February 14, 2015 5:56 AM

John Kitzhaber: A cautionary tale about what can happen when you think with the wrong head

Whether Kitzhaber, 67, was blinded by his love or her ambition, I don’t know that it matters. Kitzhaber bought wholeheartedly into the surreal fiction that Hayes was an essential player in Oregon energy policy, then went to his political grave defending her. To the bittersweet end, he deluded himself and misled the rest of us about his partner’s thoughtfulness, her transparency, and the jealous, misogynist forces that supposedly conspired against them. The governor disdained warnings from staff who believed Hayes’ self-absorption was pushing him over ethical and political boundaries. It remains a breathless blend of chivalry and stupidity.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber certainly isn’t the first male of the species to fall prey to thinking with the wrong head. If you have a penis, you’ve done it at one time or another…and if can’t admit to it, you’re lying to yourself. It happens, it ain’t always pretty, and sometimes things blow up because of it. In Kitzhaber’s case, it led to some epic lapses in judgment, ones that ultimately resulted in his resignation yesterday afternoon*. At 10am Wednesday morning, Secretary of State Kate Brown will take the oath of office, becoming the nation’s first bisexual female governor. Not that any of those labels really matter, because Brown will be remembered not for the boxes people put her in, but whether or not she can get Oregon back on track and out of the scandal business.

There are no winners in this scenario. A good man was done in by his poor judgment and his ambitious fiancee, state government has ground to a halt, and Oregon’s become fodder for late night comedian. The people of Oregon have yet another reason to doubt the integrity of politicians. Worst of all, virtually nothing of value has been accomplished by the Legislature.

All things considered, it made for an exceedingly odd Friday the 13th.

A month shy of his re-election, Hayes was among the least of Kitzhaber’s headaches. The collapse of Cover Oregon loomed as the definitive statement on his competency and attentiveness.

But once Willamette Week’s Nigel Jaquiss reported Oct. 8, that she was trading on her First Lady cache to enhance her semi-private consulting work, Hayes took tragic command of the political stage.

As the scandal metastasized — the green-card marriage, the 1990s marijuana grow, the belated revelation about $118,000 in consulting fees — Kitzhaber’s response was benign neglect.

Kitzhaber could have prevented this scandal by simply reminding Hayes that she was not and could not be a part of his administration. By maintaining the separation between the personal and the political, Kitzhaber would still be in office trying to move Oregon forward. Even after Hayes’ misadventures came to light, he could have tackled the issue head-on, promised to make things right, and escaped with relatively little political damage. Instead, he came out swinging, accusing the media of being intimidated “by strong, successful women in the public arena,” when nothing could have been further from the truth. The Governor’s diatribe made it look as if he was on the defensive and had something to hide…which, as events would demonstrate, he most certainly did.

In the end, Kitzhaber looked like a tired, befuddled, and beleaguered old man trying to fend off the forces of darkness by himself. His allies had deserted him, and he looked more than anything as if needed a dog. It was a sad end to what should have been an uneventful fourth term in office. Now he’s destined to be remembered as the first Oregon Governor forced out of office by an ethics scandal. It’s just too bad that he held the gun, loaded it, put it to his head, AND pulled the trigger.

Shortly after Kitzhaber announced his resignation, the U.S. Department of Justice served subpoenas to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services seeking records related to Kitzhaber and Hayes. And so the fun begins….

John Kitzhaber deserved better…and so did the people of Oregon.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 14, 2015 5:56 AM.

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