I have long believed that gasoline prices will play an important factor in this fall's congressional elections. Mainly because it is the ultimate "pocket book" issue. Well, the good news is gas prices are headed toward $2 a gallon by election day.

If the price gets down to $2, I think the Republicans have an excellent chance to pick up seats in the mid-term elections.

On a side note. I am still amazed how many people talk about "gas prices" as if they are unbearable high. Granted it sucks to be out $40 extra every month, but it is not an unbearable amount. It is interesting to see people's reaction to paying a little more money at the pump, but don't get upset at then thousands and thousands of dollars that are taken from their paycheck.

I maintain the best way to lower taxes would be to get rid of paycheck deductions. If people scream over paying a few dollars more at the gas pump, how much do you think they will scream if they have to write a check to Uncle Sam every month for the thousands that would normally be "deducted" from their paycheck.

Ever since the end of Stumbo's attack on Fletcher, we have heard a steady drum beat from the media and local talk show hosts about Fletcher's un-electability. Well, I would like to turn this around a bit and offer 5 reasons why Fletcher can win a second term.

1. Fletcher has some real accomplishments during his four years in office. He has large accomplishments such as the restructuring of the states tax systems. And he has smaller accomplishments like bringing accountability to state's motor pool. All in all, He has revamped the way state government works at all levels.
2. Who is the democratic candidate? Chandler would have a lot of questions to answer about his days as Attorney General. Steve Henry has Medicare fraud issues hanging over his head. Stumbo has lots and lots of dirt hanging around him. Abramson is from Louisville and has a difficult re-election campaign underway. None of these candidates will be overwhelmingly strong.
3. Corruption won't be the main issue of the election. What are the Democrats going to say. "See the Republicans are just as corrupt as we are." I am sure most in this state are "pining" to bring back the days of Democrat corruption.
4. This state has become a Republican leaning state. Look at the Bunning election two years ago. Bunning ran a horrible campaign and was still able to eek out a victory.
5. 13 months is a very very long time in politics. Especially since most people have short memories and a lot can still happen.

I am not saying that Fletcher will automatically be re-elected. What I am saying is that Fletcher's defeat next November is not assured.

Today, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for a television debate between himself and George Bush. Ahmadinejad wants to debate the differences between Iran's view on ending the world's problems with that of America.

What makes this story funny is the "condition" set forth by Ahmadinejad.

"But the condition is that there can be no censorship, especially for the American nation,"

Yeah because we all know that censorship in America is a common problem. Especially compared to the sparkling jewel of openness which is Iran.

Over the weekend we were treated to a story in the Courier Journal claiming that Stumbo worked the deal even though they thought they hadn't seen all of the evidence.

Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo and his top deputy said yesterday they agreed to dismiss political patronage charges against Gov. Ernie Fletcher before they were sure they had seen all the evidence....

"When the possibility of trial is removed, the impetus for that fight is removed," Whites said in an interview.

"And at that point, the office of the attorney general made a determination we could accomplish a lot of good, protect merit workers, and protect the public's right to know ultimately through a grand jury report -- if a grand jury chooses to issue one -- by entering into this agreed order," Whites said.

Why would Stumbo end the "investigation" before all of the "evidence" is collected? It seems other have the same question.

Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel, a Democrat, said he could not comment on Stumbo's decision to end the investigation. But he said that he generally does not drop cases while evidence is outstanding.

"As long as there was a possibility of getting that evidence, that's part of your job," Stengel said.

So why settle? Well, we learned today that the settlement was part of Stumbo's "sweetly executed move".

But perhaps just as important, the deal came as more Republicans were forming a chorus to urge Fletcher -- for the good of the party -- to throw in the towel on a re-election bid next year.

Should that growing movement prevail, the Republicans would select a new nominee, most likely one with less political baggage than Fletcher.

"It's like Greg Stumbo gave enough oxygen to Fletcher to stay in the race. It's either a fresh-faced, unindicted nobody with a clean record or a wounded governor," said Jim Cauley, a national Democratic campaign consultant and Pikeville native.

"At the end of the day, you have to say this is masterful," he added.

Wait a second. Stop the presses. If this was a brilliant move by Stumbo to leave intact a "wounded" sitting governor for the next election, then that means Stumbo's motive for ending the case was completely political. If ending the case was political it only seams to reason that the case was started for political reasons. Maybe Stumbo needing to wound Fletcher to have any chance at winning the Governorship.

I am sure Stumbo will file to run soon. Heck he has already floated the "gambling" trial balloon as a "major" issue for the next election. Once he does he will have completed the gambit. And in doing so will prove once and for all that this prosecution was nothing more than a political hit. One that was duplicitously trumpeted by those with FDS (Fletcher Derangement Syndrome) in the drive by media.

For some time, I have theorized that the upcoming elections will be determined by the price of gas. Why? Because Republicans own the biggest issues of the day. They have a robust economy. They are the only real party attempting to fight terrorism. I could keep going. But of all the issues, only one stands against the Republicans. The price of gas.

I have long thought that the price of gas was the most "important" pocket book issue for people. It is the issue I hear the most from non political people I know. For some reason, people freak out when they pay $40 for a tank of gas. In reality they are only paying maybe $40 more a month for gas, but for some reason they don't see it that way. Now there seems to be some empirical evidence to back up my claim. It seems that Bush's poll ratings have closely followed the cost of gas.

So watch the price of gas if you want to know what is going to happen in the election this fall. If it stays below 2.50 a gallon look for the Republicans to hold the house this fall and maybe pickup seats. If it goes up to around 3.00 look to see the Democrats win the house and senate. Now if it gets below 2 dollars, the Dems are dead.

My prayers go out to the families effected by the tragic crash of Comair's flight 5191 Sunday morning in Lexington Kentucky.

What effect will the end of the battle between Fletcher and Stumbo have on the Republican Party civil war that is underway? So far the only one to speak up has been Jefferson County Republican (non) leader Jack Richardson.

"The merit (investigation) is only one of many political missteps," Richardson said. "If it were just this, it would be a different matter. But it's not just this and that's what's so important."

Grayson said the deal should have been reached 16 months ago and still wants to run. But on Francine's show today he was hedging on that decision claiming the Governor is still a force to be reckoned with and will be difficult to beat.

For me the silence is deafening. This ruling was a definite blow to the insurgency that wanted to replace Fletcher. The more this dragged on the stronger the calls to replace Fletcher would have been. Instead, Fletcher is now free of an investigation and has a year to consolidate his power for a primary.

