Stumbo accuses Fletcher of playing politics with Ten Commandments

FRANKFORT — Attorney General Greg Stumbo today accused Gov. Ernie Fletcher of playing politics with the Ten Commandments.

Stumbo questioned the timing of Fletcher's announcement Thursday that he is seeking to clarify a 2006 federal court order about the posting of the Ten Commandments on Capitol grounds.

"I offered to clear the way for posting the Ten Commandments a year and a half ago." Stumbo said in a statement. "Obviously, this issue was not important to the governor until he could play politics with it."

Fletcher, a Republican, is seeking re-election Tuesday in a race against Democratic challenger Steve Beshear. Several media polls show that Fletcher is trailing in the race.

Fletcher’s press secretary, Jodi Whitaker, said yesterday that the governor’s motion in U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky this week was not related to the election.

UPDATE:  In a statement this afternoon, Fletcher said he has  no confidence in the attorney general’s ability to competently represent the Commonwealth’s interests in this matter. 

"Time and again, he has demonstrated a lack of professional discretion and judgment reasonably necessary to provide the citizens of this state with capable legal representation," Fletcher said.

In a motion filed Oct. 29 by his general counsel, David Fleenor, Fletcher asked the federal court to rule that an injunction against posting the Ten Commandments does not apply to a recently donated “Foundations of American Law and Government” display by a private citizen.

Fletcher’s motion claimed the display is constitutional since it has predominantly secular purposes. It noted that other federal courts have upheld identical displays that contain such items as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

Stumbo today said he sent a letter to Fletcher on March 14, 2006, that offered to go to federal court to modify an order forbidding placement of the Ten Commandments "on the Capitol grounds near the Floral Clock."

In a follow-up letter sent on May 4, 2006, to Fletcher, Stumbo said he asked the Governor why he failed to respond to his offer, and again urged the governor to fight for the right to display the Ten Commandments.

Stumbo said the governor never answered his letters.

"How can anyone think this governor is sincere in his new found concern about the Ten Commandments?" Stumbo asked. "When he had the chance to make a difference more than 18 months ago, he froze. This matter would have been resolved in the people’s favor long ago had the governor not blocked effective action."

--Jack Brammer

Comments

No, I don't believe it. You're saying Ernie Fletcher is using the Cross as nothing more than a tool to tweak Kentuckians of faith?

That would be so out of character for the Kentucky Superman of Ethics, Ernie Fletcher, wouldn't it?

At this rate I'll bet Ernie has an ancestor somewhere who gambled for the robes of dying man, somewhere in Jerusalem around 2000 years ago.

This kind of pandering is just so crass, it's truly sickening to watch.

[Hazel]

Could this be Li'l Orphan Ernie's Hail Mary attempt to find religion as he faces (political) execution next Tuesday?

Hazel, aka..................

Has the HL reported the results of the KY high school election? If not why?

Funny that Stumbo is trying to make news today, considering this:

http://www.kypolitics.org/kypolitics/2007/11/exploding-forme.html

Great Ad, When will the HL stop campaigning for the DEMS, What is it to Scumbo anyway?

Four more days and the nightmare ends... Thank goodness.

I don't know how much more I can take of Fletcher's desperation or the kookiness of his 10-15 actual supporters.

[SarahG]

Fletcher was probably just afraid it was another subpoena when he saw the name of the sender. :)

poor ernie - now he is out trying to scare the voters again - the casinos, ten commandments, gay marriage etc, have not worked so what now? If Steve Beshear wins then Hillary will carry KY - what's even scarier ernie is that fool in the oval office that you supported four years ago as gov - I almost drove off the road when I heard this news report on the radio - this much be the kitchen sink that Beshear was talking about!

Ernie Fletcher has pulled some pretty pathetic stunts in the past, but exploiting religion for political gain? That's as low as it gets.

I find it amusing the democrats are concerned with exploiting religion for political purposes. I used to live in Atlanta and always found it amusing when Clinton Gore etc. showed up at the black churches when they were campaigning

is it not okay for democrats to go to church? - be they white or black churches? - that is the hypocricy of the fletcher disciples - they can do anything say anything
- it has been that way for the past four years - " do as we say not as we do" sayeth st ernie

Showing up at church is a far, far cry from using your office and the taxpayers money - not to mention the people's state capitol grounds - to pull a purely political prank at the 11th hour in a losing campaign. You do see the clear distinction, yes?

