Irony: Ahearn skips screening for her potential DA run

Irony, in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in which what appears, on the surface, to be the case, differs radically from what is actually the case.

I think it is ironic that Laura Ahearn cites ethics concerns given her penchant for cronyism with some of Suffolk County's worst criminals, like Dean Skelos and James Burke.

Laura Ahearn passed on Conservative screening for Suffolk DA

Updated March 3, 2017 5:44 PM
By Rick Brand  rick.brand@newsday.com 

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/columnists/rick-brand/laura-ahearn-passed-on-conservative-screening-for-suffolk-da-1.13206202

Possible Suffolk district attorney hopeful Laura Ahearn declined to appear before the Suffolk Conservative committee Sunday, saying the event posed a “potential ethical conflict,” even though the minor party tried to allay her qualms.

On the eve of candidate screening, Ahearn issued a statement criticizing the minor party for allowing party secretary Michael Torres to arrange the screening appointments for DA contenders while facing criminal charges himself.

Frank Tinari, Suffolk Conservative chair, said he learned of Ahearn’s concerns when a Newsday reporter sought a reaction to her statement on the eve of the screening. Encouraging her participation, Tinari said Torres had “graciously agreed” not to take part in the meeting. “We’d be happy to have her come,” he said. “We want to give everyone a chance to make their case.”

Tinari conveyed his offer to Suffolk Democratic chairman Richard Schaffer, who relayed it to Ahearn. She still declined to attend, saying the offer did “not inspire confidence that anything has changed under the current leadership.”