What a load...

Well, some women are "offended" at something Conrad Burns said on an airplane. Apparently, a flight attendant approached Burns on a flight "approached the lawmaker with concerns about outsourcing." Burns is not directly quoted in the article, but when she asked what she would do if she lost her job, "Burns replied she could stay home and be a mother." The article goes on to report that the flight attendant in question then reported the story to another flight attendant "who has a penchant for writing letters to public officials," and who is a "Chicago-area union member" who "had been writing to several congressmen about the perils of outsourcing."

This story stinks on so many levels I can't think of them all.

First, we don't know the context of the story. Were they smiling, was the senator joking? No one has a right not to be offended.

Second, is it front page news that a U.S. Senator has a disagreement with a private person, one who is not even his constituent? And is it a valid political position to favor mothers staying home with their children? If so, is it a surprise that a conservative politician would hold that position?

Third, what does Northwest have to say about its flight attendants 'talking shop' to passengers on flights? I would be surprised if a flight attendant started asking me for legal advice.

Fourth, what business is it of a U.S. Senator's if a private company, Northwest Airlines, elects to procure its labor from another country? What if Senator Burns had given this woman an economics lesson and explained to her that labor is just another commodity, and if she wants to ensure job security she could simply accept a lower wage? Would that have "offended" her too?

Finally, and probably most important, the whole thing smells like a setup. She just coincidentally told an activist union-member about his comments who just coincidentally has a "penchant for writing letters to public officials...about the perils of outsourcing?" And the whole thing just coincidentally shows up on the front page of Montana newspapers during an election year? I'll give you 2-1 that this is a cheap political trick, bait swallowed hook, line and sinker by the Tribune.