Now that Charles White, the newly-elected Indiana Secretary of State, has been indicted for felonies regarding his disregard of Indiana election laws, some in the blogosphere have decided that he should be excused his "mistakes" because Senator Richard G. Lugar hasn't lived in Indiana for years.
Ummmm, Lugar's in Washington, D.C., as Indiana's longest-serving senator. There's provision in the law for that kind of absence.
And, besides: what's that got to do with White's transgressions? He's holding the state office that's supposed to uphold election laws, so he -- of all people -- should know what they are and abide by them.
Regardless of what Lugar (or anyone else) does!
In logic, that's called the fallacy of the red herring, isn't it?
2 comments:
You're missing the point. The problem isn't whether Lugar is a resident of Indiana and qualified to be a U.S. Senator. The issue isn't his qualification to serve at all.
The issue is that Lugar is voting at a location he hasn't lived at in decades. The provision you talk about applies to prevent Lugar from losing his residence at 3220 Highwoods Court because of his service in D.C. But Lugar didn't lose his residence at that address because of his service in D.C. He lost his residency at 3220 Highwoods Court because he sold the house and another family moved in.
At that point, Lugar has to use another place for his residence, but Lugar never did that. Instead he continued voting using the same address where he didn't live. That's a crime. If you don't think so, ask Charlie White.
I don't agree that voter fraud and perjury a "red herrings." Everyone wants to give Lugar a pass on following the law because, well he's popular. But they have no problem throwing White to the wolves, when in fact Lugar did the same thing and for a longer period of time.
It is very important that our laws apply equally to everyone. Lugar and White should be treated the same.
He hasn't lived there because he sold the house and another family moved in.
That's voter fraud and it is also perjury because he's signing under oath that he lives at an address he doesn't reside.
No, Paul, the point is this:
Lugar's status has precious little to do with White's indictments.
Lugar is the red herring in this discussion.
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