Salazar appointed to Ethics Committee

In 2004, I watched Ken Salazar debate Pete Coors on Meet the Press. When the show was over, I called a friend and said, "Is it my imagination, or does Colorado have the weakest Senate candidates in the history of the world? Neither one of these guys can even form a sentence."

Well, I was wrong on two counts. First, Oklahoma's 2004 Senate candidates have been scientifically determined to have been the weakest in our nation's history. Secondly, our junior senator has shown a real knack for getting down in DC.

The latest evidence comes in the form of a press release from Salazar's website. He announced that he has been appointed to the Senate Ethics Committee. The Rocky Mountain News seems to think this puts Salazar in a precarious position. Being on the Ethics Committee "can put a member of congress in an uncomfortable position at times, as Colorado Springs Republican Rep. Joel Hefley learned last year, when he chaired the House Ethics Committee and presided over an investigation into his party's leader, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After DeLay was admonished three times for campaign fundraising and other issues, Hefley was replaced as committee chairman. Democrats and government watchdogs cried foul, claiming Hefley was being punished for enforcing ethics rules."

But with scandals all over our nation's capitol, the Ethics Committee should be on the frontpage a lot. And people will be watching more closely than they were when Hefley got railroaded by his own party. I think the committee is a pretty good place for any ambitious politician to be.