Published: August 16, 2008 12:00 am            

For the kids, or just for political gain?

o let me get this straight.

Sen. Tom Coburn is under investigation for a conflict of interest because he's delivering babies when he's not on his day job in Washington.

Coburn is doing the work, he has said, to keep his skills up since he eventually plans to return full-time to his medical practice when his days with the government are done.

The Associated Press reported Coburn has not even been charging patients and their families since he won a seat in the Senate in 2004, due to a rule against outside income for senators.

The sticking point here is that Coburn's work is being done at a for-profit hospital in Muskogee.

So after all that, Coburn is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee for a possible conflict of interest.

Maybe it's just a formality. Maybe it's just going to prove to be a fruitless search for negative issues.

Or maybe it's a hunt to come after a guy who's done a few things that have ruffled some feathers on Capitol Hill.

I can't say I've been behind everything Coburn has suggested. His ideas about cutting costs and trying to simplify are good, even if they are difficult to do and sometimes risk doing more short-term damage than good.

And his 2004 Senate race with Brad Carson got downright nasty and negative, and led to a number of people I've talked to -- as well as this writer -- leaving that spot on their ballot blank.

So he's not perfect for sure. And you likely won't have to look far to find a person who's shaken their head in disbelief at things he may have said or done.

But it sure sounds like he's been doing a positive thing for new babies and families here. And instead of praise, for whatever reason, he's getting negative response and people assuming it's being done for political reasons. That point may have more merit, as it's hard to imagine any modern politician not doing things for some sort of political gain.

Let's hope this is more about the babies than the votes.

n n n

I've never been a big fan of swimming, except for the day at about age 10 that I finally conquered my fear of the pool and did a lap without an inner tube or help for the first time.

But I've got to say I've made a point to watch as many of Michael Phelps' historic efforts in the Olympic pool as possible.

Already in the Beijing games, Phelps has become the all-time career gold medal winner in American history. By the time he's done he may break Mark Spitz's mark for most golds by a swimmer.

As a side note, Phelps is 6-4 and just shy of 200 pounds, almost the same size I am.

I just turned 36, can get across the pool a few times but am much better at sitting in the hot tub.

He's only 19, and likely will be back after more medals another time or two. Scary.

n n n

Just when we thought the Georgia around the world had the biggest news of the day, our own Georgia comes through with this one.

Two men who live in north Georgia claim they have the remains of a half-man, half-ape "Bigfoot," who would have stood 7-foot-7 and weighed more than 500 pounds.

As goofy as the story sounds, it was popular all over online news searches Friday, and apparently appealed to certain columnists as well.

If anything comes of it, I guess Georgia will have something more to be famous for.

Christian Potts 366-3531 cpotts@normantranscript.com

        

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