Thursday, February 16, 2006

Leave it to Lynn (Swann)

Lynn Swann, Hall of Fame former wide receiver with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Republican hopeful for governor of Pennsylvania, since moving into Allegheny County, missed 20 of the 36 possible votes in 18 years. Normally, I wouldn't think this to be a huge issue. Voting is a choice we have either to take or to dismiss, and if he had a reason for ignoring the opportunity to vote, then so be it. Perhaps it was a protest.

But, no. It seems that Swannie claims that he missed so many votes because he was traveling to other states for ABC Sports. This doesn't really explain why he bothered with three absentee ballots, though. If he thought it was worth his time for those three, why not for any of the others? He refused to explain that.

The most troubling part of this whole situation, though, is that Swannie had to go and be a hypocrite about it on top of dodging questions. In an October 2004 interview with the Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, he said, "I have always been someone to believe that when you have certain freedoms, you should exercise them and not take it for granted. If you don't take part in the process and you don't vote, then I am not willing to listen to your complaints."

So, I guess, if those of us who care that our candidates for office are serious about the posts they look to fill cause him to lose the election, he won't be willing to listen to himself complain about it.

1 comment:

Justin said...

You know, I thought it was typically conservatives who complain loud and long when people don't vote because it means they're not doing their civic duty.

Why the double standard with Swann? Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Steelers fan, so it's almost like committing heresy in this city to complain about the guy, but really, how is his excuse okay?