At this point, I doubt any serious candidates will challenge Fletcher for the nomination. I suspect that those who were part of the rebellion will just sit on their hands and watch the upcoming election and then say "I told you so" if Fletcher loses.

I think it is safe to say the civl war has, for now at least, come to an end.

I must admit that I had a good laugh this morning watching the left lose it.They are in utter meltdown mode over this agreement. They thought they had a Republican Governor tried and convicted before the legal process was even engaged. Now they are left with nothing and they are really pissed.

Their deal, revealed yesterday, was struck in the political interest of two people -- and the public be damned. As a result of their joint sellout and cover up, Mr. Stumbo will now be able to run for governor and Dr. Fletcher can claim vindication and run for re-election....

Mr. Stumbo said, "Our objective was to see that the law was complied with, to see that the truth was brought forward."

He failed, utterly, and by an act of commission, not omission. His surrender, despite all that the grand jury and his office had done, was complete.

Ahhh, I love the smell of vitriol in the morning. Poor Stumbo is getting crucified because the object of their hate, Fletcher, has not been "brought to justice". Just the other day he was the toast of the town. Doing what is "right". Now he is another "partisan hack". The irony is just too much. Of course in their blind rage they just flat out lie.

His (Fletcher's) biggest project -- the one in which he has invested the most energy, creativity and commitment -- has been hiding the dirty work done by the pietistic personal courtiers and Republican Party hacks whom he charged with building and operating a political patronage infrastructure.

Um, no. How about the restructuring of the entire state government. How about overhauling in the state tax code. Those are a bit bigger projects than defending himself from an overzealous prosecutor and his friends in the drive by media.

But of course the media must cover up for their righteousness over the pronouncements of Fletcher's guilt in this case.

That was clear when the Governor's lawyer, Steve Pitt, instantly pronounced exoneration. He said, "Prosecutors do not dismiss cases that they can win, particularly three months after the indictment is rendered. They knew they didn't have the proof."

Actually, what Kentucky doesn't have is the truth, the rule of law and an attorney general to enforce it.

The dirty secret in all of this is that Stumbo's case against Fletcher was tenuous at best. They may have had proof against Brock, Nightbert, and others but they didn't really have anything to tie directly to Fletcher. Instead of admitting this, the left goes on about "covering up" evidence. And now we will never know the truth!

The fact of the matter is they had built this up so much and made Fletcher look so guilty, that anything other than a conviction was a travesty of justice. Personally, I think it is funny that their house of cards is crumbling around them.

Now, thanks to the Fletcher-Stumbo deal, there will be no trial, no accounting. The public won't learn the truth. The Governor had already pardoned everybody else involved. And yesterday's deal, in effect, pardons him.....

Together, Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Attorney General Greg Stumbo have managed to disserve the people of Kentucky, frustrate the justice system, set all the wrong precedents for dealing with official wrongdoing and make the already foul merit hiring scandal smell even worse.

I guess the paper now can be officially said to have Fletcher derangement syndrome. I guess it could be a strain of the Bush derangement syndrome. Hmm, I didn't realize that such a disease was virulent. Learn something new every day.

Ok, I have had a chance to read through the "deal" struck between Governor Fletcher's legal team and the Attorney General's office. The details are outlined below along with my notes in italic:

• The grand jury found probably cause to believe that a number of violation of the merit system law occurred.

  Note that this is not admission of guilt, but only that the AG had cause to indict people. This is ultimately why the prosecution of Fletcher didn't go forward. They had cause that laws may have been broken. The problem is of the people who may have been involved in breaking those laws, Fletcher was not one of them.

• Governor acknowledges wrong doing by his administration with regard to personnel actions within the merit system.

  Ok, Fletcher admitted that from the beginning.

• Governor states the actions were inappropriate and regrets their occurrence and accepts responsibility for them as head of the executive branch. This is not an admission of guilt.

  Again, these are the comments that the Governor said early on in this investigation. If this is all the AG wanted, we could have ended this a long long time ago.

• The AG's investigation was a "necessary and proper exercise of his constitutional duty" . The investigation and prosecution have benefited the Commonwealth and ensured that abuses of the state's merit system will be eliminated.

  This was an attempt by the AG's office to make this look like a "legitimate" prosecution. On top of that they are spinning it as a win for the state merit system. Of all things it probably is a win for the merit system in all of its ugliness. For now on, it will be nearly impossible for either side from breaking it without holy hell breaking loose.

• AG recognizes that actions taken by the current administration were without malice.

  This one really hits to the core of my complaint with this whole prosecution and why I think it was nothing but a political hit job. Since it was done without malice, why was it a "major" criminal matter that needed a massive fishing expedition. Shouldn't we have had an "agreement" early on such as the one that was trying to be brokered by Governor Brown?

• Parties agree to not appeal this ruling.
• Both the Gov and AG want to provide adversely affected merit employees with a hearing free from any appearance of impropriety. Thus the Governor's members of the personnel board resigned and the AG can help pick the newer members.

  So at the end of the day, this issue is ending up where I said it should have ended all along. THE PERSONNEL BOARD. If it had gone there in the beginning we would never have had this entire circus.

• No further prosecutions will be sought

In the end, Stumbo is going to take the heat on this decision. He is trying to spin it that it is a win for the state employees, but it looks like he dropped the bucket. Why? Because the media have spun this as a slam dunk case. The reality is that the case was very very weak to begin with and he settled to keep from being embarrassed in court. My favorite part of this is Stumbo's reasoning that Fletcher would "pardon himself" as the justification for going through with the prosecution.

I don't know what is going to happen to Fletcher. Stumbo and his willing accomplices in the drive by media have inflicted horrific wounds to Fletcher. This retarded case has gotten 10 times the coverage of any Democratic scandal in the state and the constant negative news have driven Fletcher's negatives very low. But at the end of the day, this scandal is over and Fletcher has plenty of time to right the ship.

Charges have been dropped against Fletcher for merit law violations. Since details are lacking in the case, it will take some time for me to comment. But it looks like a good deal for Fletcher since it puts an end to the circus that was hanging at the outskirts of his administration.

I'll write more once I learn the details of the agreement.

One of the things I thought Fletcher needed to do was get out to the public and talk about the good things his administration has done and keep a positive view on the future. It looks like he is doing just that. At the Northern Kentucky Area Development District���s 35th Anniversary Dinner in Erlanger, he talked about a whole host of things his administration has accomplished.

Most of Fletcher���s speech was about what he said his administration has accomplished in the almost three years since he took office, the first Republican governor in more than 30 years.

