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Wednesday, September 14, 2005

KY-Gov: Walls Closing in Around Fletcher

Posted by DavidNYC

Embattled Kentucky Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher just fired nine staffers who have been involved in a major crony hiring scandal - all of whom he had recently pardoned:

Among those to be sacked are Richard Murgatroyd, Fletcher's deputy chief of staff and close friend. Fletcher said he would also ask the state Republican Party to oust Darrell Brock as its chairman. Brock used to be head of Fletcher's local development office.

Of course, with Republicans, accountability never goes all the way to the top, even in the face of indictments:

Except for Murgatroyd, though, Fletcher left the highest ranking members of his administration who were indicted in their jobs, notably acting Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert and deputy secretary Jim Adams.

But the walls are nevertheless closing in:

Fletcher and his supporters have accused Stumbo of pursuing the investigation for his own political agenda when there was no real wrongdoing.

Fletcher said he hoped to "bury the hatchet" with Stumbo and work together.

For Fletcher to say he wants to "bury the hatchet" in this case is the political equivalent of crying uncle. I think things are gonna get a lot worse for Fletcher & Co.

In any event, The BluegrassReport sums up Ernie Fletcher, flip-flopper extraordinaire, perfectly:

Governor Fletcher Version 1.0 (2003) -- Send me to Frankfort so that I can clean-up the mess and restore hope by bringing in people with rock solid values.

Governor Fletcher Version 2.0 (June 2005) -- This is all political witch hunt and the beginning of the 2007 governor's race. We didn't do anything wrong. All we did was level the playing field.

Governor Fletcher Version 3.0 (Today) -- "It is now clear to me that there were mistakes made by staff members who either did not understand - or appreciate - the spirit of the merit system rules. And it is now time for me to take action that I believe is appropriate for the circumstances at hand."

Hopefully Version 4.0 is right around the corner -- "I resign."

I look at this as just one more example of the utterly corrupt-to-the-bone state the modern Republican party finds itself in. Ethics really has got to be our big issue for 2006.

(Hat tip to BluegrassReport, as you might expect. They also have some thoughts on why Fletcher has chosen this moment to start caving.)

Posted at 06:18 PM in Culture of Corruption, Kentucky, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Comments

This is completely off topic, but I thought you guys would like to know. That 'horrible' candidate Bob Casey Jr you guys are always talking about. Yeah, he's leading by 14% in the latest poll. 52% - 38%. Thought you might want to get that on the front page of SSP.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/091505.html

Posted by: nickshepDEM at September 14, 2005 10:39 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Cheers, nickshepDEM for that post. I'm proudly voting for Casey, as is the rest of my enormous family.

Posted by: BCarr at September 15, 2005 12:38 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

There's actually someone running around with the last name "Murgatroyd?" I thought that was a name my late great grandmother made up!

Posted by: Betamax Guillotine at September 15, 2005 05:01 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment