Right Wing Jerks In Review

Montana Senator Conrad Burns seems to think he is a fire fighting expert. Well that might be partially true as he has found himself in the hot seat for his involvement with Jack Abramoff and some questionable dealing involving Native American casinos.

Burns tells Hotshots they did a ‘poor job’ in Billings fire
By JENNIFER McKEE
IR State Bureau
07/27/06

HELENA — Republican Sen. Conrad Burns chastised a group of firefighters over the weekend for doing a “poor job” dousing a 92,000-acre blaze near Billings, a state report shows.

Burns and the firefighters — members of the Augusta Hot Shots from the George Washington and Jefferson national forests in Virginia — were at the Billings Logan International Airport each awaiting flights, according to Burns and Forest Service representatives.

Burns approached the firefighters and told them they had “done a poor job” and “should have listened to the ranchers,” according to a report prepared by Paula Rosenthal, a state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee who was sent to the airport to speak with the senator.

Rosenthal wrote in her report that she received word of an “altercation” occurring between Burns and the hot shot crew. The crew had been in Montana working on the Bundy Railroad Fire near Worden.

The 92,000-acre timber, grass and sagebrush fire was contained on July 19 and the 368 people who came to fight it began dispersing a few days later.

Burns had been in Billings to commemorate the new interpretive center at Pompeys Pillar, the sandstone bluff near the Yellowstone River where Capt. William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition scratched his signature. While there, Burns also met with local ranchers affected by the blaze.

Matt Mackowiak, a Burns spokesman, said he didn’t think Burns met with any of the fire bosses handling the fire.

You can read more about Senator Burns at beyonddelay.com. Fortunately Montana came run this guy out of the Senate this year by voting for progressive Democrat John Tester. You can contribute to the Tester Campaign here.