Sarah G at 1:36 - LMAO!! Oh snap!! Thanks, I needed that on a Friday afternoon!

Scumbo has a few skeletons of his own!

Former Stumbo campaign treasurer alleges Stumbo bought votes
The Big Sandy News has the goods today on a story that political insiders have been whispering about for months.

The Eastern Kentucky paper is reporting that Greg Stumbo's long time campaign treasurer, Pam Justice, has alleged that the Attorney General committed vote fraud.

While her eagerness to spill the beans on Stumbo's alleged illegal activity appears to be an attempt to avoid a hefty sentence in her own drug case, it is worth noting that she also served as State Senator Johnny Ray Turner's (D-Drift) campaign treasurer. Senator Turner was indicted and pleaded guilty earlier this year to vote buying in the 2000 election.

Justice also implicates former Floyd County Judge Executive Paul Hunt Thompson (D) in the alleged illegal activity. Justice's allegations about Stumbo and Thompson center around accusations that they used campaign funds to buy votes - the same activity Turner was indicted for.

The Big Sandy News published a transcript of a recorded call between Justice and FBI Special Agent Donnie Kidd. The transcript was included among documents filed in federal court in Justice's case. According to the transcript, Stumbo's deputy Pierce Whites was sent a copy of a memo from Justice regarding these alleged activites. Have a read:

However, it's not playing the "religios" card to state at every debate, in every ad, that "I'm a son of a preacher man. and I ONCE song in the church choir!"
Come one people....if you are going to complain...complain on both sides

[Mary_Ellen_S]

Stumbo's just about to get charged with vote buying, so I suggest he slither away for a while.

Kentucky students see the upcoming election in a different manner than their parents if you compare the results of the 2007 Kentucky Student Mock Election to current public polling. Nearly 10,000 students from 85 schools across the Commonwealth picked the entire Republican slate in the election, sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of State and the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI)

“It is essential that students become acclimated to the democratic process, and there is no better way than for them to participate in the process themselves,” stated Secretary Grayson. “We hope that this will begin a lifelong commitment to voting among these young people.”

This project is an exceptional tool for confronting, and in many cases, reversing the disturbing voting trends in the 18-24 year old demographic. Engaging students with the core principles of democracy fosters an important behavior that many will carry far beyond the classroom.

The unofficial results for the election are:

Governor/Lt. Governor Slate


Ernie Fletcher/Robbie Rudolph (R)
54.09%

Steven Beshear/Daniel Mongiardo (D)
45.91%

I see where once again Beshear has no public events scheduled today - He must be visiting with his Philadelphia consultants - Why has the Herald Leader not examined this relationship?

For example, the Beshear-Mongiardo campaign has already paid Urban Projects Inc., a Philadelphia based group, more than $200,000 for “consulting” services. Urban Projects, Inc. is linked to individuals who were involved in a vote fraud scandal so egregious that a Federal Judge had to overturn an election in Pennsylvania.

The Beshear campaign has admitted that Urban Projects, Inc. is focusing its efforts in Louisville. A preliminary review of state records revealed some suspicious voter registrations in Jefferson County over the last few months, including:
29 cases of possible duplicate registrations
8 registrations listing non-existent addresses
15 individuals registered out of City Hall
An individual registered out of an abandoned doughnut shop
An individual listing a home phone number which traces back to a liquor store in Jeffersonville, Indiana

Four more days and the Fletcher monkey chatter will thankfully go silent.

The best thing that will be remembered about November 2007; That Kentucky got rid of two crooks--Governor Ernie Fletcher, and Attorney General Greg Stumbo.

About DAMN TIME!!!

Let's see what you got: someone charged with drug crime trying to save her own behind telling tales she offera no evidence at all but her word to back up, coming from a rag that's had a grudge against the AG and with a staff that doesn't have so much as a high school diploma among them and hasn't gotten a story right in its entire history and blind, baseless accusations that, what? Something nefarious MIGHT happen because a consultant that's never been charged or convicted of a crime has been hired by a campaign. That's what you got? Funny that amid all that fluff and smoke you don't offer one word of defense for your boy's obvious pander to the extreme religious right. Why is that? monkey chatter indeed throwing around a lot of what monkeys are best at throwing.

I'd say for a county the size of Jeff that's an outstanding voter reg record. There are far smaller counties particularly in western kentucky with a whole lot more questionable registration. Good job Jefferson! Keep that error rate low. What do the Fletchies have against as many people as possible getting out to vote? Oh...never mind.

