Democrats and War

I'm tired of the only two options in Iraq being to stay the course or to pull out. Democrats are being stupid on this issue. There is a third choice, which should actually be the second: Engage our allies to help with the fight, move in with more troops and secure the place. Rumsfeld's argument is that more troops will only provide more targets for insurgents and increase the level of resentment toward us. This is a fundementally weak position.This assumes that insurgents strike at will now and no matter how many troops we put on the ground, they will always strike at will. I supported the war and think this is one we can't lose, but everything I read from a big picture standpoint suggests terror is winning because we don't have the will to win. Nearly all of the propaganda you read about how things are safer seems to adhere to the idea that the plural of anecdote is data. The visit to one town where the insurgents have been driven out or the rebuilding is working is then extrapolated over the whole country.

The new news? KY Republicans are pussies

I checked the usual sources this morning, but didn't think there was anything worth blogging about. I checked back this evening and boy did I miss a big story. This story should be headlined, "Republicans are pussies: did not have balls to fire political appointee who wouldn't do the job he was awarded."

In another Jan. 20 e-mail Murgatroyd sent to Druen, he said he was unsure what to do with Holiday if he wouldn't accept his first job.

"So do we have another place to put him where he will work?" Murgatroyd asked. "Otherwise, put him in a corner and we'll ignore him. I just won't have him setting this kind of example in the name of the Governor or the Secretary."

I was unaware that "Murg" was actually a woman or, at the very least, a castrati. FIRE HIM! WTF? Was he appointed for life? What did they do?

Rather than fire Holiday, the administration found him another job -- "administrative coordinator," which pays $42,420 a year.

OMG! You are fucking kidding me! (Pardon my French, but I have never seen anything more in need of a masculine obscenity to wash away the submissiveness of "Murg") But surely the guy has been fired, right?

Transportation Cabinet spokesman Doug Hogan said Holiday "works on a variety of internal projects." He provided one example: Holiday manages a cabinet that encourages employees to give to charities...

Holiday has declined to comment on Murgatroyd's concerns, but he said in an interview he is working in his new job.

"I work hard for the governor and the taxpayers and I will continue to do so," he said.

I bet this guy is working hard for Felcher. I hope he doesn't spread around the Santorum as he does. No one who voted for this ass clown can ever lecture me about security or defense or nationalism. I have printed this story out and will keep it in my back pocket to show whenever the chickenhawks attack.

If this is politically motivated, Stumbo is a genius. Rove called the liberals wusses. Stumbo gave us real world evidence that Rupublicans are.

CentrePiece

I'm giving away a little bit of my identity, but I don't really care, because this is too good to pass up. I've got some email out to Centre to find out the true story behind this, but I doubt I will get the straight scoop.

There is a story in the new edition of the CentrePiece today, for those of you outside the club, this is Centre College's Alumni glossy mag. There is a story in the mag on Centre in Frankfort (A play, for those not in the club, on the phrase Centre uses to describe its international programs: Centre in Straussbourg, Centre in London, Centre in Aruba[?]) detailing the exploits of Centre grads in Kentucky's capitol. Well, well, well, though there is at least one Keith Hall appointee included, the 'lustrious Hall is nowhere to be mentioned. Now, I haven't seen the CentrePiece, yet, but for it to be mailed and arrive less than two weeks after Hall stepped down from the Department of Homeland Security and not to mention Keith Hall, the consummate self promoter, it seems to me there are a few options for what happened:

1) He knew his departure was impending and the probe was going to go deeper and uncover more unethical dealings and he chose not to add insult to injury, and he declined to be included.

2) The mag was at the printer and a rep from Centre made a frantic call to have the portions about Mr. Hall expunged. This seems the most likely, though least intriguing, option.

3) The mag was already back from the printer and had to be sent back to be reprinted sans the offending passages, paid for perhaps, by a Centre Alumnus. Before anyone goes apeshit over this option and I get caught in an Our Man in Havana type scenario (If you haven't read this Graham Greene classic, don't worry, I have a Greene fetish), this is pure fantasy and not meant to suggest anything. It's just an option that could have happened. As I see it.

