OPINION: Having feet in mouth makes the job tough.

Publication: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX)

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COPYRIGHT 2007 Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Byline: Linda P. Campbell

Nov. 1--Ordinarily, sounding foolish and inarticulate wouldn't be a firing offense -- certainly not in the Bush administration.

But John Tanner, chief of the Justice Department's Voting Section, made his inept comments about elderly minority voters at the National Latino Congreso.

He did it just three weeks before testifying in Congress about the direction of the office he supervises.

And video of his bumbling was posted -- and skewered -- on The BRAD BLOG, and then made its way to YouTube.

Democrats have enthusiastically obliged Tanner's (presumably inadvertent) "hit me" invitation.

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama wants him fired. So does New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who on Tuesday headed a House subcommittee hearing during which African-American members chastised Tanner for stereotyping and bad judgment, among other faults.

It might look like opportunistic piling onto a repentant...

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