When Did Taking an Interest Become a Negative Thing?

If you're like me, you've been following the Bill Frist story and shaking your head in disgust. Here's a man devoted to all aspects of medicine, and the press is making a mockery of him by accusing him of having a conflict of interest..

Frist is not only a doctor, but a surgeon. And not only does he shape our country's laws in relation to healthcare, but he also owns stock in the healthcare industry. Now I don't really see how there's a conflict of interest. I mean, think about it--and think clearly, not through some scandal hungry media filter. Doesn't it seem logical that as a practitioner, a lawmaker, and a stockholder, Frist would want to see the health care industry succeed and be profitable? It would seem to me that such a man would make for one really motivated lawmaker.

Now don't we want our lawmakers to be interested in what they are doing? Don't we want lawmakers who are motivated to see America succeed? Rather than tearing the man down, the media should hold him up as a shining example of what politics can truly represent in out great nation. After all, is not Frist of the same mold as our administrative leadership, Bush and Cheney. Here we have oil men pursuing oil interests, and look at everything such interests have produced.

What would liberals have us do? Elect divested, disinterested, and dispassionate politicians who adhere to ethics and objectivity? Wouldn't you prefer to elect a lawmaker who has a vested financial stake in the running of our country and the shaping of our laws?

The correct choice should be clear.