Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916
OPINION KEITH FITZGERALD FOR CONGRESS EDITORIAL Several years ago, some clever filmmak- ers created a mashup of the popular TV pro- gram "Cops" and the first "Star Wars" film, ti- tled "Troopers," in which the announcer — in a spoof on the intro to the police reality show — intoned gravely "All suspects are guilty … period. Otherwise, they wouldn't be suspects, would they?" While none of us wants to be held to that standard — and, thankfully, our Constitution confers the presumption of innocence to all citizens — it might not be unreasonable to demand a higher threshold of accountability for our elected officials, entrusted as they are with the discerning governance of these Unit- ed States. For one thing, an election is not the same as a criminal trial. The rules of evidence and the standards for acquittal or conviction (i.e., election or rejection) are whatever the voters decide they should be. And given Lord Acton's memorable admonition regarding the cor- rupting effects of power, those holding office should even expect to be judged more scru- pulously than, say, your average criminal de- fendant. Which brings us to Vern Buchanan. For almost the entirety of his tenure in Congress, he has been the subject of one ethical or criminal in- quiry after another. So far, most of those in- quiries have ended without his being charged with any crimes. And Buchanan would have the voters of Florida's 16th Congressional Dis- trict believe that is enough for him to be ex- onerated as they consider his re-election bid. However, wise voters can appropriately use the "Where there's smoke, there's fire" adage in contemplating Buchanan's guilt or inno- cence with regard to his conduct in office. This particularly is true when the ethics inquiries are combined with other sketchy Buchanan practices, such as his using his Congressional franking privileges to mail blatantly partisan campaign materials to his constituents, or his use of Habitat for Humanity to prop up his questionable land dealings. A member of Congress should expect to be held to the highest level of scrutiny by his or her constituents and, when that scrutiny does not pass the proverbial "smell test," the of- ficeholder deserves the boot … because the constituents should not have to divine the rel- ative severity of their elected representative's ethical lapses. That brings us to Keith Fitzgerald. Despite desperate — and unfounded — attempts by the Buchanan campaign to smear Fitzgerald as being as ethically challenged as the person he seeks to unseat, it is widely accepted by every impartial observer that Fitzgerald is a model of rectitude in his professional and po- litical life. Were the apparent integrity of each aspirant to the 16th Congressional seat to be the sole deciding factor, it would be no contest: Keith Fitzgerald deserves to replace Buchanan. But