Crit Luallen, the state auditor, who just so happens to be helping to bring Felcher down, was featured in the article. My source said it said nice things about her.

Sexy Sadie

True to my word, I wanted to mention something totally bizarre, but totally in character with Felcher's Kiddie Korps. Felcher apparently had a super secret email address, named after his dog, Sadie. Apparently, this was for use only in times of HOmeland Security emergency, when a Democrat needed to be fired and for cybersex exchanges. The messages had to be decoded with a decoder ring acquired from a clandestine box of Count Chocula. These people are running a state. Granted we may be ranked in the low 40s in most things where a low number is good, but I think even Mississippi and Alabama have their shit together more than this crowd.

Shrill

Felcher's apparently pissed at the AG's office to the benefit of welfare queens everywhere. Though I'm sure this has been "planned" for a long time, the Felcher administration's every move seems to support the assertion that it is vindictive and cronyistic. I've always been told, when you're in hole, the first step to getting out is to STOP DIGGING!

But Pierce Whites, deputy attorney general, said the move is a reprisal against his office for its investigation of wrongdoing by personnel in the Health and Family Services Cabinet. He called the decision an "attempt to gut" the office's welfare investigation unit.

This spring, the attorney general's office launched an investigation into widespread employee embezzlement and lackadaisical checks-and-balances at the cabinet that has cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars. A special grand jury is currently hearing evidence on that matter.

One welfare case worker, for instance, pleaded guilty last summer to writing roughly $430,000 worth of checks to himself and his then-girlfriend, mostly to fund a $1,000-a-day OxyContin habit.

"This is obviously retaliation against the attorney general's investigation into widespread graft and corruption within the cabinet itself," Whites said. "We've uncovered a number of instances where cabinet employees were stealing funds that were supposed to go help Kentucky's neediest citizens."

Felcher needs to resign. Then he can play golf with Ohio's Taft after he resigns.

Shady's back

There was no blogging yesterday because I couldn't find any stories to blog about. I was told there was a story about the effort to protect Keith Hall's email, but I couldn't find it. Today, the story in the Herald refers to that previous, apparently imaginary story, but this story seems to indicate that the noose is tightening and Larry Forgy may need to keep his trap shut because even he didn't know the extent of this thing.

The administration claims the following exchange refutes the existence of the "hit list," of people they want fired. It seems to me that the person writing the email desperately wants to play with the big kids, but is, in fact, out of the loop. See what you think:

In a Feb. 16 e-mail to Hall, who recently resigned as homeland security director without public explanation, Druen said he was asked by "Murg" about the "hit list" established through Turbyfill's office. "Murg" is an apparent reference to Dick Murgatroyd, Fletcher's deputy chief of staff.

"I told him I didn't have knowledge of a 'hit list,' but would ask Basil," Druen wrote. "He said Basil informed the Sec's of the existence of such a list. I called Basil and he said 'hell no' there's not a list."

No list. Sure.

Disponett, dispensed with

I know I'm basically just cutting and pasting links, but I suppose that's what this whole blogosphere is about. Dave Disponett, who kind of sounds like a used car salesman, got kicked out of the capitol today, after Felcher was shamed into it. Disponett was named in one of the complaints to the Personnel Board. He also apparently has been taking part in the age old Kentucdky "Tradition," nepotism, the inbred half-sister/cousin of cronyism. Read this story and you'll see the the kind of amatuers our commonwealth has entrusted with providing our Poeleece with something to drive.

Countryside Motors won the contract last year after two dealerships with lower bids were disqualified because they did not meet a bid requirement that the vehicles be delivered with the gas tank half-full.

