Letter-to-the-Editor Questions Taylor's leadership

Dan Lindsay of Hattiesbug - Letter-to-the-Editor - Hattiesburg American

When I moved to South Mississippi in 1979, I was taken aback by the leadership that this area had in Congress.

I could turn on the Sunday talk shows or the news clips and there was Trent Lott speaking his mind and providing leadership to our nation. It seemed that the people of this nation listened to the guide from South Mississippi.

I was proud that my new home took this lead in guiding our nation.

This leadership stopped about 20 years ago when a young salesman told us how he would fill those shoes and even though he was a Democrat, would remain conservative and true to South Mississippi values.

Can you believe that Gene Taylor has been in Congress for 20 years? Time sure flies when you go unnoticed.

He is such a nice boy!

In those 20 years, I can only recall one time that I saw Gene Taylor on national television. He was proudly standing next to Nancy Pelosi for whom he voted for Speaker of the House.

Conservative? Mr. Taylor claims his finest hours followed Hurricane Katrina. Bobby Jindal, our neighboring Congressman, was demanding action. Gene Taylor was excited that Nancy Pelosi came to visit. Where was the leadership?

Conservative? Mr. Taylor actually seems to avoid the media when he announced on television that he was just "too busy" to find why taxpayers are still paying today, almost four years later, for hotels and catered meals being supplied by FEMA to Gulf Coast Katrina victims.

Is that the leadership that was promised to us? Do we need to continue supporting Pelosi/Taylor?

We have heard of Blue Dog democrats showing their conservatism. Is Gene Taylor a member? If he is, he sure hasn't been "manning up" and getting in front of the national media protecting South Mississippi.

Or maybe I wasn't watching? Were you?