evolution

The title of this post was the first thing I thought when I read this story, the gist of which is that the Johnson County Commissioners approved the hiring of a special prosecutor to investigate alleged wrongdoing by former Johnson County DA — and current Kansas Attorney General — Paul Morrison.

The catch is that the special prosecutor will be hired by the current Johnson County DA — Phill Kline, who was defeated by Morrison handily in a general election in which Kline was (and remains) immensely unpopular.

It’s not so much a tactical error by Kline — after all, the Johnson County Commission could have rejected the request, but one wonders if the Truth™ will be served by it¹. In the court of public opinion — the only one that matters in cases like this — Kline is a sure-fire loser (with plenty of good reason, in my opinion, but what do I know). Popularity and justice are not equal — except when they are.

You just have to wonder whether this is going to end up backfiring, and whether actual wrongdoing, assuming it even exists,² is going to slide right on by, along with what will no doubt be several tons of “product” from our wonderful media organizations, some of whom have their own interests to uphold — and like Bill (who I swear if I mention on this blog one more time this week then I think we’ll be common-law married), I don’t wonder what they are.

I just hope then when my generation’s turn comes to run for these offices and write their histories that we aren’t as small, as weak, or as petty as this generation is.

1. And does it even matter? [↩]
2. I’m plunking my money down on “does exist”. Not much more than a gut feeling right now. [↩]