YOu're freaking kidding me! Were they rentals from Hertz? Where did Mr. Disponsett fit into this? Oh yeah:

Countryside is owned by James "Jimmie" Morgan, the nephew of Kentucky Republican Party treasurer Dave Disponett. Like his uncle, Morgan has been a contributor to Felcher's political efforts, donating a total of $3,000 to his election and inaugural committees. Morgan also was appointed by Felcher to the Kentucky Lottery Corp. Board of Directors for which he receives $5,000 annually. (misspelling mine)

Thanks to BluegrassReport for breaking this story last week. If I'm not mistaken, Thou Shalt not Steal and Thou Shalt not Bear False Witness are still in the Ten Commandments these jokers want in every courtroom in the land. Assuming they keep a laminated card in their wallet in addition to the copy behind their desk, a FAT LOT OF GOOD it'll do!

Mr Nickolas promises a big story soon. I can't wait!

Terror by goats!

Thanks to the folks over at Fark for this one. The Department of Homeland Security seems to have actually been made more of a laughingstock after the departure of it's director. You can't make this stuff up. Considering these goats are destined for a gyro, I'm not sure what the terrorists would be thinking. The deputy director, Andrew Cline, had these words of wisdom:

The goats "have been infected with a bio-agent. ... Then, the infected goats are at the show and you have people come and look at the goats and pet the goats and then they go home," Cline said, summarizing the day's scenario.

"We try to focus on what really matters to Kentucky," he said, adding, "this is a perfect way to do it." (emphasis mine)

Well, then, I guess that's all there is to it. If they were looking for a distraction from the apparent incompetence of the department, I'm not sure this was the best decision. Sure, Plug Nickel may just be jealous no one threw any political patronage Plug Nickel's way, but Plug Nickel can at least use a pronoun every now and again.

You know, Halloween is just around the corner:

"They'll have to herd cattle into a chute. ... and dress in personal protective equipment," Cline said of the exercises near Versailles today.

I apologize for being a little skeptical, but after the shrillness of Karl Rove today, I'm glad to have this exercise to put it all into context.

Self-destruction

Now, I suppose it's old news that Stumbo, Luallen, et al have triggered the self destruct button in our fiscally conservative administration. The Courier and Herald both reported that the lawyers appointed by Felcher to do a basically clerical job will be paid $370K.

They've hired several big name firms I've never heard of, but I doubt Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe, the Car Talk counsel, can be far behind.

The only conservatisms they have left is social and moral, and surely it won't be long before they leave the building and catch a bus for the coast.

Hiring Freeze exemptions

The Felcher administration today released documents that they said showed current auditor Crit LuEllen signing off on Merit System jobs. Crit says they were exemptions from the hiring freeze which gripped much of Patton's second term.

My question is, why would Ms. LouEllen pursue these allegations of merit system abuses with such vigor if she knew she had done the same thing?

Makes no sense to me. I want to see the documents.

Worse than I thought

UPDATE: I fixed the quote below because, though the speech it came from was insincere and riddled with grammatical errors, it wasn't quite that bad.

Due to a colossal error in math and my own expectations of some semblance of propriety, I just discovered this evening that the founding of the institute Keith A. Hall put on his biography on the department of Homeland Security, was actually only announced two and a half weeks before his appointment to head the Department of Homeland Security. I simply don't understand how the media let the governor get away with putting someone who had no experience in law enforcement or military into such an imprtant office.

As Hall claimed in his speech to the DOTCJ,

There is not a state in the country which understands the importance of ensuring
that law enforcement officers have the tools they need to keep people safe more than Kentucky.

He further outlined why:

Kentucky is the heart of the United States. 50% of all goods sold on the eastern
seaboard pass over the roads you will now ensure are safe for your family and mine to travel. 15% of the nation’s electricity is generated here. The word’s largest shipper sends virtually every package in the eastern United States to Kentucky before it is shipped elsewhere. If you fly Delta and wish to avoid Atlanta, and I suggest you do, then you will have to travel through the largest Delta passenger hub, which is right here in Kentucky. All of these reasons are why Jesse Stuart is right in calling Kentucky the heart of our nation.

This last part is true, but his first statement is rendered laughable precisely because he is the one uttering such nonsense. Were Kentucky to have been subject to a terrorist attack, we would have become a laughingstock even more than we are now. Not because we supposedly marry our cousins or don't wear shoes, but because we allowed someone who apparently didn't know his pecker from a pipe bomb to head our defenses.

Shame on you, Felcher!

No effing A, dude!

Keith Hall, formerly known as Keith A. Hall, apparently had his resignation letter written for him. A brave soldier who fell on his sword for the greater good or an unqualified hack who would eventually become the focus of Felcher's hiring woes? You decide.

Rumors and questions continue to fly around the Capitol. Did Hall know about illegal hiring practices? Did he write in e-mail messages something embarrassing about the administration? Was he fired to protect someone else?

The readers of plug nickel know!

Real evidence of intent

Some, even on the Democratic side, have argued that the Fletcher administration's abuses of the merit system in Kentucky were just part of a history of patronage. One poster on Dailykos even went so far as to call itabloated bureacracy where patronage is traditional. Well, the Herald Leader has a story in today's paper which seems to suggest that the Republicans weren't content to follow "tradition."

Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration has quietly changed the state's merit system so it can fill thousands of rank-and-file jobs with anyone it prefers, rather than those ranked as the best qualified.

Read the whole thing here.

To sum up

I wanted to provide a couple of links to give you an idea of the brewing scandal in KY. Unfortunately, much of the scandal seems to exist only in the archives of the states two main papers. At some point, I may pay and cut and paste, but we'll see what the response is.


Basically, KY has a law that requires many jobs to be filled with applicants who pass a test to display their merit. Apparently, the new Repuglican administration has been filling these positions with people recommended by their work for the previous campaign and friendship with Felcher. My main concern has been a story that I think should be more imortant, nationally even, but has not gotten a lot of press: The resignation, and, I suppose, appointment of the Director of the Department of HOmeland security. I think it's good stuff. I hope you do to.

For an overview, check out these links from the Courier Journal

Here's a delightfully droll Op-ed Column that sums up much of the to do so far.

This past week, they finally indicted three people in the firing of a democratic employee in the Transportation Cabinet.

Good article about Quid Pro Quo

While a bit confusing, this article lays out the apparent quid pro quo and conflicts of interest with Felcher's appointment to the state Supreme Court.
Article

Imaginary institute?

Keith Hall's abrupt departure from the Dept of Homeland Security may have demonstrated his profound disgust for the Felcher administration's unethical behavior. There is just nothing else to explain it.

Oh wait, I did some research today and found some new info that may not explain his departure, but that makes his appointment much more interesting. I wrote yesterday that he had put one homeland security qualification on his resume. He was Vice Chairman of the National Institute for Hometown Security, ostensibly based in Somerset, Ky, at the Center for Rural Development. I guess the joke was on me, because there is no real evidence that this Institute ever existed. I've found numerous announcements of its opening in November of 2004, but that's where the internet trail stops.

Here's an announcement from nov, 2004. The Center for Rural Development, which was wo house the Institute, only makes reference to it on its website here, in a press release announcing the establishment, dated Oct 22 2004.

The National Institute [was to] be based at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset and will be governed by a 13-member board of directors. Ewell Balltrip was named as Executive Director and will oversee the day-to-day operations of the organization.

Literally, every search result in Google for the quotation "National Institute for Hometown Security" involves the announcement, save two, the citation of Hall's resume, and a reference to The Kentucky Community Critical Infrastructure Protection Laboratory, at EKU. Don't believe me? LOok here. Searching a quotation of the "Kentucky Community Critical Infrastructure Protection Laboratory", returns only 4 results.

I thought, gee, maybe they dropped the National, because, you know, it was based in Somerset, so it was really probably more of a Western Kentucky thing, so I dropped the national and searched. No additional hits came up.

