How Politicians Survive Scandal
Does this strike anyone else as odd?
Fletcher’s political recovery has been little short of remarkable. A year ago, he was under indictment on three misdemeanor charges of rigging state hiring to favor loyalists. He declined to speak to a grand jury, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and issued a blanket pardon that nullified charges against nine state workers. (Source: Washington Post
I just don’t get this. I understand that in court one is not supposed to take pleading the fifth amendment as evidence of guilt, but the voters of Kentucky aren’t on a jury. They’re voting for a leader. I have a really hard time understanding why such a person as Governor Ernie Fletcher would get any votes at all after using such tactics. It seems we should have higher standards. I suspect, as was noted in the article, that the GOP of Kentucky may be committing its own brand of suicide.
Sadly, it doesn’t sound odd to me – after all we’ve got William “Cold Cash” Jefferson (although admittedly his competition was no better), our former four-time governor who was well known for corruption and now finally in jail. Still, it’s probably (unfortunately) not suicide for the KY GOP. We’ve had decades of this kind of thing around here, yet the LA Democratic party still rolls on like a juggernaut around here in spite of it. The KY GOP will too.
I hate to say it, but I’ve finally come to the conclusion that most people just don’t care about honesty in an elected official, regardless of whether they have a D or an R after their name; it’s just not a priority for them. And I think that’s actually pretty dangerous.