| I haven't written much, if anything, about the Flathead boat crash involving Dennis Rehberg and Greg Barkus. It's a little too early to work on a political angle, IMHO - not with Dustin Frost still in the hospital with a brain injury of unknown severity. And while I wouldn't wish harm or injury even to those I strongly dislike, Frost is, by all accounts, a very decent guy (here's a nice profile), which makes this all the more troubling. I also know some of his family; better people you couldn't hope to meet, and my thoughts have been with them since I learned Dustin was on the boat and injured. And I have to admit, having a personal tie to the story made reading the excited comments immediately following a little difficult. After all, these are real people going through a real crisis.
And because whatever I would say about the crash on this site or the b'birds would be perceived as a political attack on Rehberg, I've avoided saying much of anything, outside of a few Tweets.
But things got a little weird. So here I am.
First shout-down goes to Erik Iverson who has, since day one, been running flak and treating this like a political story. Brushing aside Rehberg's BAC, seeing him quoted by the paper repeatedly minimizing Frost's condition screams "no class." Nothing to see here. The injury is "survivable." Worse yet, Iverson's first comments (can't find link now) implied Dustin was going to be fine because he was young. There's spin for you. I'm guessing right now that no one wants Dustin's condition to be fodder for any political attacks on Rehberg. And that's fine. But just say it, man, just say it. We're all worried as hell, but optimistic. (But kudos to Iverson for being upfront and open about Rehberg's condition, his BAC, the background for the incident, etc & co.)
Second, where's Greg Barkus? According to this Flathead Beacon report, his wife said he's in intensive care, as of yesterday. Is he okay? Again, I know I have no right to know - but it seems odd that no one's talking about the injuries sustained. It smells like someone's playing "cleaner" here. Again, these are real people in crisis. Our first reaction should be to express genuine concern. Let us do so. Get better, Greg.
Third, as John Adams noted, the authorities involved are acting odd. While Rehberg's BAC was known pretty quickly, Barkus' - the boat's driver - has been a mystery. Turns out, the authorities don't know it, either, and are just now getting around to subpoenaing the results. The boat wasn't searched until today. Don't count me among the conspiracy theorists, but this is not a smooth investigation. Did they not understand how much scrutiny this case was going to get?
Yesterday's report by John Adams on the incident was the most comprehensive yet, and it appears that slowly information is coming out. And none too soon. We just want to know...
Of all the comments and posts and news articles that have been written about the crash, I like Pete Talbot's the best:
...I'm having a tough time with the moral indignation associated with the accident. Possibly that's because I don't have an unblemished record for doing stupid things. Granted, elected officials should set a better example but they're only human.
Rehberg's stands on health care, war, the poor, the environment, taxes ... I find that much more abhorrent than his lapses in his private life.
And what bothers me even more is hypocrisy - you know, the 'family values' politician who's screwing anything that moves (not referring to Rehberg here).
Finally, as we both know, alcoholism is a disease. If alcohol abuse was one of the root causes of this accident, then maybe someone needs some help.
I hope there's a fair, timely investigation and all the facts come out but I'm certainly not going to cast the first stone, especially while people are recuperating in the hospital.
Well done, sir. And again...get well Dustin and Greg...thoughts and prayers go out to you and your loved ones. |
