A Brewing Storm of a Different Nature

Washington Post While the nation’s eyes have been focused on Rita, and Houston’s failure to properly coordinate evacuation traffic, another storm was brewing in Republican politics. Much in the manner that Martha Stewart was originally charged with insider trading, or something similar, Senator Bill Frist-R of Tennessee is being investigated by the Security Exchange Commission regarding sales of stock this past summer.
Well it appears that Mr Frist owned a fair amount of stock in a company originally founded by his father, and over the summer, Frist order the blind trust to sell the shares. Where the investigation comes in is the fact that soon after the sale by Frist, poor earnings reports were issued, and the price of the stock dropped significantly from the high it was when Frist sold. There’s no indication that Frist’s family is completely divorced from the business, and there’s no indication that Frist didn’t know those in positions of power with the company.
It is quite hard for me to believe that Frist simply was the recipient of good luck, and that it was purely a coincidence. For someone who’s been discussed as a potential Presidential nominee, and currently the Senate majority leader, even the hint of misappropriateness will linger, and a discovery of wrong doing will not only ruin his political career, it will go a long way of painting the current Republican party as one of double standards and, as Dean said “made their culture of corruption the norm”.