Rep. Brown partially right for all the wrong reasons

State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown claims she is the "victim of misleading political attacks." She's right about that, up to a point. She is the victim of "political attacks," although I'm not sure they qualify as "misleading." And the Irving Republican who should be defeated in November (she won by only 18 votes in her last election) has pulled a Tiger Woods or a (does anyone remember) Jim Maddox by trying to go on the offensive without any semblance of defense.

Harper-Brown's vehicle of choice is a 2010 Mercedes E550, a car with a cost of $83,887. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, if you can afford it. Trouble is, the car doesn't belong to Harper-Brown. It is owned a company called Durable Enterprises Equipment, Ltd. Nothing wrong with that either, on the face of it.

But if you look beyond the face, you will find a lot of trouble with that. Durable Enterprises Equipment, Ltd., is a transportation-related company that does a lot of business with the state and Harper-Brown is a member of the House's Transportation Committee. That's at least conflict of interest and could be constituted as a bribe.

In her statement today Harper-Brown said:

"The real story here is just how desperate the Democrat Party is to bring the Obama-Pelosi agenda to Texas. They've recruited a 25-year-old government employee from San Antonio who is just a few years out of high school to run for Irving's seat in the Texas House. They've made some outlandish claims, and they've made these accusations without a lick of proof. Irving families deserve better, not angry political rhetoric from folks who don't live in our community. I've long been fighting for open and transparent government, and I won't let some sleazy attacks from Washington, D.C., liberals stop me from fighting for lower taxes and less government. Please ignore their lies."

Notice there's not a word there about a Mercedes or any other car or even Durable Equipment, Ltd., unless she's trying to claim that President Obama and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi planted that car in her name, forced her to put state government license plates on it and drive it. Frankly, I don't think either of them care one whit about this Idiot from Irving.

Like Woods when he made his first public "statement" following the revelations of his domestic problems, Harper-Brown is refusing to answer questions from the media. Unlike Woods, however, Harper-Brown didn't even make a live appearance to read her statement. She made a video and sent it to reporters.

Can you picture her in front of a reporter who asks her about a possible conflict of interest and she replies "The real story here is ... "

Here's something you can take to the bank. Anyone who begins answering a question with "The real story here is ..." is not going to be answering the question. I just feel sorry for the people of Irving who have to wait until November to rid themselves of this embarrassment.