Fraters Libertas

If He Only Had A Heart

Troubling news out of DC, with allegations that Senator Mark Dayton is ruthlessly targeting and dismissing Federal employees with disabilities:

Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., has been sued by a former aide who alleges he was illegally fired after developing a heart condition. Brad Hanson, who served as Dayton's Minnesota office manager until September, said Dayton fired him after he met with the senator to discuss the need for an operation to correct his cardiac arrhythmia.

Profoundly disturbing news. Of course, the true facts of the case have yet to be determined. But adding fuel to the growing firestorm of controversy, Mark Dayton's office has refused to comment. A move a knowledgeable observer* claims is “very disturbing and suspiciously defensive and may lead one to the reasonable conclusion that indeed Mark Dayton really does hate the infirmed and handicapped.”

Until the investigation is allowed to proceed to its fullest extent, I of course won’t jump to any conclusions on Mark Dayton’s alleged moral failings and illegal employment practices. However it seems to me only two conclusions are possible:

Either Mark Dayton really does hate the infirmed and handicapped and will not rest until he sees all of them run out of government employment and left penniless and without prescription drug coverage.

Or, the employee in question was grossly incompetent, deserved to get fired, and is only now whining due to a philosophy of entitlement, leading him to believe should be generously compensated in perpetuity, no matter how bad he stunk out the joint. Given the fact that that this entitlement philosophy is possessed by 90% of Mark Dayton’s core constituency, his political future appears to be imperiled no matter how this case plays out.

We at Fraters will continue to monitor this story as updates occur. Until then we can only wait and worry.

(*Knowledgeable observation provided by noted Internet blogging scribe Saint Paul. For the purposes of this article, “knowledgeable” is defined as “not really knowing anything about the case.”)