He cited, among other things, increased teacher pay, record spending on post-secondary education, improved newborn health screenings, a revamped Medicaid program, the opening of 10 drug treatment centers, tax modernization and improving economic development opportunities.

The governor also said the state had allocated almost $600 million in education, road and infrastructure projects for Northern Kentucky this year.

It looks like the strategy is working.

���I think it���s more important to focus on the content of what he had to say,��� said Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Springs. ���There was a tremendous amount ofachievements and accomplishments and success that he reminded us of that I don���t think you guys in the media and some of the people in (legislative) leadership tend to forget.���

He also went to eastern Kentucky and talked about the achievements of his administration. There he drew standing ovations before the crowd in Pikeville. Why? Because he has done a number of things for eastern Kentucky including a "crackdown" on truckers hauling overweight loads that has saving about a hundred lives. He has also pushed for better safety laws for miners, opened drug treatment centers, and created "coal academies" to better train miners.

Again this strategy is beginning to pay off for him.

"Like any other governor, he has his supporters and his detractors," Jones said. "Do I always agree with him? No. Do we have philosophical differences? Sure we do. But I am going to work with him on beneficial projects."

Pikeville city manager Donovan Blackburn said Eastern Kentucky fared especially well under the last governor, Paul Patton, who lives in Pikeville, and people feared the region would be forgotten after Patton left office in 2003.

That, Blackburn said, is why Fletcher received standing ovations in Pikeville, London and other Eastern Kentucky stops last week.

"He hasn't forgotten about the region," Blackburn said. "Regardless of someone's politics, if they're trying to help the region, they're going to get respect."

Maybe the stories of Fletcher's demise are a bit premature after all.

No surprise that Democrats want an increase in the minimum wage. They know that their bread and butter supporters, the unions, wages in many cases are tied to the value of the minimum wage. If the minimum wage increases so do the union's wages. So it is no shock to see Democrats "rallying" to talk about a minimum wage increase. Here is my favorite quote from the news story.

Opponents of raising the wage say it would have the undesirable effect of increasing prices and unemployment. Jenkins said she thinks it would boost the economy.

"People who make the minimum wage put money back into the economy, by buying gas, groceries and other typical goods", she said. "They're not buying stocks and bonds."

First it is silly to state that buying gas, groceries, and other goods puts money into the economy while buying stocks and bonds doesn't. What do you think happens when you buy a stock? You are investing money in a company. That money is given to the company so they can produce a profit and bring greater returns to the investor. In this case the money is put into the economy by directly funding a company. Secondly, the profit the company makes gets recirculated back into the economy when the purchaser either receives a dividend or sells the stock for a profit. So it actually does more for the economy than just buying goods directly.

Secondly, it will reduce the number of laborers. The amount a company can spend on employees in many cases is fixed. Thus by increasing the cost of labor, one of two things must happen. The company can employ less people, or they can raise prices to increase the amount of money available to spend of labor. Neither of which are good for low income people. There will be either less jobs available or the cost of goods will increase lessening everyone's buying power. In effect, nullifying the "artificial" raise mandated by government's minimum wage laws.

Unfortunately, I don't see the political will to stop an increase in the minimum wage. Regardless of how much sense it makes economically.

I want to thank the drive by media at CNN for today's hit piece on the Bush administration. This is good stuff. First they talk about the current weight condition of our kids.

The number of kids considered overweight has more than tripled since 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Among those between ages 6 to 19, over 9 million kids -- 16 percent -- are considered overweight.

OK, no big surprise that kids today are overweight. So what is the cause for this weight gain? Is it kids eating more? Is it parents not paying attention to what their kids eat? Is it the fact that kids spend their time at home playing video games instead of going outside to play? No, the real culprit is President Bush! I am not kidding.

Critics contend that the very legislation meant to bolster national academic standards -- the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 -- may be a culprit in the diminishing P.E. curriculum, unintentionally sapping schools of time and resources for exercise as educators focus more and more on test scores and rigorous academic coursework.

The NCLB Act is President Bush's centerpiece education law that, among other things, requires virtually all students to test at their grade level for math and reading. Schools that do not measure up to the standards two years in a row have to provide more tutoring or let students transfer to better schools.

Yup, child obesity is because of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law that is forcing kids away from PE. Because we all know that kids would be bean poles if they got to burn a few hundred calories a week during PE. Give me a break!

This is nothing more than an editorial in the form of a "news" story. But hey, there is not bias in the main stream media!

Dan Holden, a teacher at Stuart Middle School has been reassigned to a "non-instructional" role for burning the American flag during class. Holden, who teaches social studies to seventh graders burned flags in two different classes as part of a "discussion" on the the freedom of speech. An investigation is underway to find out what happened in the classroom so the school board can determine the fate of Holden.

A number of people will say big deal. He has a first amendment right to burn the flag and he was teaching the kids to think critically. Therefore nothing should be done in this case. I have to disagree for a number of reasons all of which center around poor judgment.

• He started a fire in the classroom. Granted there is a 99.9% chance that what he did was safe. But, there is a chance no matter how small that the fire could have gotten out of control. How many kids would have been injured or killed if the school had caught fire.
• He choose to use "flag burning" as his freedom of speech topic. Whether he likes it or not, the flag is a symbol of America. Burning the flag can only be seen as an anti-American demonstration. Why would you bring such blatant anti-Americanism into a grade school classroom? Isn't there a better way to talk about the first amendment?
• Why didn't he inform either the parents or the administration before doing such a controversial activity? Did he not think that this would stir a bit of a controversy among parents?

Since this is an attempt to educate our kids, I think we should finish the lesson by firing this guy. That way we can teach them that although they have the freedom of speech, the state or private industry doesn't have to pay for that speech. It could also be an object lesson in accepting responsibility for one's first amendment rights.

I guess Abramson doesn't have enough to do running for Mayor of Louisville.

Jerry Abramson is running for re-election as mayor of Louisville.

But he's also taken his campaign on the road this year through Elizabethtown, Richmond, Northern Kentucky, Owensboro and Lexington -- twice.

That type of statewide touring has Democrats talking that maybe Abramson is raising his statewide profile in preparation for a run for statewide office next year.

It appears he is traveling across the state setting up for a possible gubernatorial run. I guess he feels he has the Mayorial campaign wrapped up? His posturing to me seems a bit arrogant considering he is running county wide in a county that has elected a number of Republicans such as Northup, Rebecca Jackson, and Bobbie Holsclaw. I would think it is a bit early to test the waters for Governor until he actually wins this election. Because if he only wins with 55% of the vote he has almost no chance to win the Governorship. He is going to have to win with over 60% to have a legitimate shot at Governor.

