Conservative Values?

"This campaign's not about me, but about standing tall for conservative values, your values." - Todd Tiahrt

You, my fellow Kansans, can watch Mr. Tiahrt say this for yourself at his website, www.toddtiahrt.com. You can also see him recite the word values so often that it seems the only thing he actually values is the word ‘values’.

While the hypnotic repetition of the video can certainly put fellow Kansans into a coma, the hypocrisy of it all is more than evident given the recent news regarding Tiahrt for Senate employee, Field Coordinator Jase Stanton.

On November 18th, Mike Mahoney from KMBC News broke the story that Stanton was recently charged with aggravated sodomy and aggravated assault surrounding an event that took place in July 2008. Stanton has a plea hearing December 9th, but has preliminarily pled not guilty. Stanton did not reveal the charges to the Tiahrt campaign when hired.

I find this report troubling for several reasons.

1. There appears to be minimal if any due diligence on Tiahrt's part in hiring Stanton. Wouldn't a quick criminal records search be the first task an employer/candidate does when hiring staff?

2. These are serious charges by any standard.

3. It all comes back to values.

Sexual Assault and Aggravated Sodomy are not "conservative values" or "our values". If Todd Tiahrt believes that his values are one and the same with those of Kansans, then he must explain this apparent discrepancy. I might not agree with every position of my representatives, but if these truly are the values that Mr. Tiahrt endorses than I believe he should be honest and forthright with Kansans about these beliefs.

I want honesty when talking about what people value, and I believe that all Kansans should expect the same.

Your Valued Writer,

Publius