If a Republican candidate for a major statewide office had, in the course of his career:
* Sued Osama bin Laden over the Kenya and Tanzania bombings in 1998;
* Talked repeatedly in public about how he ‘hated’ Democrats;
* Sued the Governor over a perfectly legitimate use of his consitutional authority;
* Voted to kill Tort Reform before voting for it;
* Claimed to have had a major part in every piece of legislation passed during his time in office, including the Toyota negotiations;
* Turned in his opponent over ‘Campaign Finance Irregularities’ to a partisan Attorney General;
* Stated within earshot of other legislators that he was going to “get that kid” for running against him;
* Sued the Itawamba County School District, the Mooreville One-Stop, and the AmVets organization, all of which reside within his district;
* Heckled his opponent at Jacinto in 2003;
* Sought to ban gay marraige…aGain;
* Requested three times the travel reimbursements that other legislators in his county;
* Spread rumors that at least two of his past opponents were “queers” (apparently, the only people who would run against him are, shall we say…FABULOUS!);
* Make liberal use of a certain word which causes black people to lose their religion;
* Drove a luxury SUV for three years, then borrowed his father’s pickup for election years;
* Lived in a large, expensive house while campaigning on behalf of ‘the working poor’;
* Stated that ‘the last thing we need in the Legislature is another lawyer’ shortly before starting law school;
* Worked for a…shall we say…disreputable firm in which the founder was disbarred;
* Stated that the only way he’d ever come back to his high school was to burn it down, then kicked off his campaign there….
How much ridicule would this person recieve in the Mississippi press? Would there be articles by Bobby Harrison praising his use of his own money in the campaign? Would Sid Salter generically say he’s a ‘dangerous underdog?’ Would the Daily Journal writer assigned to his race basically give him a transcript of his opponents’ interview (oh, wait, they did that in the last election. Never mind)?
This is a clear case of the Mississippi press NOT doing their jobs. Because Jamie Franks Jr. has done every bit of this. But, he’s more ideologically in line with them than his potential opponents. Oh, I can hear it now: We’re covering the Republican side of this, we’ll cover him after August 7. To which I reply: Yeah, sure you will. Just like the Daily Journal has covered his races in the past, right? Anyone who does any kind of digging about Jamie Franks Jr. would find him reprehensible, unless they happened to prefer his “D” over someone elses’ “R.”
The “Commander”
Franks Tanks
7/21/7
Magnolia Tribune