Personally, this seems to be exactly what Kelly Downard needs. An entitled mayor who is focused on issues not related to the winning re-election. This race gets more interesting as the days go by.Of course we won't see this article in the Courier Journal because they wouldn't want to sully Abramson's campaign.

Yesterday, the Fletcher campaign shot back at Republican critics of his administration. Basically, he told them to put their money where their mouth is.

Responding to a call to end his re-election campaign, Gov. Ernie Fletcher said Thursday that his GOP critics should formally file to run against him if they don't think he can be re-elected.

He was even gracious is his challenge

"If people want to run for this office, then they need to file and run. I certainly welcome anyone that wants to run to go ahead and file if that is what they want to do," he said, speaking after a chamber of commerce luncheon at the London Country Club.

But at the end of the day, I don't think we are going to see any real takers in challenging Fletcher. They are hoping they can get him to quit without having to challenge him. Why? Because they don't have much of a case to unseat him.

"The fact of the matter is, you have not heard a single one of them criticize policies that we've done and the things that we've gotten accomplished" Fletcher said. "If they have a difference with that, then let them speak up, and l them say what they would have done differently."

The reality is anyone running against Fletcher is going to have a difficult time separating themselves from Fletcher. Mainly due to the fact that Fletcher's agenda has been a very "Republican" agenda. One that most Republicans agree with in principle.

Without any defining issues to separate the candidate on principle, the contenders are left with some combination of these five campaign tactics.

1. Claim the Fletcher administration has been an abysmal failure
2. Continually repeat the "Fletcher can't win" mantra
3. Side with Stumbo in his prosecution of Fletcher
4. Talk about the need of support from the party machinery.
5. Move to the left of Fletcher

None of these sound like "winning" tactics in a Republican primary. No one wants to run if they don't have a chance of winning which is why you won't see any serious candidates.Therefore they only have one hope. Drive Fletcher's numbers down so low that he must quit for the sake of the "party". So far Fletcher hasn't taken the bait.

Today we got the full ruling from Melcher on the Fletcher case. It contains his reasoning on each of the motions brought forward by Fletcher's defense team. Let's take a look at the ruling.

Ground 1: Selective and Vindictive Prosecution in violation of the equal protection clauses of Kentucky and U.S. Constitutions

This issues has caused this court concern. However, unlike City of Ashland v Heck relied on by the Defendant, here, there are no alleged existing officials openly violating the same law which this defendant is charge with violating who are not being prosecuted. The "historical" argument while troubling is not the focal point. The present situation ist he focal point and therefore, this ground for the motion is denied

To me this line of reasoning is a bit weak. The only people in office currently is the Governor. Who else could be offending this law "presently" in state Government. The fact that the current AG has not prosecuted similar cases (ie Patton administration) within the statue of limitations seems to violate equal protections laid out in the Heck decision. I would think this is definite grounds for appeal.

Ground 2: Criminal intent could not have been formed on count 3 as a matter of law because the discharged employee was in probationary status.

Melcher overruled this motion because he does not feel he has enough ground to make a ruling on this. Basically it should be decided by a jury.

Ground 3:Counts I and II are time barred under the one year statue of limitations for misdemeanors.

I didn't realize how close of a time line it really was as far as the statue of limitations. In the original complaint I thought it was silly that the AG's office would include the Blue Ribbon Panel as part of the "conspiracy". But it turns out he needed it to be able to make the statue of limitations.

Although this is a close call, the Bill of Particulars does appear to set forth overt acts after May 11, 2005. The Court would be remiss, however, if it did not mention that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to see how the creation of a "Blue Ribbon" task force to investigate Merit System problems, which included the Attorney General, can in any way be relied upon by the Commonwealth. Nonetheless, this ground is overruled.

This is basically a case of "I don't believe it", but I'll give the AG a pass on this one. This would be another count for the Governor to appeal.

Ground 4:KRS 18A.140 Does not State a Crime.
Ground 5: The indictment is hopelessly deficient and fails to put the defendant on notice of the conduct with which he is charged

I don't know why this was even attempted. 18A.140 does prohibit certain conduct and 18A.990 describes the penalty. A clear dud.

Ground 6: Separation of powers provides a sitting governor with immunity from indictment and prosecution for his official acts.

This one seems straight forward to me and makes sense. The state constiution lays out three separate brances of government that are equal. Since the Governor is acting within his constitutionaly granted powers, he can not be prosecuted by the judicial branch. Therefore it is up to the legislative body to determine the severity of law breached and move forward with impeachment. Otherwise, the judicial system is powerless to prosecute until the Governor leaves office.

Official misconduct encompasses illegal actions taken in the exercise of an official function, i.e. hiring and firing employees. Misconduct that is not "official" would include bribes, burglaries,etc, none of which is aleged herein. This court finds that unofficial misconduct can be pursued against any citizen (including the governor) at anytime, if the statue of limitations is satisfied.

This indictment, however, makes allegations of official misconduct in the exercise of gubernatorial powers...

Even if present charges are well founded, they should not be pursued until the Governor is either impeached or leaves office. There is no absolute immunity here barring a later prosecution. Charges can be brought, but nor pursued. This result is required by teh "balancing test" set out in Nixon v Fitgerald and by the Separtion of Powers Doctrine.

Note that unofficial acts of office are prosecutable immediately. So this is not blanket "immunity" for the Governor.

Bottom line, it appears to me that Fletcher has two very good grounds for immediate appeal of the rulings by Melcher. He should take them and see what the higher courts say.

At Saturday's Republican meeting to elect a member of the executive committee, Fletcher got a chance to speak to members of the party. In his address he tried to mend wounds in the party.

On Saturday, Fletcher told Republicans he planned to continue seeking re-election and called for unity in the party. "We'll have our family conflicts. We'll have our disagreements," he said. "But the values bring us together."

Unfortunately, the civil war lines have been drawn and it appears nothing Fletcher can do will stop it. Yesterday's Herald Leader provides us with some quotes from an interview with Lt. Gov Pence.

"He needs to acknowledge there's a problem between him and the party," Pence told the Lexington Herald-Leader in an interview. "And he has a very short window of opportunity to show that he can reach out, heal those wounds and rebuild the team."

Um, it sounds like Fletcher tried to do that on Saturday, but obviously Pence was too busy celebrating his chief of staff's election victory to pay much attention to Fletcher. Or maybe he doesn't care. It seems like he is pushing the "party" line.

