evolution

A storm’s-a-brewin’, and I’m not referring to the ice storm headed this way at this hour, although I’m sure some iciness will be the result.

I’m talking, of course, of the recent admission of Attorney General Paul Morrison that he had an extramarital affair while he was Johnson County DA and even continuing after his election as Attorney General. The other dance partner in this horizontal tango was Linda Carter, the former “director of administration” (which I assume is the same thing as an HR director) for the Johnson County DA’s office. She has also accused him of other things, including attempting to obtain inside information on former AG and soon-to-be former Johnson County DA Phill Kline, and attempting to “influence” a federal lawsuit to which Kline is a party. The lawsuit relates to Kline’s dismissal of several employees of the Johnson County DA’s office, and the “influence” is alleged to be Morrison’s having asked Carter to write letters in support of the fired employees. She didn’t, and all counts but one of their case were dismissed.

The blogs’ reaction is all over the place and, at least on the various partisan blogs — which I generally don’t read otherwise — is predictable and formulaic. There were two posts elsewhere, however, with points that spoke to me.

The first of these is by Cara, who was a Morrison supporter, and expresses disappointment at having supported him. I don’t feel it on quite that level, and I certainly don’t regret not having voted for Phill Kline, because my reasons for disliking him were on matters of policy and tactics and nothing else. I doubt I would have voted for him even if someone else, say, Pedro Irigongeray, had run against him¹. Your obvious next question is “Do you regret having voted for Morrison?” and the answer is “Not yet”. If the remaining allegations about him are true — the attempted manipulation of legal process — then I’d imagine I would. Otherwise, while a recent affair betrays a recent and massive lapse in judgement, it is ultimately a personal failing. Comparisons abound to a certain cigar-wielding ex-President whose formerly-jilted wife is running for that same office, but I don’t think it’s quite the same. Morrison never (that I have seen) lied under oath about his partcipation. Lying to one’s own spouse is certainly a matter for consideration, but it is not actionable except at the ballot box. The other stuff is however, and if it is true he should resign or be removed.

As it turns out, his new (erstwhile?) pals are of the same mind, which prompted the Photoshop that begins this post. Governor Sebelius made him an offer he can’t refuse:

Topeka — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius today said if allegations made by a former employee of Attorney General Paul Morrison are true, then Morrison should resign.

“One deals with his conduct as an attorney in the D.A.’s office; the other is as an employer, and I think either one should trigger a resignation,” Sebelius told reporters.

Sebelius was referring to news that Morrison admitted to having a two-year extra-marital affair with former staffer Linda Carter, who has filed a complaint against him with the federal Equal Opportunity Commission.

Sebelius said she was shocked by the development, but said it was Carter’s additional allegations, that if proven, should prompt Morrison to leave office.

And the Sour Senator, Anthony Hensley (whose former spokesperson now serves in that role for Morrison):

Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka said Morrison’s credibility had been damaged “but it’s not irreparable.”

He said if Carter’s allegations about Morrison seeking information on Kline through her are true, then Morrison should resign.

But, he said, the legal process must be allowed to gather the facts in the case.

Even Republicans are willing to let it play out:

But others were more cautious. Schmidt, a Republican from Independence and an attorney, said there needs to be “credible, independent fact-finding,” though he said it’s too early to say who should conduct it.

“I don’t think anybody is well served by throwing around pronouncements lightly,” Schmidt said.

Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, also an attorney, said the most serious allegations involve Carter’s statements that Morrison tried to influence the ex-employees’ court case and sought inside information about Kline’s activities.

“I’m going to be cautious and not jump to any kind of conclusions here and call for any kind of particular answer,” Kinzer said.

They are doing as they must, as they are in a position of weakness. 2010 candidates to oppose Morrison just got a little stronger, and of those likely to do so and with the stature to do so, Kline is immensely unpopular and has already said he will not, Kris Kobach is also immensely unpopular, and Kinzer might be a candidate but his politics are not far from Kline’s. I can’t think of anyone else with a conservative bent (which admittedly I tend to favor) that has both the desire and the standing to run.

The other post I took to heart belongs to Bill (a former Kline employee). He sends some Kline critics out to the yard to cut down a switch for themselves, and scoffs at those who would believe that Kline is the cause of all of Kansas’s problems and if only we all just listened to the Republican/Democrat that all Democrats, most Republicans, and the media of course (and folks like me who are just pains in the ass) all fell in line behind, all of the problems would go away. They haven’t — indeed, they were always there. Kline only picked the scab.

Another point Bill makes is dead on, I think: It is impossible to conceive of a world in which Phill Kline did not know all of this in some detail. He obliquely mentioned character issues during the campaign, and it massively backfired on him. He had an easy chance to expose it and did not, but I suspect Kline knew and that Morrison knew that Kline knew. That fact alone explains the unprecedented rancor of this campaign. As I said, I don’t like Kline, I’m not sorry I didn’t vote for him, and I’m not defending any of his actions. But fair is fair, and to some extent he was right. Good people can disagree on how much the allegations against Morrison matter, but Kline was right about some of them.

The part that disappoints me the most is that we’ll have to wait until the first business day of January 2011 to put both of these men behind us.

1. I would have written in Raymond Burr in this case. Or maybe Sam Waterston. [↩]

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 21:55 and is filed under kansas, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.