An Editorial from the Claremore Daily Progress

Published August 07, 2007

Chairman Holmes

— For decades Ivan Holmes was a legendary journalism professor at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. In that capacity, he turned out some of our state’s brightest journalists and taught them to think, challenge authority and seek the truth.

Holmes is now chairman of the Democratic party and is trying to do the same thing in that position. He recently challenged United States Senator Tom Coburn to be consistent. When Louisiana Senator David Vitter’s name surfaced in the telephone books of a Washington, D.C., prostitute after Vitter had previously confessed to a similar situation in Louisiana, Coburn was quick to defend him. Coburn took the position that Vitter had made a mistake and should be forgiven.

He may be right in that respect. It depends upon the facts and exactly how often Vitter has engaged in this form of a “mistake.” What Holmes, however, challenged Coburn to do was be consistent. Coburn, who offers himself up as a moral authority, has on a regular basis bashed Democrats for their shortcomings, moral or otherwise. Holmes points out that Coburn ought to do the same thing with Vitter, but Coburn obviously is taking a different approach.

If Coburn wants to show Holmes, he’ll be consistent in the future and offer that same forgiveness when members of either party have their shortcomings. Otherwise, he’ll prove that his time in Washington is showing him to become as partisan as he once said he would never become.