"It was certainly a clear message that the party has concerns about Ernie Fletcher," Pence said.

Pence said Fletcher should listen to the voice of the party rather than to his own voice.

"If he takes this honest assessment and concludes he can't win next November, he needs to be a gentleman and step aside," Pence said.

Of course by party, he means the state party and not the average Republican on the street. It seems to me that the state "party" is living in an echo chamber and need to get out and talk to average Republicans who are watching their governor get slammed by the media and the "party".

This is nothing less than a power play by the "leaders" in the party. The same stuff that Democrats had been doing while they were in power. Of course the most egregious example of the will to power has to go to Trey Grayson.

Pence stopped short of saying that Fletcher shouldn't run in 2007, but Grayson said the governor would be doing the people a favor by dropping his re-election bid.

"I think the best thing for the state and the party is for him to hang it up," Grayson said. "Most Republicans I talk to don't think he can be re-elected and don't think he should be re-elected."

This quote is a little self serving since Grayson has already decided to run for Governor. He should probably change the quote to be "I think the best thing for me is for him to hang it up". I am not sure which Republicans he is talking to, but I am guessing it is the same echo chamber as Pence. I used to like Grayson, but his latest delusions of grandeur are a bit over the top.

Why should Republicans rally behind him? What does he bring to the table?

He is 34 years old which is my age. He has zero business experience. He practiced law for five years before running for Secretary of State. In the last three years he has been Secretary of State where he manages 37 people. 7 of which are part of his "executive staff". Heck the only reason he is Secretary of State is that he was able ride Fletcher's coat tails into office. He doesn't even have experience running a true statewide campaign.

Now he wants to be manage 9 cabinets and 46,000 employees. Having run a small business for the last 6 years, I can tell you that he is in way over his head. It is one thing to manage a small team, it is another thing to manage a large organization. There is a reason people move up the ladder in the business world rather than starting at the top.

It seems to me that he would be more likely to bungle managing the state than Fletcher. In fact, Fletcher has done a really good job managing the affairs of the state. He has reorganized the cabinets, overseen an improvement in education, the creation of new jobs, the overhaul of the state's tax system, and the reduction of the state's debt. That seems like a good tenure to me.

His only "blemish" is being the victim of a partisan AG and not "toeing" the line with the "party".

And so the civil war will continue...

Two days ago, George Soros's radical left wing organization MoveOn.org sponsored the first of four protests of Rep. Northup. 15 members wore giant red foam hands to symbolize "caught red-handed" as they "raised awareness" of Northup's campaign contributions from oil companies.

All they are raising awareness of is the fact that Yarmuth is associated with wacko leftists groups such as MoveOn.org. Not exactly going to help him in a moderately conservative city like Louisville.

But that is besides the point. I want to know which is more pathetic? The fact that MoveOn.org could only muster 15 people for this protest or the fact that the Courier-Journal ran a story about 15 protestors.

The end of the Israeli/Lebanon war, the good weather in the gulf, and the good news about the pipe lines in Alaska have caused pressures on oil prices to ease. Both the futures market and the oil exchange have reflected this good fortune causing wholesale gas prices to drop 30 cents over the last week.

But we can't have good economic news without dire predictions on future economic hardships while we have a Republican president. Thus the second half of the Courier article talks about how the "respite is likely short lived" and lists all of the possible "disasters" that could once again spike gas prices.

Personally, I think gas prices have been over inflated for some time now. My guess is we are beginning to see the long awaited market correction. Unless multiple disasters occur, I think we have seen the cap on gas prices. But that is way too optimistic for the Courier!

Remember all of the stories in July that showed Lucas with around a 10 point lead over Davis?

Well it appears that Davis now has a 2 point lead over Lucas.

Two things. Where is the Courier Journal story covering Davis's comback from being down early? I am guessing this story is one that doesn't match the Courier's agenda of only reporting good Democratic news.

Secondly, I was right in saying Davis made a brilliant move by taking a tour of the district during the Congressional reccess. It showed he cared about the district and the district is responding.

Hey Fletcher, are you paying attention to this?

Passing the political hot potato back to Stumbo, Richards today called for Stumbo to appeal Melcher's decision that Fletcher couldn't be tried until he leaves office.

Richards, D-Bowling Green, said the courts need to address the issue of executive immunity, a principle that Fletcher argued -- and a district court judge agreed -- should prevent him from being prosecuted while he’s governor.

Richards said some people do not think a Kentucky governor has as much immunity as was granted in Special District Judge David Melcher’s ruling last week.

“I think it would be important for any future officeholder to know what the rules are and for the citizens to know what the rules are,” Richards said. “I think it would be important to have the highest court adjudicate that matter.”

Yeah right! We need to have this law "settled" for future cases. That is completely unbelievable. Why? Richards doesn't want to start impeachment hearings against Fletcher for these charges.

First, he knows the charges are flimsy at best. How would you like to impeach a person who is found not guilty on all charges?

Secondly, such an act will undoubtedly make this whole case a partisan affair that will not only make the case that this whole investigation was a partisan witch hunt, but it will make Fletcher a more sympathetic figure for Kentuckians.

Lastly, they don't have the political will to move. They don't want their past indiscretions with merit employees to surface again. Especially their lack of prosecution of such cases.

This means that Stumbo will have no choice but to appeal the decision. If he does that, then Fletcher should also appeal his rulings. He may get better reception from the appellate or Supreme court for one simple reason. No district judge has the cohones to throw out the case. They would much rather let a jury decide the case. Higher courts have more gravitas and would be more willing to follow the law rather than be swayed by public opinion.

The first battle of the civil war was fought over an open seat in the state GOP executive committee. The election was between Steve Huffman, chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, and Larry Forgy, the previous Republican gubernatorial nominee. The party machinery choose Huffman over Fletcher's choice, Forgy.

Round 1 goes to the McConnell and the party infrastructure. The battle lines are now clearly drawn. We wil have to wait and see how this plays out over the coming months. At this point, I am believe the party is making a huge mistake. My gut tells me that the average Republican on the street thinks Fletcher has been rail roaded by Stumbo and the liberal media.

Now that the party has abandoned him, Fletcher is going to get the sympathy of the average Republican voter. It will be interesting to see who the "party" puts up to run against Fletcher. Unless it is some one sensational, I bet that next May Fletcher will win the nomination and the party will have egg all over its face as the have to "back" a candidate they shredded over the last year.

Well, The judge made his ruling today. He found that Fletcher can not stand trial for any wrong doings that occur during the course of his day to day activities as governor.

