Burr Spin Machine Wobbles

Imagine you're a hard-workin' lawnmower salesman who one day lands in a sparkly new Senate office with corporate executives hauling in bags of money to get your attention. It must be thrilling, maybe even head-spinning, which could easily explain why you might consider yourself above little old values like truth and integrity.

For example, would an ethical lawnmower salesman stoop to misrepresenting a competitor's product to make a sale? How about an ethical United States Senator?

In voting against the $787 billion economic stimulus bill last February, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr called it a "hastily written bill" that would ensure "a massive debt for our grandchildren."

Last week in Bethlehem, N.C, he called a $2 million grant from the bill "a great thing for this county."

Does Senator Burr mean that the hastily written bill is a great thing for this country, or that a massive debt for our grandchildren is a great thing for this country? Which is it, Senator Burr?

And then there's the matter of the Franken amendment, which would have given more protections to rape victims working as contractors in Iraq.

Republican Sen. Richard Burr has been accused by a Democratic opponent of voting against protecting rape victims working as contractors in Iraq, a charge that he denies.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall noted that Burr was one of 30 Republican senators who voted last week against an amendment that grew out of a publicized case of a Halliburton employee who was gang-raped by co-workers, Rob Christensen reports.

Burr claims that the amendment won't deliver what's needed to protect rape victims, and 29 other white male Republicans agreed with him. But the amendment passed anyway, 68 to 30, with every Democrat and all the Republican women voting for it.

According to Burr spinner, David Ward, "Senator Burr believes violence against women is despicable and intolerable, and those who have committed or abetted such heinous crimes should be subjected to the full weight of the law. Unfortunately, the Franken amendment would not do anything to protect women from violence or to punish criminals. If it had, Senator Burr would certainly have voted for the amendment."

So answer me this, Mr. Ward. If your boss believes violence against women is despicable and intolerable - and that the Franken amendment doesn't do anything to solve the problem - exactly what has he proposed to do about it?

From what I've been able to find, your most honest response would be, "Absolutely nothing."