Uncle Ernie Fiddles About

Governor Ernie Fletcher has been indicted, just today in fact, for violating state laws regarding state hiring. According to the indictment of the Grand Jury, he went about setting up a special panel to get around these laws, managing to base his hiring of state employees based on not merit, but political patronage. Governor Fletcher might be in some deep shit. Of course, he could reneg on his earlier promise not to pardon himself if indicted, as he did indeed pardon all the others who were faced with that eventuality, ahead of the charges.

Maybe he thought that vow would not be seen as politcal grandstanding, but would provide him with cover from what he asserts is mere politcal grandstanding by State Attorney General Stumbo, a likely gubernatorial candidate for the Democratic Party in 2007. He still, yet today, made that assertion. Speaking in Ashland in response to news of the charges, the Governor insisted the entire investigation was a politcal sham.

Well, sorry Governor, but the people of Kentucky aren’t buying it. According to the latest state wide polls, 57% think the Governor shoud resign from office. A mere 38% think he should remain. 5% are uncertain. Not good news, either for Fletcher himself, or for the recently much bloodied and batterred Repulican Party. The culture of corruption, it seems, like all politics, is local as well.

But this should really come as no surprise anyway, as Kentucky has always been a corrupt state. What the hell else can you assume anyway from a state that passes a law that gives a governor the power to pardon himself? What is eally shameful is that, when it passed, no one noticed, or objected, or, if they did, it was quickly forgotten.