“Because it is alleged to be an official act, they cannot proceed against the governor until he’s either impeached or out of office," Melcher said.

Ok, so this is not what I was expecting, but it is an interesting ruling. What I gather Melecher is not saying is that the Governor can be prosecuted for any crime while he is Governor. Only those activities that are in his capacity as Governor to do. What this means is that since one of the things he does as Governor is hire people, he can't be prosecuted for any hiring decisions he makes. He would have to be impeached for misconduct in office before he could be charged.

Now if a Governor were caught selling crack on the corner of 3rd and Main in Frankfort at 2AM, he could be prosecuted since that was not part of his official duties as Governor.

What does this all mean?

For Fletcher: This is probably the worst decision that could have happened to Fletcher. Instead of the case being resolved it is going to hang around until he is no longer Governor. The papers are going to spin this as the Governor being "above" the law which is ridiculous, but the perception will probably stick. The ruling will likely cause a serious primary fight that will culminate the brewing Republican civil war.

For the Democrats: They are now in an interesting position. If they believe Fletcher is guilty, isn't it there responsibility to bring impeachment charges against the Governor? If they don't they will appear to not believe the charges are serious. If they do, they are going down a slippery slope that can only end badly. Either sympathy for the Governor will rise (like what happened to Clinton) or they will risk opening this can of worms for any future Democratic Governor. They really have no option but to pass.

For the Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates:

Chandler: I don't think Chandler will run. He is going to have to answer why he didn't prosecute merit violations during the campaign. I think he is way to comfy in his role as U.S. Representative to open himself to the abuse

Henry: He is clearly the strongest Democratic candidate left standing. But does he have support in the party?

Stumbo: He wants to run, but will probably lose. He has too many skeletons in his closet to be able to win in the general. And Democrat's inaction on impeachment will hurt his cause. I think his rank opportunism will come back to hurt him as well.

Today is the day where Fletcher's team has a hearing on his motion to dismiss. We'll update as soon as we hear anything from the proceedings.

What is curious is that the Courier-Journal ran a story yesterday about another AG filing. This one explaining why Fletcher's administration hadn't been singled out for prosecution

Prosecutors from the Attorney General���s office said in a court filing Thursday, ���It would be improper for the Commonwealth to excuse the Defendant���s criminal conduct because other politicians before him may have committed similar crimes.���

Yeah we have already heard that a number of times. Why are they covering this again? It almost seems like the Courier is trying to bolster this argument for some reason.

I think there may be good reason the AG's office and the Courier are worried about it. Back in the 60's on of the major rulings in the Kentucky Supreme Court was the "Heck Case". This was a case where the prosecutors unfairly singled out one store for prosecution. The supreme court in that case ruled that one can not be selectively chosen for prosecution of a law without prosecuting everyone.

At first the Courier wanted us to believe that since the AG indicted a number of people this can't apply. But in the Heck case a number of people from the Heck store where prosecuted. No the problem is no Democrat was ever prosecuted the Merit system laws in the last 45 years.

But the most damning evidence in favor of such a ruling is the actions of Stumbo himself. In 2003, he was AG when the Personnel Board ruled that Patton's administration was involved in some nefarious hiring schemes. The statue of limitations didn't run out on that case until well into Stumbo's tenure in the AG's office. Yet neither Chandler nor Stumbo decided to prosecute the case.

We'll see how this all shakes out.

The Lexington Herald a story today that almost begs the judge not to throw out the case.

Even the perceived integrity of the judicial branch is at stake, observers say.

"I think if you ask most voters, they want a public trial and want everything aired out because there's been so many denials," said Stephen Horner, a legal analyst and former juvenile justice judge from Louisville. "If they don't get it, it looks like good ol' boy politics prevailed."

"I think it would look bad for both the executive branch and the judicial branch."

What the hell? Why would it be bad for either branch? If the judge throws it out it can mean only one thing. That the judge looked at the evidence and saw nothing there to convict Fletcher. Any other explaination is pure spin and poppy cock. This story has become quite sureal as the evidence mounts that Fletcher's case may be thrown out.

There has been a rift in the Republican Party between Fletcher and a number of the party leadership. For most of the intra party squabbling, Sen McConnell has stood on the sidelines and watched the skirmishes.

With McConnell's decision to attend Friday's fund raiser for Grayson, Mitch has decided to take sides against Fletcher. With Fletcher and McConnell, the top two power brokers in the Republican party on opposite sides, a full civil war has broken out within the party. And much like the United State's civil war, this one will be bloody.

Why? Because the Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald will gleefully report every blow in the war. The dirty laundry will be aired for all to see.

I suspect the Republicans will lose the next general election regardless of the outcome of the civil war. The party will be too fractured to rally around nominee whoever he is. And the nominee will be too wounded to battle the Democrats.

The sad part of it all is that the war could have been avoided. If Fletcher hadn't let the power get to him and if the party hadn't stabbed him in the back at the first sign of distress this whole incident would have been avoided. From my stand point, both sides are equally to blame for this mess.

I guess the Republicans aren't ready to govern in Kentucky yet. That is a shame because the alternative is not good for Kentucky.

The Courier Journal decided to front page a story on "What if Gas Hit $5 a Gallon?" Personally, I am not worried about gas prices going much higher. The reality is that the oil market has a glut of product. Many oil buyers are holding barrels because they are waiting for the price to go higher so they can sell it for more than they bought it. In many regards it is similiar to the dot com build up of the 90's. At some point the artificial prices will create a bubble burst and prices will drop back under $2 a gallon.

The only thing that could cause gas prices to soar is the instability of the Iranian regime. In theory they could do something stupid (like build nuclear weapons) that could cause fear in the finacial sectors. But let's say that it does happen and gas prices go up to $5 a gallon.

They would not stay there very long for one simple reason. Competition of the free market system. Once gas prices go over $3 a gallon alternative fuels become reasonable to produce and sell. Why pay $5 a gallon for gas when you can pay $3 a gallon for an alternative fuel. As people move to the alternative fuel demand for gas will decline which again will lower the cost of gasoline until it is the same as the alternative fuel.

Simple economics!

So why did the Courier-Journal run this piece? To scare people into thinking gas prices will reach $5 a gallon soon. Why? To give the illusion that our robust economy is struggling. Why? To continue to sow discontent heading into the election season.

The nationwide telephone survey of 1,020 adults found nearly half of those surveyed believe gas prices could rise as high as $5.50 a gallon.

