Who's guarding the henhouse?

I'd been meaning to blog about this article for quite some time, but a little bit of a mental breakdown in the family distracted me for a while. At any rate, I'm so thankful that I have nothing to be afraid of in the world outside my head, as this story confirms:

A state letter awarding Anderson County a Homeland Security grant was routine -- except for a handwritten note that said Gov. Ernie Fletcher's adviser on political appointments had given his approval.

Well, that's not so bad. I'm sure it was a highly qualified, paid advisor with a history in Law Enforcement.

Dave Disponett, [the advisor in question] is an Anderson County resident, treasurer of the state Republican Party and a volunteer adviser to Fletcher. Until recently, he had an office in the state Capitol.

Um, a volunteer? Had an office in the Capitol? Surely the administration was contrite about this haphazard way of doling out $26000. Surely.

Alecia Webb-Edgington, acting director of the state homeland security office, defended the distribution of grants, including Anderson County's.

Webb-Edgington said in a statement the office has no record of Disponett supporting a particular homeland security grant.

She said that the grants are awarded "through a highly competitive process and all homeland security grant applications were scored based on their merits."

Obviously, the record of his support now is in State Auditor Crit Luallen's office, as indicated by the former Director of Homeland Security's scrawl to that effect. I think the highly competitive process must have involved delivering donuts and coffee to volunteer advisor Dave Disponett's office. Apparently, the most qualified person to authorize grants was not even a paid staffer. The crossing guard at my little boys school makes me feel safer than these ass clowns. Oh yeah, he has a badge. And it's not made out of tinfoil.

I joke, but this office is responsible for doling out $31M in homeland security grants. Just for shits and giggles, I thought I'd check to see what's in Anderson County. Here is one point I actually stand corrected. The Wild Turkey Distillery is actually in Anderson County, as is Shryrock's Liquor Store. As a purveyor of cultural tourism, the Wild Turkey Distillery does actually rank as a site to see. Still, I'm curious to know how the grant was used and how much the Bardstown Distilleries got.