, we need people to be for, not just folks to be against.

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Related:

Fox News:

Tancredo to Target Republicans on Immigration