I am reticent to write on Senator Robert Byrd’s visit to Charleston because many conservative bloggers have already exhausted the subject, but I promised Charleston Mayor Danny Jones I would discuss it after he sent me an unpleasant email.

Senator Byrd’s visit to Charleston was nothing but a campaign event hosted by the city of Charleston. Under the auspices of celebrating his record tenure in the senate, the city is helping his campaign. But the privilege of addressing the city is not coming to Byrd for free. The week before the speech, Byrd stuck $1 million federal dollars into an appropriations bill to help assist the city’s riverfront project: the exact place he gave his speech. Maybe it is just me, but something smells fishy – and no, it’s not the riverfront.

There’s nothing like a little quid pro quo to kick off a campaign. While there is no hard evidence that Byrd promised our tax dollars in exchange for the opportunity to speak, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the money did not hurt his chances. Besides, it is time the City of Charleston wise up to the facts of campaigning. Any opportunity for any candidate to speak during the campaigning season is a campaign event. And sticking money into appropriation bills before you campaign there is bad business.

Corruption in West Virginia has changed over the years. In the old days a candidate would give his own hard-earned dollars to precinct bosses to ensure an election. Now Byrd is giving our hard-earned tax dollars back to us and we are supposed to support him because of it.

A leading democrat once told me that for every dollar returned to the people, the government spends $4 dollars. So let’s see: $1 million dollars x 4 = $4 million dollars that was wasted so that Byrd could buy the city with $1 million dollars. Don’t you just love democrat math?

I hate to be persnickety, but it is not too much to ask that our leaders either avoid the appearance of evil or — if the temptation is too strong – avoid being so open about it.