Sen. Conrad Burns,R-Mont., shakes hands with first lady Laura Bush during a fundraiser for Burns in an aircraft hangar at the Gallatin Field airport in Belgrade, Mont., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Lucas Flory)
Posted on 08/31/2006 11:46:17 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
BELGRADE, Mont. - Republican Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record), whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."
During a fundraiser Wednesday with first lady Laura Bush, the three-term Montana senator talked about terrorism, tax cuts and the money he has brought to his state. Burns is one of the more vulnerable Senate incumbents, facing a tough challenge from Democrat Jon Tester.
He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for calling his house painter a "nice little Guatemalan man" during a June speech. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. The campaign later said the worker is legal.
Burns, 71, also had to apologize after confronting members of a firefighting team at the Billings airport and telling them they had done a "piss-poor job," according to a state report. In July, the Hotshot crew had traveled 2,000 miles from Staunton, Va., to help dig fire lines for about a week around a 143-square-mile wildfire east of Billings.
At the campaign event with Bush, Burns talked about the war on terrorism, saying a "faceless enemy" of terrorists "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."
The campaign said Thursday that the senator was simply pointing out terrorists can be anywhere.
"The point is there are terrorists that live amongst us. Not only here, but in Britain and the entire world," said spokesman Jason Klindt. "Whether they are taxi drivers or investment bankers, the fact remains that this is a new type of enemy."
Responding to Democratic complaints about Burns' verbal gaffes, Republicans argued that a Tester comment earlier this week was derogatory toward American Indians.
In an interview with The Seattle Times, Tester talked about the faith he has in his staff, and said, "Nobody has done anything to make me think they're trying to tomahawk me."
Brock Lowrance, spokesman for the Montana Republican Party, said American Indians have long found "tomahawk" a derogatory term. American Indians are the state's largest minority group.
At the fundraiser, Bush described Burns as a strong advocate for Montana farmers and families.
"In Washington, Senator Burns is a respected voice on the issues facing rural communities in Montana and across the nation," Bush said.
Sen. Conrad Burns,R-Mont., shakes hands with first lady Laura Bush during a fundraiser for Burns in an aircraft hangar at the Gallatin Field airport in Belgrade, Mont., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Lucas Flory)
A Republican dare spoke the truth. Again.
In Montana?
Hold your nose and vote for him, but the MT GOP should start looking to deepen their bench.
Tone-deaf, but true. That won't stop the press from spinning it into a frenzy similar to how they treated George Allen's "macaca" remark, while giving Hillary Clinton's "Gandhi" crack and Joe Biden's 7-11 jokes a pass.
}:-)4
He's sure to get roasted by the libs for this. I wonder how long before his name comes up on Bill Maher's show?
I'll be holding my nose and voting for Connie. He's always saying stupid things. At least he admits it.
This Tester guy is just a party hack. If he gets in he won't be serving the people of Montana. He'll be doing Shumer and Biden's bidding.
No surprise, but Burns is a target of the the states newspapers, and everything he says or does, is the story of the day. The Rat that is opposing him, is left of Kennedy and would lead the charge out of Iraq. Sadly, he isn`t the story, instead it`s Burns and his comments.
In some ways, Burns is a northern version of Katherine Harris.
I'm praying that no one posts a pic of Conrad Burns sitting on a horse.
In my experience, cab drivers have been pretty pro-America. At least the chatty ones....
I want a talking Burns doll for Christmas.
Are you in Montana?
I'm just trying to get a feel from people living there......is this race doomed as the GOP and polling agencies seem to suggest?
Is Tester the foregone conclusion now?
That so many average-Joe's in the street have got the word that middle-of-the-road Ibrahims are gunning for us that the Repubs should CONTINUE spouting off like this.
I think the media will have a hissy, but that it will earn us VOTES.
I really think that.
He's dead nuts on. And he better not pull a Macaca Allen and apologize all over himself.
shudder
Tester is not a foregone conclusion here. We may be embarrassed by Connie frequently but most of us will be voting against the dems rather than for Connie. They're still polling pretty evenly.
The dems have been making progress in MT though since the energy deregulation fiasco. The MT Republican party is a bunch of clowns now and really need to pull their heads out of their rears.
Based on how I've seen taxi drivers operate,I'd say they try to kill during the day too !!!
He's shot both feet off already, I think he's probably going for the knees now...
did you shoot him?
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