Welcome to the RINO Sightings for January 8, 2007! Who are the Raging RINO’s? Have a look over at the official website of the Raging RINOS. Republicans and Independets Not Overdosed (on the party Kool-aid) The RINO Sightings is our……

Sorry to end up writing a post in your comments secion.

No worries. All human non-spammers are free to speak their minds, no matter how long it takes to do so.

Now, I’ve reviewed the relevant statutes, and they are really unclear as to whom can direct who to do what. I assume that there is extensive case law on the subject to which I am not privy (because really, isn’t the apportionment of powers an area in which you’d want as much ambiguity as possible?).

The only statute which explicitly enjoins the Attorney General to go over the Governor’s head is in cases where someone takes an elected office who is not qualified. As I mentioned previously, the statute/case law which requires the Attorney General to consult with the several DAs before filing cases in their jurisdictions is cut and dried.

No, I think it was a political calculation on Sebelius’s part. She may or may not have had the power to order Kline not to pursue this case, but she also knows that he’ll be gone in a matter of days. A move to prevent Kline from doing what he’s doing will serve only to further aggravate the people supporting him in it. She also knows Morrison isn’t touching it, being presumably near the top of the Kansas Democratic Party, the machinery which got him elected in the first place.

Something I find myself wondering, in reading and thinking about all this–especially in light of the governor’s recent (post-election) comments–is what conversation, if any, there was between Sebelius and Kline (or their offices) when Kline decided to launch his investigation in the first place. Granted Kline’s duty to enforce the state’s laws, his stated reasons for supoenaing (sp?) these records seemed so transparently specious from the get-go that it had to have unofficially raised some offical eyebrows. I’m saying all of this out of ignorance regarding the question of gubernatorial oversight of the AG’s office, but it strikes me that there has to be a story behind this story. Or maybe Sebelius is of the give-’em-enough-rope variety when it comes to such politically-awkward moments.

It also strikes me, given your post’s last paragraph, that Kline’s zealousness is of a piece with regard to the Religious Right’s invention and promotion of Intelligent Design. The Church has a legitimate–even a vital–place in American life, especially in the arena of discussions of the implications of scientific and technological advances on our understanding of what it means to be human. But ID has only served to make that place suspect in the eyes of many . . . which really, really ticks off this practicing Lutheran.

Sorry to end up writing a post in your comments secion.