UPDATE 03/22/08: I found this “correction” in the Great Falls Tribune this morning regarding the Viewpoint from Senator Jon Tester. The correction was posted near the bottom of the Editorial/Opinion page (Pg 8A):

Audit under way

The headline earlier this week on a Roundtable opinion by Sen. Jon Tester incorrectly stated that the self-imposed ethics audit on Tester’s office was completed. The audit began about two weeks ago, but Justice John Sheehy doesn’t expect to have results for public release until mid-April.

It’s funny that the Tribune folks did not write their basic “we screwed up” line with this correction, which goes like: “The Tribune regrets all errors and strives to correct mistakes promptly.”

Maybe if the headline writers would actually read the stories, things like this would not happen. That’s probably asking too much.

——————————————

The Great Falls Tribune carried a Viewpoint on the Editorial/Opinion page Tuesday by Senator Jon Tester. Tester’s Viewpoint was called, “Keeping a promise: First ethics audit completed.”

So, the Ethics Audit is already completed? Wow, that was fast!

People may be a little confused after reading the Tester’s viewpoint. First, Tester says the audit was completed, and then he added, “And last week, we made history again — this time by becoming the first Senate office to hold a voluntary ethics audit.”

So it was completed, “…the first senate office to hold a voluntary ethics audit.”

Then he wrote, “My office is currently sending boxes of documents and records from 2007. They include my personal financial disclosure forms, my total daily schedule for 2007, my requested earmarks, my voting record and my office’s travel records.” He added, “Using the Senate Ethics Rules as a guideline, Judge Sheehy will spend several weeks combing over all these records.” He then wrote, “In about a month, we hope to see a written report from Judge Sheehy, explaining what he finds.”

So, it looks like the ethics audit was completed before the boxes of documents arrived and they were reviewed. Confused? Maybe it’s a new type of ethics audit by the Democrats?

I guess if the Tribune misprinted Tester’s Viewpoint, we will soon be seeing a correction. If we do see one in the future, I will update this post with that information in red, because I am a very fair person.

But the fact is that many folks believed Tester’s annual ethics audit promise during the campaign was just a gimmick for votes. Some folks were even gullible enough to vote for him because of this promise.

After more than a year in office, Tester was reminded here and through other sources about this promise. After 15 months in office, Tester announced who he selected for his ethics auditor. Most folks just shook their head and laughed when he announced a fellow Democrat was doing the audit.

After that announcement and with Tuesday’s viewpoint from the senator telling us it was completed before the documents apparently arrived, the beliefs that this whole audit was just a publicity stunt to get votes are even stronger today – just like his comments about his being “against earmarks, period” were a publicity stunt.

The truth as well as the facts are probably out there somewhere. We’ll keep watching.