Ed Wood "The Right Stuff" Published Jan. 15, 2003

Frist -- the right man
at the right time

As we all know by now, through a rather bizarre turn of events, Trent Lott was tossed from his leadership position in the Senate of the United States, and replaced with Tennessee's Sen. Bill Frist.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and other Democrats called for Lott's removal for having made what some called a racist statement to honor retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond at his 100th birthday party. I never thought I would agree with the Rev. Jackson on anything, but this time we were on the same side of the "dump Trent Lott" issue. I think I might agree with the Rev. Jackson that Lott's remark was racist. But in addition, I have always thought he was just plain dull. And he certainly proved it, didn't he? I'm glad he's gone.

But the state of Tennessee, and the country as a whole, are blessed to have a person of Sen. Bill Frist's character and integrity to fill the vacancy. His meteoric rise to a top leadership position within the Senate is remarkable. He was first elected to the Senate in the Republican sweep of November 1994. This past November, we voted him to a second term by the largest margin ever received by a candidate for statewide election in the history of the state of Tennessee!

Dr. Frist holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, is an honor graduate of the Harvard School of Medicine, spent his residency at the prestigious Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, plus additional training at California's Stanford University and at the Southampton General Hospital in Southampton, England. Sen. Frist is a world-renowned heart and lung transplant surgeon. He and his family are devout Presbyterians, and he spends his vacations on medical missionary trips to Africa and other underdeveloped nations, doing everything from heart bypass operations to fitting used eyeglasses.

In addition to having performed more than 200 heart and lung transplant procedures, Dr. Frist has written more than 100 articles and abstracts on medical research, and he has authored three books on the subject of organ transplant. He is a truly remarkable man, and we as a nation are fortunate to have him serving us in a position of leadership.

But as might be expected, his political opponents in Congress, and in the media, are already out to tear him apart. They are not attacking him on political issues, but are trying to destroy him personally, as is their usual tactic.

Since racist allegations forced Sen. Lott from office, Sen. Frist's enemies are anxious to brand him as a racist, too! For instance, in a recent campaign stop Sen. Frist handed out pencils with his name stamped on them. He told an aid not to sharpen the pencils because he "didn't want to get stuck." His critics are claiming that this statement was racist, because Frist was expressing a fear that the African-Americans in the audience would attack him with the sharpened pencils! And there are other such silly accusations.

Newsweek's Dec. 21 edition condemns Sen. Frist because Nashville's Hospital Corporation of America, one of the nation's largest hospital chains, was founded by his father, and is being run by his brother. The stock that Sen. Frist owns in the family business was placed in a blind trust back in 1994, so the senator has no control over these and other personal investments.

But there are those who say that in order to avoid a perceived conflict of interest, Sen. Frist should have excused himself from all Congressional debate on health care issues. Now I ask you, who would you prefer represent your interests on medical issues: a world-renowned doctor and surgeon or Ted Kennedy?

Newsweek goes on to report that the Hospital Corporation of America has been the object of a long-standing Janet Reno-instigated Justice Department investigation. That is true, but the Justice Department has made no accusations or reached any conclusions. Still, that didn't stop Newsweek's quoting a Mr. Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity (whatever that is) as saying, "Here is Congress hammering out what are the rights of all Americans when it comes to health care and one of the key Senate leaders deeply involved in that process is a multimillionaire from a fraudulent health care company." A "fraudulent" health care company? See? Tried and convicted already!

So, let's be honest. Sen. Frist came from a wealthy family. He didn't have to devote the first 30 years of his life to becoming a heart transplant surgeon. He could have more easily spent those youthful years at the family estate on Center Hill Lake, or the French Riviera, or wherever he chose. He could afford it. But he chose instead to prepare himself to give life and breath to others through the study of medicine.

And having achieved world-renowned respect in his chosen profession, he certainly didn't have to subject himself to the humiliating backbiting of political opponents who would be unworthy to carry his stethoscope. But he did so because he felt he could be of even greater service to the people of Tennessee, and to the nation.

Our Sen. Frist, our Dr. Frist, deserves better.

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Ed Wood is a resident of Sparta, TN. His column is published each Wednesday in the Crossville Chronicle.