Full statement from Fletcher:

STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR ERNIE FLETCHER IN RESPONSE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL'S COMMENTS REGARDING TEN COMMANDMENTS DISPLAY

"Frankly, I have no confidence in the Attorney General's ability to competently represent the Commonwealth's interests in this matter. Time and again, he has demonstrated a lack of professional discretion and judgment reasonably necessary to provide the citizens of this state with capable legal representation. According to today's article in the Big Sandy News entitled "AG's Name Surfaces During Drug Probe," Greg Stumbo may have his own legal issues.

"Even worse, prior to being elected Attorney General, Greg Stumbo sat on his hands for 12 full terms as a state representative and did little, if anything, to advance this issue for the people of Kentucky. As Attorney General, Greg Stumbo didn't join in the legal proceeding as he could have. Had Greg Stumbo taken a moment to even read the recent opinion of the Federal Court in ACLU vs. Rowan County, he would have known that now is the perfect time to address this in that same court.

"Known for his political shenanigans, Greg Stumbo is at it again, perhaps to deflect attention from the Big Sandy News story.

"My administration fought for and I signed into law HB 277, which directed the lawful display of a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds. When the ACLU sued to hold the Commonwealth in contempt of a prior injunction in May 2006, I directed my Justice Cabinet, rather than the Attorney General, to handle the matter. Since that time, our Cabinet's lawyers have represented the Commonwealth with skill and effectiveness.

"As a result, I am pleased that we will soon be in a position to present to the Court a plan to display the Ten Commandments monument in accordance with HB 277 and all applicable legal precedents."

While I am not a Fletcher supporter, I have genuinely tried to look for some redeeming qualities in him as the race runs down and Fletcher is defeated. I have almost felt sorry for him during his desparate moments. This and Flethcer's attempt to pass off the hit list as a promotions list completely and unmistakably destroyed any credibility that he may have had left. I will be casting my vote for Steve Beshear. If I were a republican and couldn't bring myself to vote for Steve Beshear, I would just stay home on election day or I wouldn't vote in the governor's race at all. Fletcher will have a lot of time on hands trying to figure out why he and his appointees couldn't fool all of the people all of the time.

Susan Allen, the reporter at the Big Sandy who does many of the stories about Greg Stumbo is a retired teacher. Reporting is her second career. I wouldn't be surprise if she has her rank one in education.

So. . . so much for those assertations that nobody has more than a high school degree at the Big Sandy.

Further, I don't think the Feds would release this one transcript unless they have others which show the goods on Stumbo.

Does ANY HONEST PERSON really believe that Scumbo is to be trusted?! He is as corrupt as they come! He isn't worthy to tie Ernie Fletcher's shoes, and that is why he and Bill Graham, and Doug Doerting orchestrated their witch hunt!

All the negative comments about Ernie are nothing but jealous hate-speech! He is a good man trying to do what is best for Kentucky, all while having to watch his back because of Scumbo and good-ole-boy-BOPTROT mafia.

Gov. Fletcher is ABSOLUTELY right to distrust Stumbo. Stumbo hides behind his office of Attorney General, but HE is the one who has been associated with all kinds of REAL scandals!! He cooks up scandals for his political foes (i.e. Fletcher) to take the heat off of him! He is a crook! Gov. Fletcher is correct to state that he has "no confidence in the Attorney General's ability to competently represent the Commonwealth's interests in this matter. Time and again, he has demonstrated a lack of professional discretion and judgment reasonably necessary to provide the citizens of this state with capable legal representation." AMEN!

All the pontificating on here against Gov. Fletcher is a smoke screen to obscure the 30 years of FBI investigations of the past administrations before this one. We would be fools to let Steve Beshear and Greg Stumbo back in control of Frankfort! Don't let it happen folks, or we will all regret it! Ernie may be their favorite punching bag, but his is a good man who is doing a good job, and he deserves to be re-elected.

Stumbo Bought Votes????
The Big Sandy News has a story which claims a former campaign bookkeeper for Greg Stumbo's gave the feds information that Stumbo had been involved in vote buying.

I'll provide the link to the Big Sandy News but you've got to buy a subscription to read the whole story. At least signing on to to WHAS11.com is free!!!!

You can also find a portion of the story on Brett Hall's website.

