The Major League Assholes we Fight Every Day

[autorank]

That's gratitude for you. People go from my state to Montana to help with a fire that can't be handled by Montana alone. This is a common practice. But a U.S. Senator from the state being helped trash talking the out of state fire fighters is not common, in fact I've never heard of it. It's must one more manifestation of the arrogance of power and the fact that the "rulers" treat us like we're minions, trash, people that they can disparage in public, in front of us. Good for the Virginia fire fighters for helping out. They are really terrific, as our the special rescue teams from Virginia that go all over the world to help with urban rescue. And Senator Burns, R, MT, get ready to retire

Updated: 02:08 PM EDT

Senator Apologizes for Assailing Firefighters

By JOHN MacDONALD, AP
http://tinyurl.com/zfb7q

(July 28) - Sen. Conrad Burns apologized Thursday for criticizing a firefighting team for their work on a blaze in southern Montana, saying his frustration came from a meeting with upset landowners.

"All Hat & No Class"

Conrad's Heart of Darkness Wonkette bonus commentary
Has Montana’s Conrad Burns (a.k.a. America’s least popular senator) forgotten the lesson of 9/11? Namely, that you never dump on firefighters? The Associated Press has a report of Burns’ conversation with a Virginia firefighting team that helped estinguish a disaster in Burns’ state.

Members of the "hotshot" wildfire crew said Burns confronted them in the Billings airport Sunday while they were awaiting a flight home, according to a report by Paula Rosenthal, a state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee.

The firefighters said Burns told them they had done a "poor job" and should have listened to the concerns of ranchers, the report said.

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

Tester Launches Statewide Tour

July 24th, 2006
http://www.testerforsenate.com/

From Tester's Blog
Tod Miller, a veteran wildland firefighter offers that Senator Burns oughta know better.

“Mr. Burns should understand as a Marine there’s a chain of command and orders are given from the top down, and the crews that he was speaking to are required to follow those orders and there is a right and a wrong way to go about it and certainly they were doing the right thing. They were following orders. And there’s always going to be a difference of opinion of how fires should be fought.”

Posted by Andy Tweeten on Jul. 28, 2006 at 10:44 am

----------------------

U.S. Senate Candidate Jon Tester, between harvests on his family farm in Big Sandy, continues his campaign this week by hitting the highways and hearing from Montanans up and down the state.

“This is a great chance to listen to working Montanans during one of the most important times of the year to families across the state—the summer harvest,” Tester said. “We already know Montanans are ready for change in Washington this November. This week, I look forward to talking to fellow farmers and workers across the state about the economy and how we must raise the standards for our leaders in Washington.”

Tester’s five-day Meet Montana’s Main Street tour begins Tuesday, July 25. He will visit Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, Corvallis, Kalispell, the Flathead Valley, Boulder, Butte, Bozeman and Billings. Click here to sign up to attend an event.

The tour will include public listening sessions in Great Falls, Missoula, Corvallis and Boulder. Tester will make many stops along the way to meet real Montanans who are ready for real change in Washington.

Tester, a third-generation farmer, will tour an orchard near Bigfork for a firsthand look at the Flathead cherry harvest. He will celebrate Butte’s heritage during Evel Knievel Days. And he will join volunteers to reach out to voters in Billings.

Read the rest of this entry »

[valerief]

1. I think Mr. A-hole Senator should do a "ride-along" with the

firefighters for a day. A whole day. In the heat. For hours. Too bad his pay couldn't be reduced to $8/hour, too.

[autorank]

2. Let's reduce this guy's pay to 0$ an hour.

The ranchers are naturally pissed off that they were not allowed to fight the fire with the professionals. That makes sense. The part that doesn't is that the idiot Senator can't understand
that professional fire fighting is life-and-death; very dicey. You are only as safe as your fellow fire fighters at times. No room for fooling around.

But not this jerk Senator...he gets yapped at by some angry folks and goes to the airport and gives
really hard working guys FROM MY STATE a hard time. What an ass hat,

:nuke:

[John Q. Citizen]

3. It was even worse than reported. He berated one firefighter for

sitting around doing nothing while the firefighter was waiting for his flight at the airport.

Burns is imploding. Or as one of the candidates for the Dem nomination said on his bumperstickers;

FIRE BURNS!

[autorank]

4. That is much worse. Probably some decent kid just tired...

Burns is luck the hot shot team is professional. Plus he's to old to clock. Amazing, thanks for the expansion. I like what the Montana Democrats have done. They are a bright crew. I noticed that Tester is part of the organic farming movement out there. It's great that he's bringing in his crop while he campaigns. We need more of that, people in touch with reality, not nepotism made millionaires like Burns.

[glitch]

11. Damn lucky. Too lucky. :( nt

[John Q. Citizen]

13. Autorank, here the full story. Someone just posted it on a local

Montana board.