Now I'm pretty confused. A national institute with a 13 member board, an Executive Director and a Vice-Chairman with a $4M budget did nothing that left an internet record in the entire year? Nothing? I mean, wouldn't you think they'd send out a press release? I wonder how that money was spent and who appointed Keith Hall.

The Executive Cirector, Ewell Balltrip, appears to have at least some bona fides:

The National Institute for Hometown Security will be governed by a 13-member board of directors. Funding and the number of employees for the institute have not been determined, said Ewell Balltrip, executive director of the institute and former head of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission.

The Kentucky Homeland Security University Consortium will have 11 initial projects costing $4 million.

That second sentence there that came over with sloppy highlighting, maybe there's info out there on that commission? Same thing, basically, 3 pages of hits, mostly on pages with links already darkened from previous searches. However, it appears tomorrow morning, by chance, UK's president will be talking about this consortium on WUKY. I will be listening.

Stepping back, another thing that strikes me, the budget for the Institue had not been decided upon. Other places seemed to indicate there was a $4M budget for the institute. Hmmm...

I have 2 numbers for Mr. Balltrip, one in Hazard and one in Somerset, that I will be calling tomorrow. Neither the Institute nor the Consortium have a listing in the yellow pages in Somerset. Update: The number in Hazard is registered to someone else, now.

The search continues.

UPDATE: Looking at the partners of KY's Homeland Security Department, I don't see the Institute of Hometown Security.

KY has a Department of Homeland Security????

Keith Hall, the youngest Director of a state department for homeland security, resigned on Friday June 11. The resignation had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation into merit system abuses in the hiring of state workers. The next Wednesday, he spent about 5 minutes pleading the fifth (apparently) in front of the grand jury investigating the scandal. Not only was Mr. Hall the youngest director of an office of Homeland Security, he also may have been the most unqualified director who was not also having an affair with a governor. I don't have any information nor do I suggest Hall had any kind of untoward relationship with Felcher, but I assume that he at least had security clearance. Here is his experience as obtained from a cached page describing the director:

Mr. Hall also serves on various homeland security related task forces and committees, including serving as Vice-Chairman of the National Institute for Hometown Security.

He has a law degree, but apparently only used it as a lobbyist and aide to Anne Northrup and then congressman and now governor Ernie Fletcher. His only real claim to knowing about terrorism appears to be that he lived in NYC on 9/11.

From a speech to the DOCJT:

I lived in New York in 2001 and I can tell you that after the attack on our
country, none of us enjoyed that freedom. Every time we rode in a subway car, every time I departed New York by plane, every time I heard a loud noise on the streets, New Yorkers’ were struck with fear. My lasting memory of the three years I spent in New York will always be waking up to the sound of bagpipes playing on the 6 am news, reporting on the funeral of another first responder who passed on that day.

Hall doesn't seem to have had any qualifications to get him hired. I wonder what possibly could have gotten him fired? I have a hunch that out of control cronyism probably had something to do with it. His Deputy? Oh they went to the same high school, graduating two years apart. Both had parents in the administration of the school (I'm considering Vice-Principal administration)

Here are one of his deputy's qualifications:

He previously served as the Strategic National Stockpile Coordinator for Kentucky's Department for Public Health.

Maybe I have it all wrong, I'm thinking. Let's do a reality check to see what the qualifications of other directors of homeland security are.

Alabama

To sum up this one:

Director Walker served in the Army from 1981-2002, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. An Infantry officer and Airborne Ranger, he served in both the 25^th Infantry Division and the 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He has more than seven years experience as an Army Congressional Liaison and Government Affairs Officer.

OK, maybe we just got lucky. How about a crappier state without a coast. How about Idaho?

Military, too. Looks like a bad ass. Oh well, maybe I was right.

Delaware? Law enforcement. 3 decades. Crap.

Georgia? Um, please move along, nothing to see here.

Wow! Again.

