Political Terrorism?

Okay, so Mark Crockett had an unpaid $172 tax bill. At one point I considered writing a post that included that fact. I thought I'd say that this tax lien and the return of a few thousand dollars in campaign contributions argued against his financial competence.

Why didn't I?

Let's face it, this is tiny stuff. $172??? That's the price of a speeding ticket. In my life I've done worse - all of us have. To sound indignant over this small malfeasance would have two effects: it would make Crockett look human, and me both trivial and self-righteous.

No thanks, I'll take a pass.

But a highly partisan media pundit had no problem doing exactly that. To him it was a gift meant to fill air time. He'd do his best to turn $172 into the Watergate scandal. So Crockett's tax lien was copied onto the pundit's blog.

Embarrassing? Yes. Crockett's best response? Eat a little humble pie and appear more mortified than such a tiny error would normally merit.

But that's not Crockett.

He has a deadly aversion to anything that makes him look human. Therefore, this little cut and paste, by a little media pundit of a little tax bill becomes "political terrorism."

This is no joke. That's a Crockett quote lifted from the Deseret News.

Crockett is an intelligent man, but he thinks with his brain stem. He let's anger override good judgement and then acts out in the most preposterous ways. In this case, the posting of four digits from his social security number, by a third party, becomes an invitation by Ben McAdams to hack into his checking account.

Let me share what makes this particularly laughable to those of us close to Ben's campaign. And this observation flows beautifully from a quote by the aforementioned pundit who, "...criticized McAdams on his radio show for not seeking out possible tax discrepancies by his opponent on his own."

At the McAdams' campaign we routinely beat up on Ben for refusing to go negative... even a little, especially when it's so richly deserved. From our point of view, Ben is routinely letting Crockett get away with murder. We're perpetually exasperated because Crockett has made some new fallacious claim that Ben won't publicly contradict.

The next time I hear, "No, too confrontational, too personal," I swear, I'll save Crockett the trouble and strangle Ben myself.

You're hearing this from someone once asked, politely, to take down a post. Why? Because some of my information came from the video of a Crockett speech acquired from a Democratic Party operative.

Ben didn't object to the accuracy of what I wrote, only to the source. So I gritted my teeth, swallowed my pride, and hit the delete key.

Against this backdrop, we hear that Ben's non-existent strategy committee has secret designs on Crockett's bank account.

Crockett's ever-present anger is eclipsed only by his narcissism. No, Mr. Crockett, Ben's world does not include a plan to crack your safe.