Brownback's Harriet Myers

I really don't mean to pile on the Governor and the Republicans. That's one reason I've been strangely quiet on this blog lately. 

There's just so, so little coming out of Topeka (and even less from Washington) lately deserving of praise, or even commentary. The stuff with which I agree devolves into a public relations nightmare.

Someone PLEASE PLEASE let's have a talk about how the Governor's Office is handling communications with supporters. I give you this graphic:

Why yes, it appears to have been drawn on a napkin and then sent to the four corners of Kansas through a spam email.  It does show that the Kansas school finance formula is a disaster, but approximately seven people who open spam emails read it. (A few posted it on Facebook, where it was universally ignored. Good job, PR geniuses.)

Sorry, I know I've been hard on the Guv's recent public relations efforts. Brownback team, this is coming from a friendly place. I want you to suck less. 

But I digress: What I really wanted to talk about here is Brownback's nomination of Kathryn Gardner for Kansas State Court of Appeals. Long before the Wichita Eagle started writing hit pieces about whom the Governor overlooked in his nomination (here), I heard rumblings about how disappointed some Republicans were with the nomination.

Mostly, the concern, and I consider it very, very valid -- is that the bulk of Gardner's legal career has involved being a law clerk. (Which is better than my legal career, but still. The Governor isn't nominating me for a seat on a high court. So...) She has very few legal writings to give the general public any ideas of how she will adjudicate.

Now, I'd like to trust that Brownback knows this woman and nominated her because she's a brilliant legal mind. But I don't know that, and because of her lack of legal opinions, I can't make that leap.

Now, if I could be assured that the legislature and the executive branches are always going to be controlled by reasonable conservatives, I might be quasi-OK with nominees cloaked in darkness.

But we all know that at some point in the future, a slimy liberal will be elected as Governor and liberals may stake a claim to a few more seats in the legislature. And when they do, I don't want them to be able to nominate and seat some sketchy character without a paper trail just because, well, BROWNBACK DID IT TOO.

I am not saying Gardner is sketchy. She's probably super nice and likes puppies and babies and attends the Topeka Catholic Church. Oh wait, even Brownback, a Catholic, doesn't attend the Catholic Services -- not that it matters. She probably attends Topeka Bible Church as most Brownback appointments these days do. (I actually don't know whether Gardner does, but if I were a betting man, I'd put a few bucks on her being a regular guest at TBC.)

Seeking a Gubernatorial Appointment? I know a church you MAY be interested in attending. (And if you don't attend church, that's something you should be doing whether you're seeking a job or not.)