Moonage Political Webdream

Here’s the headline:

Fletcher Pardons Those Involved In Merit Probe

Governor Denies Knowingly Making Mistakes

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher pardoned all current and former members of his administration involved in the ongoing investigation of state hiring practices.

"I’m ready to stand up to this misguided display of prosecutorial misconduct," Fletcher said at a news conference Monday. "I will not be intimidated."

Now, what that was all about was Kentucky elected its first Republican governor in 35 years or so.  However, it continued its tradition by electing a Democrat Attorney general.  Now, that wouldn’t be so bad, but:

Greg Stumbo€™s long tenure as Majority Leader has seen passage of some of the most progressive legislation in Kentucky history, including…

Now, the key word there is "Majority Leader".  That implies that Stumbo was the golden boy of the majority party.  That party is not the party the Governor is a member of.  The second I found out those results came in election day, I predicted this would happen.

Now, some background.  About 10 years or so I invested in the construction of a hotel.  As part of the franchise, we had to have a stoplight in front of the building.  We took a bag of cash to Frankfort, dropped it on a desk, and THEN got to see the majority party’s point man.  We got our stoplight.  Who was in charge of the legislature that paid for that light during all that?  Why, Greg Stumbo of course.  Where was his outcry and concern then? For him to target Fletcher exclusively for what he himself has participated in is nothing but political hypocrisy and surely is an abuse of the attorney general’s office.  Stumbo should have called in the FBI and recused himself as this could very well point back to him.  As it stands now, it just looks like politics as usual in Frankfort.  And, trust me, it is.

What Fletcher needs to do is call for a non-governmental committee to investigate the hiring process of the state of Kentucky for the last 50 years and see what can be done to fix it.  And, Fletcher needs to ask the FBI to investigate Stumbo for abusing his office for political gain.  Stumbo knows better than Fletcher about how the political process has worked in Frankfort since 1985.  Since 1985, you’ve either had to be a prominent Democrat or carrying a bag of cash to get anything done. 

I would love to see those committees in action.  I’ll testify on both.  I’ll name names.  I think it would be a RIOT!

Stumbo’s opening a can of worms that if Fletcher had any political sense at all would be able to bite Stumbo’s behind in a major way.  However, I’ve always felt Fletcher is somewhat too naive to be able to play the game as it’s been played my entire adult lifetime.

Now, this has been the cause celebre of the Lexington Herald.  They convicted Fletcher the second Stumbo told them to.  They even went so far as to tell the governor not to use the pardons.  They have crucified Fletcher for months.  What they have never done, not once, is ask the question of whether Stumbo has done this very deed himself.  They cite some quotes that say this is practice as usual, but they refuse to take it any farther than that.  This IS practice as usual.  Stumbo knows that.  The Herald Leader knows that.  Why won’t the Herald Leader point out the OBVIOUS hypocrisy of this situation?  Huh?  Why is that?  The true question of all this is whether or not Stumbo’s using the powers of the Attorney General for political gain.  That’s the scary part IMO.  The even scarier part is The Herald Leader doesn’t care and/or is abetting in the crime.

Fletcher needs to bring the FBI in.  Stumbo WILL do it.  Fletcher is just fodder for Stumbo if he doesn’t figure out how to play this game real fast.

( email me Ernie if you have to. )

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Tags: Ethics

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