Lori, I'm not quite obsessed with the blog, but I have incorporated it into my daily routine. I went to the grocery today and fixed one of the two steaks I bought for dinner along with some frozen mac & cheese. They were only so-so, but the fruit smoothy I made with the purloined magic bullet warmed the cockles as it cooled the nasal cavity in a phenomenon known fairly inelegantly as "brain-freeze." The second steak I marinated in High Life and hope to get some steak sauce and have better luck tomorrow night. In the morning, I will have a whole grain English muffin with butter and kudzu jelly and a fruit smoothy. Diet time, gut!

Nothing happened much in politics today worth blogging about except the Congress passed a resolution of self flagellation for not passing anti-lynching legislation earlier. Reading Freakonomics and from my MA in Southern Studies, I know that lynchings were a failrly rare occurrences in the South, but it was the fear of lynchings that was the problem. I think that fear of terrorism is now a bigger problem than terrorism actually is. Maybe not in Iraq. If the Congress wanted to something to address human rights problems, it could commission an independent investigation to explore not the archipelago, but more appropriately, the diaspora of disappeared Muslims.

This has become tedious. Lori, I'm off to bed. Good night moon!

Apoca-lips

As I noted yesterday, I was in Nashville. I just got back today. No musical suggestions from Nash Bridges, but I will recommend My Friend Totoro and warn against Shark Boy and Lava Girl. The first was really good, the second, unbelievably bad.

I also realized our friends on the religious right are just KKK members dressed up.

Nash Vegas

No postings last night, as I was on my way to Nashville, with five hours of driving bliss following a long day of busting my ass at work. I also was not on the night before, as I was out of work sick and I didn't have it in me to blog. I'm in N-ville this morning, having swlept on the flo last night. We're planning to go to breakfast, but apparently Nashville is the world's most popular place for breakfast and all the restaurants have at least a half hour wait. Oh, to be a pancake here! HOpefully in music city, I'll be able to find some recos, but I sort of doubt it. I doubt it.

Brian Lovely and the Secret

I found it. His new band is Flying Underground. The Secret rocks like XTC and that band Chevy Chase was in. Check out Trouble in the Garden.

Epiphany

I had an Epiphany this morning that I guess I sort of instinctively knew, having worked very hard to make all of my positions consistent and non-hypocritical. Here it is: The position of the liberal hawks, in general, on the war, is far more grounded in morality than that of the neocons or anyone on the right. The current administration takes a view that war to overthrow a dictator is OK to spread liberty and freedom, as long as that dictator is hostile towards the US, making it therefore, in our interest. This dichotomy is, at its heart, defeatist, counterproductive, and hypocritical. It sets forth absolutes, then makes the US the sole arbiter of those absolutes, which, as everyone knows or should know, is folly, for absolutes are absolute. Only God can change an absolute, which God wouldn't do, because God is infallible and the absolutes were determined to be absolute with the creation of the world.

Freedom and liberty are by our nature absolutes. God created humans with liberty built in. As fallen humans, we are able to make moral choices. We are also able to make immoral choices. The creation of a government to detemine what is allowed and not allowed is purely the creation of man. While it may be guided to some extent by the great law giver Moses, taking dictation from God, the right, which so decries reading anything into the Constitution as far as a right to privacy or the constitutionality of a ban on sodomy or pornography, (arguing that, because these things are not specifically exempted, they are not protected) has no trouble reading a Biblical ban on these things into the Ten Commandments. While it's true my friends on the Right typically take passages of the Bible out of context, ignoring later modifications or downright contraditions (I'm thinking eye for an eye versus if you are struck on the cheek, turn also the other cheek, quite obviously structured, replete with facial references, to contradict the previous maxim), they have held p the 10 Commandments as a particularly concise summary of Biblical law. Never mind that a majority of the 10 are not now law. Let me get back to the war argument.

As a liberal Hawk, I believe overthrowing dictators is job one. Figuring out the best way to get rid of each one is difficult, but the role of the US should be a neverending quest to spread these absolutes.

More later. Have to get this up.