But from the looks of the transcript posted by Hall, it appears to exonerate Stumbo. Pam Justice tells the FBI investigator "there's nothing that I have on those guys cause I didn't do anything with 'em." Deputy Attorney General Pierce Whites says the headlines in the newspaper and on kypolitics.org are misleading. Whites says the conversation between Justice and the FBI agent raises questions about the FBI trying to pump a drug suspect for information about democratic politicians. But he says, it does clear Stumbo because if anyone is in a position to grasp at straws and come up with some allegation to feed the feds, it would be Justice, who was facing a big prison sentence.

Posted by mark.hebert on November 2, 2007 05:19 PM |
http://www.beloblog.com/WHAS_Blogs/PoliticalBlogger/2007/11/stumbo_bought_votes.html

In the end, Stumbo will get what's coming to him. And history will have a much different take on his assault on Ernie Fletcher than voters will on Tuesday.

I hope that "statement" came from the campaign and not from the official office of the governor. The people of this state elected Greg Stumbo and it would be a very serious misuse of public resources for the governor to use that office to slander and lie about a duly elected constitutional office. Maybe someone will file an anonymous complaint with the ethics commission. The depth of Fletcher's desperation is matched only by his immaturity, total lack of dignity and integrity and malfeasance of office. So no one evidently supports the governor's appeal for court clarification of the ten commandments posting judging by the off topic direction this post has taken and the absence of any comments at all justifying the motion. At least we cleared that up.

[Doris]

I agree with comment 11/2 concerning Susan Allen's ability to report. Stumbo has crucified Fletcher ever since he was elected, maybe a personal grudge, maybe because they are of different parties, WHO KNOWS.
Sure Fletcher has done somethings wrong and he admits that, but most of it has been done
for a long, long time and nothing was ever said or done about it. I will vote for Fletcher

Mark Hebert (WHAS) has a different take on the Stumbo / Big Sandy News story.
http://www.beloblog.com/WHAS_Blogs/PoliticalBlogger/2007/11/stumbo_bought_votes.html

Hebert says "from the looks of the transcript posted by (Brett) Hall (on his political blog), it appears to exonerate Stumbo."

With an out-of-control, untrustworthy Attorney General who philosophically does NOT support the display of the Ten Commandments, Gov. Fletcher was absolutely correct in his course of action. The cynical posters here do not know how deeply the Governor is committed to doing what is right! Stumbo's disingenuous letters to the Governor were a mere ploy. He could NOT care less about the Ten Commandments display! Ernie is on the right side of this issue; Stumbo is not!

Stumbo's approval rating is way ahead of Fletcher's the indicted pardonin' soon-to-be former, one term governor.Don't be hatin' on Stumbo, kids. He did his job, exposed crimes and corruption and let the governor and tax payers off easy as a gesture of mercy. If Ernie had just done his job instead of Mitch's bidding, he might have a chance at a second term. But this junk is more than enough proof that Ernie is a stone nutcase. I hope he gets the help he needs in private life.

So Ernie disapproves of Stumbo... that's pretty rich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du9nDWZfebw

4:07, if your comments only had the slightest ring of truth to them, it'd be nice. As it is, they don't.

Susan Allen is one of the most respected journalists in this state. Ask Al Cross if you don't believe it.

And as for the allegation that this is simply a defendant trying to get a better deal, it was widely known/thought/believed/rumored in eastern KY that the feds were looking into Stumbo's possible involvement in the Ross Harris/Sen. Turner deal long before Pam Justice ever got arrested for selling coke. There is plenty of smoke here and probably a very hot fire burning beneath the surface.

The statement came from Fletcher's official office, from Jodi Whitaker, and it's about time he came firing back. Not one word in that statement was not true. Stumbo has acted in an unprofessional manner since the merit system investigation started, leaking evidence to the press and doing document dumps to bolster his case in the court of public opinion. If a run of the mill commonwealth's attorney had behaved in that manner, he'd have been sanctioned a thousand times over.

Big sandy news! Wow! What a paragon of journalistic excellence! Such a joke. And the statement released by the feds in fact does exonerate Stumbo from allegations made by a crackhead. That's what Fletcher has come to - depending on drug addicts as his source of truth. So pathetic. Come Tuesday the truth will be known and the consequences of failure meted out.