Why do 50% of people think gas could rise to $5.50? Because of scare stories like this one the main stream media is continuing to propogate. If prices are high and the economy is "rotten" it must be because of Bush, the war in Iraq, and the Repulicans in Congress. Hmmm, I love the smell of propoganda in the morning.

While I was kept from attending Fancy Farm by a wedding in Paducah this weekend, I did get to read the story about Fancy Farm the following day in the Paducah Sun. The headline read "Grayson and Stumbo consider run for Governor".

The story mentions that Stumbo supporters had Stumbo 07 signs that didn't indicate the office he was running for. When asked by the Paducah Sun Reporter about it Stumbo admits he is thinking about running for Governor. Stumbo goes on to talk about how he got a good reception and how people want him to run for Governor. His comments make him appear that he is ready to run. I was stunned to read about all of this! Wow, this practically proves that Stumbo had a bit of a "conflict" when he over pursued Fletcher for misdemeanors violations that could have been resolved by the Personnel Board. To me this was the biggest story from Fancy Farm.

So, I get back home and read the coverage from the Courier Journal and Lexington Herald. There was almost no mention of Stumbo in either paper and his desire to run for Governor. Instead the focus was on Grayson thinking about running for Governor. The best we were treated about Stumbo was the last couple of paragraphs from the Courier's article.

After the speech, Stumbo said he came to Fancy Farm and other events to "test the waters" for a possible campaign for governor.

Although the executive branch ethics commission has said it would be a conflict of interest for Stumbo to run after launching the hiring investigation, Stumbo said a campaign for governor is allowable under a recent court ruling removing him personally from the case.

Last week, however, he repeated recent comments that he has no plans "at this time" to run for governor next year.

And of course his statements are couched by Stumbo's recent "statements". I was amazed that he used the recent court ruling that removed him from the case because of "conflict of interest" as cover for running for Governor. In fact that conflict of interest is why the whole prosecution of Fletcher stinks! Where is the Courier in asking the obvious follow up questions? Why is this at the end of the story?

It is becoming clearer every day that Stumbo is planning a run for Governor and he is using his office as a political platform for the run. Let's examine the facts:

• Stumbo goes "Ahab" in an attempt to bring down Fletcher to open up a chance for him to win the Governorship.
• He attacks Fletcher/Rudolph by making ridiculous claims about state law in the case of the Murray St Board.
• Now his office is attacking Grayson just days after Grayson's announcement at Fancy Farm about a possible run for Governor. The latest is because the Secretary of State for "illegally" purged voter rolls. A fact that even the election board has denied

  Katie Dunnigan, an attorney for the board, said it does not need to specifically authorize such voter purges. She said Grayson was authorized under state law to maintain updated voter rolls.

• In addition, We are beginning to see him go after "gas companies" for price gouging. Even though it looks like there is no evidence to support such a claim.

  "Yesterday's (Thursday's) retail gas prices shot up while wholesale prices fell," Attorney General Greg Stumbo said in a news release. "Today we have sent subpoenas for Speedway stores across Kentucky requiring explanation of this price spike. Speedway is a trend setter in gas pricing across the Commonwealth."

  Linda Casey, a spokeswoman for Marathon Oil Co., which owns Speedway stores in Kentucky, said Speedway would "cooperate in every way" with the attorney general's office.

  "I can tell you that our increase was due to the rapidly increasing wholesale cost of gasoline from Tuesday and Wednesday," she said. That increase didn't carry over to the retail prices until Thursday, she said.

  "We're cooperating in the investigation, and I believe that our records will demonstrate that yesterday's increase was warranted," she said.

How many more data points to we need before it becomes obvious to the media that Stumbo has consistently used his office to further his own political ambitions. And it is even move obvious that he went after Fletcher not because he has a respect for the law (Ask his children about that), but that he was trying to eliminate a political opponent.

Instead of questioning the motives of Stumbo, the local papers are praising him for his attacks on the Republicans. They are sheltering him from obvious conflicts of interest stories. Why? Because these facts don't fit into the template that Fletcher is guilty and Stumbo is just "doing his job".

In fact the real conspiracy is the Democrats and media conspiring to create a propaganda machine that is very one sided.

The worst part of it is Republicans are falling for the propaganda. Steve Pence, David Williams, Jack Richardson, and now Grayson have all fallen prey to the message machine and have started trashing the Governor when they should be turning their guns on the real perpetrators: Democrats and the media.

Of course, Fletcher has not helped himself any with his current bunker mentality. The time is right. He needs to come out and start fighting. He needs to take his message to the people. Before the Democrat and media's propaganda machine becomes unstoppable.

The United States House of Representatives has taken a summer recess. 4th District Republican is using that time to make a month long campaign swing through the district.

���We���re getting out, working the crowds at county fairs and festivals and traveling the district,��� said Davis��� Campaign Manager Justin Brasell.

What a great idea! Show people you want the job. Show people you are engaged. Show them you are energized. And most importantly show them you truly represent their needs. This 24 day trip across the district is going to pay huge dividends for the Davis campaign. He is taking a huge positive first step to kick off his campaign.

You know what? Fletcher needs to pay attention. He should be doing the same thing. Fletcher needs to stop acting defensively and take his message to the people. He has been a pretty good governor. Now he needs to take a trip across the state telling people about his accomplishments. He needs to get out and show the arrows that have been hurled his way have not effected his leadership.

If he takes a positive message to the people, he can silence the critics in his own party and remove the threat of "primary challengers". If he seizes the initiative to demonstrate his leadership and positive message for Kentucky he can turn this thing around.

Now is his chance. I only hope that he takes it!

Recently, the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced which 32 candidates they would be supporting in the upcoming fall elections. Those 32 campaigns would get the $51.5 million dollars for TV advertising.

The 3rd District in Kentucky was not on that list. Marking the first time in four election cycles that the DCCC has not targeted Northup's district.

Amy Walter, senior editor at The Cook Political Report, which follows congressional races, said Northup's decisive win two years ago against former Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk Tony Miller was a setback for Democrats.

"They've been targeting her for years," Walter said, and now there's "a Kentucky 3rd fatigue" in Washington.

Although this is Northup's first race at a time when public polls have shown strong disapproval of her party's leadership and the war in Iraq, Walter noted that Yarmuth "has political baggage" because of the hundreds of columns he's written for LEO.

"Yarmuth allows Northup to make the race about two candidates, instead of a race about a referendum on Washington and the president," Walter said. "When you make it a two-person race, it's much harder for Yarmuth."

