Leash

Two stories caught my eye in the Gazette this morning. Of course they both have to do with my [sarcastic]favorite Governor[/sarcastic].<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/05/12/news/state/35-schweitzer.txt">Schweitzer goes East to boost state, politics</a><br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/05/12/news/state/50-leash.txt">Even governor's dog has to be leashed</a><br />n<br />nMy first thought when reading these headlines was that maybe we need to leash our Governor to try to keep him home instead of running off to the East Coast all the time. Then I thought, maybe it's not a bad deal he is gone and not screwing up our lives any more than he all ready has. Then I wondered how much of my tax money he spent on his little "jaunt' to the coast and again though a leash might be more appropriate. <br />n<br />nThen one last question really hit me. The Governor was promoting a book by his pet blogger at an event sponsored by moveon.org, why am I as a taxpayer of the state paying for this trip? This has nothing to do with state business. It has a lot more to do with Schweitzer promoting himself and his Presidential ambitions than anything to do with state business. It would be very interesting to see the accounting of this trip to see if part of the trip was paid for out of his pocket, or Sirota's pocket, instead of by the tax payers for this little "side excursion" that the Governor took. But since this Governor is above the law in Montana I am sure we will never know now will we.<br />n<br />n<b>Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase. Charles Caleb Colton</b>