I suppose that means we must take out our dirty laundry and hang it out to dry. Or fold it. Or wash it. Either way, we have to talk about it. As I said last week, I wish we could just forget it, but that's obviously not happening.
Wolf alleges that a government employee violated the law with suspicious timing to the benefit of Sen. Pat Roberts. Kansas law prohibits Kansas Board of Healing Arts from divulging information about its investigations, but employee Dan Riley confirmed for the Cap-J an investigation against Wolf for the x-ray scandal. (I can't rehash it here. Too long. Too old. Too overdone. And Wolf was exonerated.)
Unless the Cap-J lied about its source, which is totally possible but unlikely, then Wolf clearly has a case. The Cap J did report a confirmation from Riley. I don't understand why Wolf has chosen to take blogging action rather than legal action. But OK.
Second, Wolf alleges that board of healing arts member Anne Hodgdon knew about the x-rays for more than a year before doing anything about it. Wolf questions the timing. Yes, the timing of the investigation is suspect, but again, this is politics. Not a friendly game of Yahtzee. I'm not saying politics should be dirty. I'm simply saying they are, have been as long as I've been paying attention, and probably will be forever and ever. Politics are the realm of humans, and we suck, especially when it comes to the quest for power or money.
Sure, let's fight to change that, but let's be realistic and reasonable. I fail to see how calling Anne Hodgdon the "Lois Lerner of Kansas" is a useful or wise way to clean up politics. Shine the light, Wolf, but don't crawl into the gutter.
And then Wolf's web release rehashes a lot of nasty Twitter posts from Hodgdon. I've gotta believe she isn't particularly happy with the nature of those posts, and I'm not excusing it. I am, again, saying that politics is a nasty business, and a LOT of people got far too emotionally involved in the Wolf-Roberts race. I truly hope we can stop the blood-letting eventually. It wasn't the Kansas GOP's finest moment. (Primaries -- a necessary and often too nasty evil.)
I find the Hodgdon's church tweets egregious. I don't know when Wolf joined a church, but if he attends one and says he is faithful, I am going to buy that story and give him (or anyone else) the benefit of the doubt until they tell or show me otherwise. Wolf hasn't done anything that would lead me to believe his faith is fake. He's imperfect, sure. But um. So are all Christians. That's why we need a Savior.
Wolf does make a very good point about the fact that there is no legislative oversight of the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts. How many other unelected boards in Kansas are filled with appointments making policy with the potential to use their position against citizens? I just wish Wolf would focus more on where we go from here rather than rehashing perceived slights.
Wolf's web release also does a fine job of painting Sen. Jerry Moran and Gov. Sam Brownback with a dirty brush. He connects the dots between the Roberts' campaign, the Governor and Moran. (Dear Wolf press people, maybe separate ALL of those points out instead of one giant screed. Your point, which I think is that Hodgdon and the board behaved unethically and immorally gets a little lost with all the stuff about Moran running the NRSC. I suspect the frequent mentions of Moran as a BAD GUY are because Wolf intends to run against Moran next year.)
For what it's worth, I thought the Republican Establishment in general behaved abominably during that primary election. They did not treat Wolf well and I fully understand and appreciate why he's holding onto the anger.
But climbing into the gutter doesn't make me think better of Wolf. It makes me wish we had better choices -- candidates who can somehow rise about the mud-slinging. Does such a thing exist? Is it even possible to get elected without toiling in the garbage? One can dream.
What will follow is the evidence, in the central players’ own words, that will establish three main facts: (1) A government employee violated the law with incredibly suspicious timing such that it benefited a politician. (2)
A government official who was a major donor before being appointed to a
powerful Board position lied about evidence in a legal case before her
own agency and then destroyed electronic records to cover her tracks.
And, (3) the career politicians whose actions set these
events into motion benefited. - See more at:
http://www.miltonwolf.com/weaponizing-the-government/#sthash.JaJkWxCA.dpuf
What will follow is the evidence, in the central players’ own words, that will establish three main facts: (1) A government employee violated the law with incredibly suspicious timing such that it benefited a politician. (2)
A government official who was a major donor before being appointed to a
powerful Board position lied about evidence in a legal case before her
own agency and then destroyed electronic records to cover her tracks.
And, (3) the career politicians whose actions set these
events into motion benefited. - See more at:
http://www.miltonwolf.com/weaponizing-the-government/#sthash.JaJkWxCA.dpuf
(I hate Wolf's website.
It won't allow me to copy and paste, and then it shows up somewhere
weird later and I can't get rid of it. So pardon the website address,
which is probably going to show up somewhere on this page and make a few
sentences difficult to read.)
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