It’s been kind of a shame to see Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) deteriorate to the point of incoherence lately, but it’s hard to feel too sorry for him since he refuses to acknowledge his bizarre behavior is a problem and insists that he should continue serving in the Senate.
It’s also been odd to see how his campaign staff handles the dilemma. When Bunning hides from public view, it generates more rumors that he’s not well. When he appears in public, he acts strangely and reinforces concerns that he’s suffering from some kind of condition.
Yesterday, he tried the latter. It didn’t go well.
U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning said yesterday that he was unaware of reports that a unit of Army Reserve soldiers in Iraq had refused an order to deliver fuel for reasons including that their trucks were lightly armored.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Bunning said during a news conference after a speech he gave to the Rotary Club of Louisville.
That’s not a good sign. This story was all over the national and local news; it even dealt with a soldier from Bunning’s home town. As a member of the Senate during a time of war, it seems like the kind of thing Bunning should at least be passively aware of.
But it got worse when Bunning tried to explain why he didn’t know anything about it.
Bunning said, “Let me explain something: I don’t watch the national news, and I don’t read the paper. I haven’t done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information.”
Told that Fox News broadcast the report, Bunning said, “Not the times I watched it. So the fact that somebody was from Louisville, I know about that.”
Wow. Keep in mind, as the Louisville Courier-Journal reported, this was an appearance intended to “dispel rumors about his fitness for a second term.” I don’t think it worked.