Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., has either lost his moral compass, spent too much time in the Arizona sun or is a bald-faced liar.
Franks flatly deceived viewers on Fox's "America's Newsroom" earlier this week by implying that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had earmarked funds for a railroad from Disneyland to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Mound House.
How could Franks come up with such bucket of hogwash? It's obvious he already has spent too much time in Washington, D.C., because he clearly has forgotten his western geography. There is no direct rail right-of-way from Las Vegas to Carson City, 400 miles away.
This is no more than another Republican arrow whizzing at the target on Reid's back. It also demonstrates the desperation of the GOP to cast aspersions on Nevada's senior senator and Senate majority leader.
The mere fact that a member of the United States Congress would go on a national cable news program to tell a lie is sickening. To fabricate such a ridiculous lie by combining two projects 400 miles apart is desperation.
Fox host Megyn Kelly laid the track for Franks' line of deceit by saying, "It's a super railroad of sorts, a line that will deliver customers straight from Disney " we kid you not " to the doorstep of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch Brothel in Nevada."
Franks clearly misled viewers by affirming the train would run from Disneyland to the brothel.
Kelly later piped in with, "The bunnies are very happy about this development," adding fuel to Franks' outrageous lie.
Fox obviously has an inside line with the Bunny Ranch by means of Fox talk show host Sean Hannity, who spent some time interviewing the bunnies at the ranch in 2007.
The irony of Franks' charade is that 80 percent of his district, which includes the Colorado River system and the Grand Canyon, benefits from Nevada tourism, which sends thousands of Las Vegas and Laughlin tourist to those sites every day.
The second irony is that Franks alluded to Americans losing trust in government, but how can Americans trust congressmen like Franks when he is capable of totally twisting the truth with a straight face?
Wow, I need to remove my rose-colored glasses.
- Tim O'Callaghan is co-publisher of the Henderson Home News.