By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Missoulian State Bureau

HELENA - Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., pointed across the Billings airport Sunday and accused a member of an elite firefighting team of not doing “a God damned thing” and charged that crew members just “sit around” on the job, the original version of a state report said. Most of Burns' highly critical comments, made to state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee Paula Rosenthal, were omitted from the version of her report released to reporters Wednesday and Thursday. The Lee Newspapers State Bureau on Thursday obtained the original version of “incident report” written by Rosenthal about her meeting with Burns. On Thursday night, Burns, a Republican facing a stiff re-election challenge this year, issued a written apology for his comments. He said he shouldn't have criticized the hard-working firefighters for how the fires were handled. Burns was at the Billings airport Sunday and approached some members of the Augusta (Va.) Hotshots, who were also waiting to catch a plane. In what the report called “an altercation,” Burns told them they had done “a poor job” fighting the 92,000-acre blaze near Billings and should have listened to the concerns of local ranchers. His comments prompted some U.S. Forest Service officials at the airport to call Rosenthal to come to the airport immediately to meet with Burns.
Rosenthal's original report of the incident recounted how Burns pointed to a member of the Augusta Hotshots crew across the airport waiting area and telling her: “See that guy over there? He hasn't done a God-damned thing. They sit around. I saw it up on the Wedge fire and in northwestern Montana some years ago. It's wasteful. You probably paid that guy $10,000 to sit around. It's gotta change.” Rosenthal wrote in both versions: “I offered to the senator that our firefighters make around $8-$12 per hour and time-and-a-half for overtime. He seemed a little surprised that it wasn't higher.” Burns issued the apology after the Lee Newspapers State Bureau faxed his office a copy of Rosenthal's original report. “In retrospect, I wish I had chosen my words more carefully,” Burns said in a statement. “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.” Rosenthal, reached Thursday night, said she made the decision to delete Burns' quote from her final report after discussing it with state Forester Bob Harrington. Some names and phone numbers of firefighting officials also were deleted in the interest of privacy, she said. “It's an inflammatory remark,” she said of the Burns quote. “I thought the remark was captured in the other comments. It had nothing to do with any politics. ... There was absolutely no coercion or pressure from anybody (to delete it).” She said the report was intended as an internal management tool “and not fodder for the press.” “I wanted to present accurate information, including his concerns and examples, so they could respond,” she said. “I thought it was going to be a productive working document for the management.” Rosenthal, who is based in Missoula but was the public information officer for the Billings-area fire, said she went to the airport to talk to Burns because “I saw it as an opportunity to listen to his concerns and provide some information on a fire I was assigned to.” The Augusta Hotshots are a 20-person crew formed in June 2001. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, they spent time in New York City helping the crews at ground zero. Last year, the Augusta Hot Shots were called out 35 times, a Forest Service spokesman told the Staunton, Va., News Leader in a story Thursday. “They're very sought after, very well trained,” Jo Beth Brown of the Forest Service told the Virginia newspaper. Burns' Democratic opponent, state Senate President Jon Tester of Big Sandy, issued a statement that didn't mention Burns but praised firefighters. “During this dangerous fire season, all Montanans are grateful for the thousands of firefighters who are on the front lines protecting our homes, property and wild lands,” he said. “These dedicated professionals are to be commended for their bravery, hard work and sacrifice. Until the rains come, Montana will remain at risk, and it is the responsibility of every Montanan to support our firefighters and let them do their job.” Montana Democratic Party Chairman Dennis McDonald, a Melville rancher, said, “Senator Burns' outrageous insults to the brave men and women who battled the dangerous fire near Billings requires an immediate apology. As a rancher, I fully appreciate the sacrifice of these firefighters. These brave firefighters, who do not even live in Montana, come in to help us save ranches and lives here and they put their own lives at risk.” Kurt Bushnell, president of the Montana State Firemen's Association, said Burns always has access to the state and federal officials who decide on firefighting strategy and tactics. “So why in the backdrop of an airport in eastern Montana, bash the brave men and women on loan to us, whose only responsibility on the fire was to take orders?” Bushnell asked, adding later: “When those fires ignite during the dry months of July and August, I don't think most Montanans would turn their back on a firefighting crew willing to help out, regardless of the outcome. It's too bad Senator Burns doesn't share that mentality anymore.”

[kpete]

5. This cowboy is "No Class - All Ass"

[AtomicKitten]

6. Burns has one of the lowest approval ratings of the GOP.

Montana deserves better, and that would be Tester.

[GardeningGal]

7. What a complete and total ass Burns made of himself. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

8. Here's your 5th rec

:hi:

I'm over here from GD, visiting the parallel universe. :D

[autorank]

9. A new style, I like it a great deal! I'll avoid that planet,

unless I'm already there;)

[bleever]

10. Are we sure his middle name isn't Montgomery?

Get ready to be an ex-Senator, Burnsy.

[Doctor_J]

12. I am trying to picture Tester's flat top on the Senate floor

Guess I'll just have to wait until January.