Basically after dumping millions into beating Northup, the DCCC feels its fruitless to attempt to unseat her again. Especially with Yarmuth as the candidate. OUCH! This is a devastating blow for the Yarmuth team. They needed national money to help offset the $1.4 million dollar advantage the Northup camp enjoys. Without the money they will be helpless against the Northup team's skilled ability to control the direction and tenor of a campaign.

Now, Yarmuth's only hope is to hit the fund raising trail as hard as possible over the next two months and hope he can get within 50% of Northup's money. If not his chances of winning this race will move from slight to none.

I have been a ardent supporter of Fletcher through his dark times under a tyrannical AG. But what he is doing this weekend by skipping Fancy Farm is a monstrous mistake. One political maxim states that if you are not on the offensive you are on the defensive. And Fletcher has been on the defensive the last year. The raucous environment of Fancy Farm is the perfect opportunity for Fletcher to take the offensive. Here is roughly the speech I would give if I were in his shoes.

Hello, how is everyone doing today?

At this point the raucous heckling would begin. Even though the Democrats are not very creative, I am sure they will have something lame to chant. At this point I would look over at the partisan hacks and say

Well it sounds like the writers for the Courier Journal and Lexington Herald are here today.

But you all go ahead drown me out. Continue to shout epithets at me. Because I know you are afraid that others might actually hear the truth about the state of things in our great commonwealth. You guys are just another attempt by the party of Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and Howard Dean to cover up the successes of this administration.

In our first 3 years we have done much good for all Kentuckians. We have reworked the state cabinets to more efficiently run government. We have reformed the tax code to better meet the demands of the day. We have taken a large deficit and turned it into a multi-million dollar surplus....

I would continue to cite other victories of the administration and then turn back to the crowd - gains in education, job growth, UPS expansion, etc

But no these partisans here, hurling insults, are trying to drown me out because they don't want you to here these simple truths. But I can't blame them. They are only taking there cues from the Courier Journal and Lexington Herald.

These two papers have written four times more stories about the attacks from Stumbo than any previous Democratic governor scandal. This imbalance makes it obvious that these efforts to vociferously denounce me at every turn is nothing more than an attempt to drown out the accomplishments of this administration.

They are taking their cues from the Attorney General. Stumbo wants everyone to believe that he is just doing his job. But what he really is doing is deflecting from the incompetence of his tenure. He is just creating a smoke screen to hid the fact that he illegally created the KBI. That he lost a $1.4 million-a-year arrangement with the Health and Family Services Cabinet to investigate welfare fraud. That he has wasted millions of tax payer dollars and countless resources trying to run me out of office.

Yes they have all put up a thick smoke screen. Hoping and praying that the average Kentuckian won't really see what is happening in this state. But it ain't going to work.

No, today, the winds of change are beginning to blow. Moving forward I am going to travel around the state and start to tell everyday Kentuckians like you out in this crowd the truth that is being hidden by the scurrilous media. We are going to go out and let people know our accomplishments. For our ideas, Republican ideas, has turned this state around. We as a state are heading in a positive direction and our brightest days are ahead of us.

And once that wind blows through and the smoke screen clears, everyone will see accomplishments that this state has achieved. And on this day of reckoning, it will be the emperor's in the media and Democratic party who will be shown to have no clothes.

God bless you, and God bless America.

It is just ashamed he isn't going to Fancy Farm to give it. This was a golden opportunity to go on the offensive for a change and he let it slip through his fingers. He had a chance to change the dynamics of the current political reality and he wasted it. What a shame.

In a weird move, three nominees who were rejected by Fletcher for Murray State's Board of Regents filed suit against Fletcher. The lawsuit would force Fletcher to appoint one of the to the board. Why do I consider this move strange? Because the law is pretty clear.(emphasis added)

KRS 12.070 Section (3). Where appointments to administrative boards and commissions are made from lists submitted to him, the Governor may reject the list and require that other lists be submitted. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, in the event the current membership of a board or commission reflects a proportion of the minority group less than the proportion of the minority group in the total population of the Commonwealth, then the Governor may appoint a member of the minority group even if the list of nominees for a vacancy does not include a member of the minority group.

The law seems pretty straight forward to me. I think this is the definition of a frivolous law suit. But where would they have gotten such a bad idea. Yup you guessed it, the attorney general's office. Assistant AG Rob Jones claimed that Fletcher does not have the power to reject all of the candidates.

"The governor does not have the discretion to send three more names in," Jones said. "A specific statue on a specific board would be controlling over any general law in any area."

I assuming he is referring to KRS 164.005 Section (5a).

The committee shall be responsible for submitting three nominations from which the Governor shall select each gubernatorial appointment....

All that law states is that the Governor must select from the three nominations they present. But the more general law that he can reject any list submitted to him would also hold. Thus Fletcher was well within his rights to reject the entire list and force the committee to send him another list from which he could select. Otherwise you would be striping the Governor of his selection powers to protect the state's interests.

The opinion by Rob Jones seems utterly ridiculous and nothing more than another hit job on the Governor. This incident fits right in line with a continuing pattern of an out of control Attorney General trying to bring down a governor.

While perusing the Conservative Edge, I came across this interesting tid bit of information.

According to Governor Fletcher's chief of staff, Stan Cave, when Democrat Kent Downey was caught running a prostitution ring from his state offices, the state's two largest newspapers (the big two) ran 120 articles in 71 months about the situation. During the Patton campaign finance investigation in 1995 there were 178 articles in 74 months. After Patton admitted to having a sexual affair with a Democratic county patronage chief, who was doing business with the state of Kentucky, there were 193 pieces in 27 months.

Now that Governor Fletcher has been accused of getting a dozen or so Republicans merit jobs in the state system, the Herald-Leader and Courier-Journal have run 757 articles in 14 months.

That is an amazing number. So let me get this straight. The scandal involving a hand full of merit jobs has gotten over 4 times the coverage in 1/4th the time of the Patton campaign finance investigation. This was the investigation in which Patton's cronies were found guilty of campaign finance violations (voter fraud) in an election that was closer than 30,000 votes? Patton could quite possibly have illegally stolen an election and his offenses got 1/4th the coverage of a minor hiring scandal? The scale of disproportion in this case is beyond ludicrous.

It is obvious the Courier and Herald Leader are trying to oust Fletcher as Governor and what are the Republicans doing? They are trying to help them! First Brock waved his thumb at Fletcher after receiving a pardon for his acts in the scandal. Then, Pence resigned from the re-election ticket. Next. David Williams questioned Fletcher's electability. Of course the