Hinessight

I didn’t want to start the 4th of July holiday weekend outraged, but the Oregonian’s front page story about Oregon House Majority Leader Wayne Scott’s political shenanigans set off “What a jerk!” fireworks in my mind.

As the story reports, Republican Scott refuses to have the House consider a bill that would upgrade North Bend’s runway and terminal because he wants to punish a freshman Democratic colleague for a school funding vote. The bill passed the Oregon Senate with strong bipartisan support, but Scott is majorly peeved at Rep. Arnie Roblan, a Democrat from Coos Bay.

So Scott, the House bully, wants to teach Roblan, the House new kid, a lesson about who’s boss. Jeez, Rep. Scott looks like he’s out of middle school, but he sure still likes to play childish games. “You dissed me, man! You gonna pay for that, sucka!” What a baby.

The sad thing is, he’s House Majority Leader, for god’s sake. Wayne Scott is the cream of the Republican crop. That’s pitiful. To me he represents the worst of divisive, nasty, my-way-or-the-highway American politics. He’s Oregon’s version of Tom DeLay, which is just about the most insulting thing I could say about Scott.

However, I did my best to come up with other pejorative phrases when I sent Scott a passionate email earlier today. I’m usually much more restrained when I write politicians about an issue. I think that what seriously tweaked me about Wayne Scott is that he blatantly admitted that his tiff with Roblan isn’t about the airport expansion issue. It’s all personal.

Roblan is doing his best to represent his constituents. All Scott cares about is shoring up his political power. I realize that quite a few readers of this weblog live in other states and also other countries, but I encourage you to send Rep. Scott an email, letting him know how you feel about this newest Republican outrage. Send a copy of your message to his boss too, House Speaker Karen Minnis.

Here’s what I told Scott. Getting my outrage off of my chest helped bring my mental fireworks down to earth. Now I can concentrate on enjoying the weekend and reflecting on what makes this country great. It sure isn’t Rep. Wayne Scott. (For political junkies, another article about this issue can be read here).

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