As I recall, Stumbo is not running for governor. Fletcher has never understood that he is not running against Stumbo. This story is just another desparate 11th hour attempt to get a headline. Fletcher literally has nothing to lose because he has nothing left to lose. Scorched earth approach will be remembered for a long time--maybe for 32 years.

He really issued that statement from his elected public supposedly nonpolitical office? I knew his campsign was hurting for money but I had no idea his secret criminal defense fund was so flush.

You can tell from the transcript that she is only trying to get out of going to prison and she doesn't have anything on Stumbo to earn a deal. Anyone facing jail time will do what it takes to get out of it. Look at Fletcher taking the fifth. Do you need to take the fifth if you are innocent? The answers to this question is the same that I will say to Fletcher/Rudolph on Tuesday........NO

NO MORE REPUBLICANS ON THE STATE OR FEDERAL LEVEL UNTIL THEY STRAIGHTEN UP THEIR ACT AND GET RID OF THE NUTS!

Dude...Stumbo sucks. He just sucks.

Maybe someday Stumbo and Nifong can be roommates.

Rudolph Stopped For Expired Registration
Robbie Rudolph was pulled over and cited in Frankfort for having an expired registration. Rudolph's registration expired in December 2006.
He is scheduled to appear in Franklin District Court on November 15th.

The Ten Commandments should neither be used for political gain nor displayed on government property. The good Lord gave us these commandments to live by and those who founded this country knew that God was not to play politics. I'll keep my religion in my small town church and you keep your's in your own. But by goodness, keep them out of Frankfort and it's a shame that Mr. Fletcher is drumming this up when it should be kept in private. The Good Book doesn't need advertising, it needs living.

[David]

10:19

If Beshear wins, you can be sure that the Ten Commandments WILL be out of Frankfort!

Your post is so naive and so contrary to our Founders. While every person is free to believe what he/she wishes, the foundations of this great country are decidedly Judaeo-Christian, a heritage which should be taught and celebrated! It is from that foundation that we have the individual freedoms that we enjoy. That tradition is posted all over Washington, D. C., and it is entirely appropriate to display it here. Those are are roots, our foundation. If we forsake that, we WILL crumble. A public reminder of the Source of all law is constructive and appropriate. I support the Governor in his efforts. I submit that those of you who cynically criticize him are perhaps the ones "using religion" for political purposes.

10:36: Religion in politics is what we find in Iran. I don't think that's where we want to be. And you should read up on your history. The "foundations of this great country" were brought about from an understanding of a freedom of religion. It's in the Constitution. You can find that online by searching Google for "U.S. Constitution" and reading it.

11:00 That was freedom "OF" religion, not freedom "FROM" religion. Right? You can find those prepositions in the Webster's Dictionary.

11:00 You compare our religious heritage to IRAN?! Wow! You don't appreciate that you were born in a Christian nation (where you are free to deny God), rather in a Muslim country, where you could be beheaded for changing your faith!

Judaeo-Christian or not, appreciate the great principles upon which all our laws and freedoms are based!

Our country is NOT a Christian nation. It has been blessed to have wonderful leaders whose Christian values have often helped motivate those leaders to adopt great policies.

But our country has been intentionally set up as not a country identified with any religion. Instead, it's a country where everyone is free to believe as their conscience directs them, whether that direction leads to Mecca, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, or nowhere at all.

I am free to worship in church, my neighbor is free to worship in temple, and her neighbor is free to worship or not worship in whatever way he chooses. You people who contend we are a Christian nation are just as bad as the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. They too believed they had the one true religion. They too believed it was their duty to use any means possible to convert all of humanity to their point of view.

Please, don't pervert something as meritorious as Christianity by putting it in the same category as the Taliban that attacked us on 9/11.

[John]

From Wikipedia's "Religious History of the United State": "most American statesmen, when they began to form new governments at the state and national levels, shared a conviction that religion was, to quote Alexis de Tocqueville's observation, "indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions".

Did you know that 27 of 56 of our Founding Fathers had Christian seminary degrees! (I wonder how many of them were lawyers!) Check out:

http://www.creationists.org/churchandstate.html

Don't run from our Christian roots! Embrace them! Celebrate them! Honor them with a public display of the Ten Commandments.
Steve Beshear as Attorney General did not stand up for Kentucky or our heritage when he banished them!

The Ten Commandments are historical, they are a threat to no one, no one should resent them being displayed, and it is entirely constitutional. They are the foundation for our laws.

I support the Gov. Fletcher's initiative to restore them to public prominence.