On March 20th, 2016, Charles Kuffner posted an article to his political
blog “Off the Kuff” discussing accusations made towards Agriculture Commissioner
Sid Miller. Sid Miller is being accused of using $1,120 of taxpayer money for
personal use. He recently took a trip to Oklahoma which he claimed was for
business purposes and even brought back a photo of himself with three other
lawmakers at the State Capitol. Yet when interviewed, the Oklahoma lawmakers
said they had not invited Miller there for business and the “talk with Miller
was nothing more than a brief chat that started in a hallway”. After more
interviews, two people with direct knowledge of the trip revealed that Miller
himself had told them he was going to get a medical procedure done in Oklahoma.
Many are now thinking that the procedure was a “Jesus Shot” ("a controversial but legal medication administered by a...doctor who claims that it takes away all pain for life") because Miller himself told the Houston Chronicle he received one to help with his chronic pain after his rodeo years. When
Miller’s office was questioned about the trip, they only responded that they
would pay back the flight and rental car costs.
Kuffner’s response is exactly how I believe most people
would react to such a story. He presents his opinion in a logical way and
writes in such a reasonable and relatable tone. At first, I was curious as to
where he got the information on the interviews he discusses. But I found he
does back up his statements with a link directly to an article of the Houston Chronicle that
verifies all of it. He is able to make the reader feel the same way about Sid
Miller as he feels, though that isn’t too tough of a job. Pointing out the fact
that Miller stole such a trivial amount of money compared to his yearly salary
of almost $140,000 leaves us all with a bad taste in our mouth about such
corruption in our local government. I also agree with his concern that none of
Miller’s colleagues in state government felt the need to address this issue of
stealing. Not only do we as citizens need to hold our elected officials more
accountable, but other politicians need to do so as well. Kuffner wraps his
article up well with his own prediction that the reign of Republicans in Texas
will eventually collapse in on itself under the weight of scandal and corruption.
And it seems a hard thing to argue with when these politicians are so unafraid
of facing consequences for their actions or ruining their reputation that they
use taxes to take a road trip and get a “Jesus Shot”.
