In what has to count as one of the supreme poetic ironies of the Bush administration, it seems there's been some trouble with that "ordinary" middle class American couple with whom Bush gleefully shared the stage as he signed his latest tax cut into law.
You might recall that Bush held up Mike and Sharla Hintz of Clive, Iowa, as shining examples of the real beneficiaries of his tax plan when he showed up in Des Moines to sign the most recent round of slashes. Bush even mentioned that it was the couple's 13th wedding anniversary and that next year when they receive their refund check "they may want to come to Texas." He particularly emphasized the $1,600 refund that the couple had received last year as their child tax credit for their four children.
Unfortunately for Bush, that 13th anniversary may well be the Hintz's last, and Mike, at least, will not be free to visit Texas anytime soon.
The Washington Post has reported that Mike, a First Assembly of God youth pastor, was arrested this week and charged with sexual exploitation of a child. Apparently, last spring Mr. Hintz began having sex with a 17-year old girl who was a member of the church's youth group. The contact occurred at the girl's home and during a mission trip to India. Meanwhile, it would take a less cynical person than I not to speculate about whether at least some of that $1,600 might have gone to purchase baubles and lingerie.
Would appreciate ideas about how to make the most of this kind of perfectly pointed Republican hypocrisy as well as other recent examples that anyone has become aware of, that have not been widely publicized. You would think the SCLM would be all over this kind of thing.