What about Browning, Sen. Burns?

At best it was a case of overzealousness.

At worst it was the kind of power politics that gives politicians a bad name.

But whatever the final judgment of history, it is obvious that Sen. Conrad Burns didn't use much judgment of his own when he helped to arrange a $3 million grant to an Indian tribe in Michigan.

Here, in short, are the facts:

Fact 1: The Saginaw Chippewas of Michigan received the $3 million from a program intended to help rebuild substandard Indian tribal schools.

Fact 2: The Saginaw Chippewas are one of the wealthiest tribes in the nation, thanks to a casino northwest of Detroit. Tribal members each receive $70,000 a year from gambling profits.

Fact 3: The Saginaw Chippewas hired Jack Abramoff, a powerful Washington, D.C., lobbyist to represent them.

Fact 4: Sen. Burns received $137,000 in "soft money" political contributions from Abramoff and his clients.

Fact 5: Sen. Burns used his influence to change the eligibility requirements for the grant program so that the Saginaw Chippewas would be eligible.

Fact 6: Burns' former chief of staff, Will M. Brooke, and Ryan Thomas, a Burns staffer on the appropriations subcommittee that Burns chairs, both traveled to the 2001 Super Bowl on the Abramoff corporate jet.

Fact 7: Brooke left his job with Burns at the end of 2003 and went to work for Abramoff.

Fact 8: The FBI, Justice Department's public integrity section and the Interior Department are investigating Abramoff's lobbying practices and whether he used campaign contributions, gifts and job offers to buy influence in Congress on behalf of Indian tribes.

Fact 9: The Washington Post and other national media outlets have reported on this case, and Burns' role in it, tarnishing not just the senator's reputation, but also that of our entire state.

Fact 10: The senator has yet to respond, except to have a staff member proclaim, somewhat sheepishly, "I don't believe he was unduly influenced."

The facts, we think, speak for themselves.

This is plainly a pitiful mess, which reminds us once again why term limits got to be such a popular idea in the first place. It seems politicians who stay at the table too long just naturally reach for the gravy.

Perhaps, it will turn out that Sen. Burns was entirely innocent in this affair, that there was no corruption or "undue influence," and that he was operating out of truly noble motives "to improve the way of life in tribal communities." We hope so.

But the senator still owes the state an explanation for why he was opening doors to help a wealthy tribe in Michigan get $3 million while reservation schools in Browning, Lame Deer and Rocky Boy by and large continue to find themselves shut out.

We suspect Burns will have to answer plenty of questions posed by authorities in the coming months, but for us the most important question he has to answer is this: "What about Browning?"