August 1, 2013 6:17 AM

Another (not so) great moment in Republican ethics

Last year, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler got fined about $2,800 for using state money to pay for a trip to a Republican lawyers conference. You can argue whether Gessler’s fine was a big deal or small one, his just deserts or (as Gessler’s office says) the result of a witch hunt by a liberal group. In any case, he was fined about $2,800. Yesterday, the citizens of Colorado got a look at the legal bills — paid by Colorado taxpayers — for Gessler’s defense. The bills go on, item after item, with a 24 percent discount (pdf) for the secretary of state, and sent directly to his office, under “Bill to: Colorado Department of State.” The great ColoradoPols totaled the damage this way: Gessler was found to have “breached the public trust for private gain,” and fined the maximum amount-roughly $2,800. That’s $122,000 billed to taxpayers to protect Gessler from a $2,800 fine. An awfully bad return on investment, don’t you think?

I raise this issue not because I believe that this sort of ineptitude and corruption are the sole province of Republicans- I don’t- but because Scott Gessler is a truly egregious example of Right-wing slash-and-burn politics. Gessler represents the wing of the Republican Party willing to do anything to secure and maintain power- and by anything I mean exactly that. Lying, cheating, disenfranchising poor and minority voters, blatant corporatism- all these and more are tools in the GOP aresnal. For Republicans like Scott Gessler, it’s not about doing what’s best for America or Americans; it’s all and only about political power, authoritarianism, and corporatism. Voters are only useful insofar as they can be propagandized into voting against their interests…which, as it turns out, is a disturbingly easy undertaking.

Gessler was attempting to get away with doing something he had to know was illegal and/or unethical. He may be many things- corrupt, inept, hyper-partisan, intolerant- but he’s not stupid. His actions in this case might leave one understandably scratching their heads.

You can find the full set of legal bills on Colorado Ethics Watch, where they note that Gessler’s defense cost twice the entire legal budget of the state ethics commission. As Gessler fought the charge, the commission spent $63,869 prosecuting the case and responding to Gessler’s legal motions. Gessler, we should note, is considering a run for governor next year (also: ColoradoPols calls him the honey badger).

For a Conservative like Gessler (And aren’t Conservatives normally all about fiscal responsibility?), the hypocrisy is difficult to miss. Then again, like most Conservatives, this sort of irresponsibility and corruption isn’t an issue until a Democrat does it. Can you imagine the weeping and gnashing of teeth that would be emanating from the Right if Gessler was a Democrat? Of course, Gessler is one of their own…and so boys will be boys, right?

Remember the first law of Republican ethics (which really is an oxymoron): It’s only unethical, immoral, and/or illegal if a Democrat does it. Then…well, unleash the hounds, knowhutimean??

It would be interesting to hear what Gessler has to say for himself, but I suspect he’s assuming that if he just ignores the problem it will eventually go away. The attention span of the American Sheeple being what it is, he might just be right.

Yet another example of getting exactly the quality of leadership we deserve, eh?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 1, 2013 6:17 AM.

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