Burns Apologizes For Firefighter Criticism

[Rose Siding]

The Montana Senator is apologizing for telling Montana firefighters that they've done a "poor job" at containing wildfires in the state.

Tonight, a Statement From Conrad Burns

“In retrospect, I wish I had chosen my words more carefully. My criticism of the way in which the fire was handled should not have been directed at those who were working hard to put it out. Without a doubt firefighters do the hard, tough job of battling one of Mother Nature’s toughest beasts. I have nothing but admiration for them and the work they do.

My frustration came from meeting with landowners who were critical of the way the fire was handled. Whatever the reason, I should have simply thanked those who worked hard to put out the fire.

I have since addressed my concerns to the proper officials about the way in which fires are handled. Please accept my apology for any hard feelings that my comments may have caused. I have the utmost respect for the job firefighters have done in Montana.”

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/07/burns_apologize.html

The "altercation"-

HELENA, Mont. – Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, who is facing a tough re-election challenge this fall, confronted members of a Virginia firefighting team headed home after battling a blaze in southern Montana and criticized their work on the fire, a state official says in a report.
...
“The toughest part of the conversation was the point where the senator was critical of a firefighter sitting across from us in the gate area,” Rosenthal's report reads. “I offered to the senator that our firefighters make around $8 to $12 an hour and time-and-a-half for overtime. He seemed a bit surprised that it wasn't higher.” .....

“He replied, 'We're fighting a war on terror and we're concerned about safety there too, but we're out there doing it,'” Rosenthal wrote.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060727-1412-wst-burns-firefightercriticism.html

[niyad]

1. gee, conrad, I wish you had used your brain a little more carefully for a

change.

[Ken Burch]

2. But Conrad is a "conservative"

And they're always AGAINST change. Especially THAT kind of change.

[Botany]

3. Idiot

From somebody who has set controlled burns for prairies and
worked around people who go out on fire lines ..... what an idiot.



Gee, senator why don't you suit up and grab a grub ax and have a go at it.

[Erika]

4. He's feeling the heat!

Forgive the bad pun. This will cost him many votes.

He had a very arrogant and elitist tone...chewing out firefighters as if they made the decisions and were subservient to him.

[Cocoa]

5. you'd think a guy named Burns

would respect firefighters.

[Vidar]

7. Nah, he's named after the Simpsons character.

[hatrack]

6. "In retrospect, I wish you were not an asshole. Sadly, you are."

Not only that, but you're a pompous, clueless bubble-inhabiting REPUBLICAN ASSHOLE. And I guess there's really not much more to say.

Apology not accepted, ASSHAT.

[Rose Siding]

8. He compared sitting in a chamber on Capitol Hill with fighting fires

He is indeed an ASSHAT.

[hatrack]

9. He may have just lost the election.

Granted, he was sucking pretty bad already, but this may tear it - assuming Tester and the Democrats know how to pick up this big fat beachball and run with it.

[gratuitous]

10. A Republican? Apologized? Why isn't this LBN???

No Republican in the last 25 years, for all the havoc they've wreaked on our country, has ever apologized for anything unless they had just been convicted and were about to go to jail for a long, long time.

How did Burns know the right thing, the human thing, to do? My conclusion: He has a Democratic mole in his campaign. No way he came up with the idea of an apology on his own.