Friday, May 12, 2006

Ky. Governor Ernie Fletcher indicted for illegal hiring

From FOX News we get the report that Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher (Republican, natch) has been indicted for hiring government employees illegally based on political affiliation. The charges are misdemeanors which accuse him of illegally rewarding political supporters with state jobs. Think Progress also carries the story.

I previously posted on Gov. Fletcher here. This post has links to previous posts.

Fletcher's rebuttal is that the Kentucky Attorney General is a Democrat and this is all political theater. It should also be pointed out that Fletcher has used his power as Governor to pardon the nine of his subordinates who might have been indicted prior to any indictment.

My opinion is that Republicans tend to understand how Kings operate government, but are a lot weaker on recognizing the rule of law in a Democracy and how it limits executive powers. It is two different views of government, the view of the king being the more traditional and less complicated. I also don't think it is solely an attitude of Republicans, but that these days people with this attitude tend to drift to the Republican Party.


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