It’s supposed to start at around 6:00 p.m. and last through the evening. I did the obligitory shopping for emergency supplies this afternoon, so we’re ready for it.
I may as well assume that there will be no school tomorrow. Which means light blogging for Nice Deb, because the kids will be hogging the computers.
Any of you other morons in the storm’s path?
UPDATE:
Dang! They’re saying one out of three Oklahomans are without power!
Is that going to be us, here in Missouri, tomorrow?
Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is dropping his appeal in the CIA leak case, his attorney said Monday.
“We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby’s innocence,” attorney Theodore Wells said. “However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.”
I’m with Dave In Texas, at AOSHQ. It’s time for the pardon.
Do it, Mr. President.
How much trouble is Paul Morrison, Kansas AG (Democrat) in?
1.) Well first, there’s the sexual harassment charge:
Linda Carter, longtime director of administration in the district attorney’s office, revealed extensive details of the relationship with Morrison before quitting her job Nov. 30 in Olathe.
The Topeka Capital-Journal learned Carter had a two-year affair with Morrison that began in September 2005 with a sex act inside an office at the Johnson County Courthouse and continued until this September with a series of covert liaisons in Topeka, Wichita, Salina, Overland Park and cities in at least three other states.
2.) It also appears that he tried to tamper with pending litigation:
Carter said in a signed statement that Morrison pressured her to make use of her position in the D.A.’s office to influence pending litigation involving Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline.
In the midst of her relationship with Morrison, the attorney general repeatedly tried to coerce Carter to write letters on behalf of eight former Morrison colleagues who filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Kline, according to Carter’s statement.
Seven assistant district attorneys and the D.A. office’s chief investigator, known as the “Olathe 8,” were dismissed by Kline on the day he was sworn into office. The case is pending in federal court.
3.) Did Paul Morrison try to undermine criminal proceedings?
Morrison also attempted to glean from her sensitive information about Kline’s activities as district attorney, Carter’s statement said. That includes Kline’s ongoing criminal prosecution of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, an abortion clinic in Johnson County.
Morrison has been critical of charges brought by Kline against Planned Parenthood, and he has intervened in his capacity as attorney general into a legal dispute about abortion records relied upon by Kline to build that case.
According to Carter, Morrison regularly questioned her about progress by Kline’s staff in prosecuting the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Kline filed 107 misdemeanor and felony charges against the Johnson County clinic.In late July or early August, Carter’s statement says, Morrison questioned Carter about the funding Kline’s staff had spent to hire expert witnesses in the clinic case.
Morrison had previously announced he had found no violation of Kansas law by the Overland Park abortion clinic.
Carter and Morrison also discussed the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by the eight former Morrison staff members who were dismissed by Kline.
Phill Kline was defeated by Morrison in the November 2006 elections, but became the district attorney of Johnson County, KS on the same day he left office, effectively switching jobs with Paul Morrison.
During Kline’s tenure as AG, he vigorously investigated late term abortion provider, George (Killer) Tiller, who he charged with more than 30 misdemeanors on December 21, 2006. But Sedgewick County AG, Nola Foulston quickly (within hours) convinced Judge Paul W. Clark to throw out the charges, claiming that Kline needed her permission to file charges in her district. The fix was in.
Morrison was elected with the help of funds from Tiller’s Political Action Committee, ProKanDo.
When Morrison became attorney general, he promised to conduct a complete, independent review of the Tiller case. Carter said in her statement that she urged Morrison to charge Tiller.
She also said Morrison alleged Kline’s approach to the abortion investigation was “unethical.” The argument ended with Morrison storming out of Carter’s apartment.
Morrison eventually filed 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller. He rejected all 30 charges Kline had tried to bring against the late-term abortion physician.
“It was clear, after looking at the case, Kline’s investigation of Dr. Tiller was not about enforcing the law,” Morrison said at that time. “It was about pushing a political agenda.”
At least he wasn’t accepting money from anyone to push his “agenda”. Who’s really the “unethical” one?
During his re-election campaign, Kline was labeled a mud-slinger for bringing up the sexual harassment allegations in the *Happily married* Morrison’s past:
Kline had been trying to make a campaign issue of a situation in which Morrison paid no damages in two federal lawsuits filed by Kelly Summerlin, a one-time victim-witness coordinator for Morrison’s D.A. office. It was the same job later held by Carter.
Morrison’s wife criticized Kline for a “malicious attack on the integrity of our marriage.”But as recently as September, Carter, sexual harassment accuser #2 was still receiving calls from Morrison in which he professed his love for her.
Talk about bizarre:
He even went with Carter to a shop in Kansas City, Mo., to get a tattoo in the shape of a heart with the initials “L.C.”
The article doesn’t mention where he got the tattoo, (or if indeed, he went through with it).
Here’s where I think the actual sexual harassment comes in:
The two had more arguments. On one occasion, Carter said in the statement, Morrison called her a monster, sociopath and bad manager. He told Carter that he could sidetrack her effort to find a new job.
The sexual harassment complaint against Morrison came soon after.
But the sexual harassment complaint, I think is the least of Morrison’s ethical problems.
Like I said — Deep doo doo.
And I for one, am enjoying every minute of it.
Almost forgot!
Hat Tip: Crime Scene KC (starring “Nick” in the comments).
UPDATE:
Some are already looking at impeachment :
“Impeachment will be talked about,” said Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican who has criticized Morrison’s handling of abortion investigations. “I think resignation would be the noble thing to do now.”
The group Kansans for Life also asked for Morrison’s resignation. Executive Director Mary Kay Culp said in a statement that “personal and professional errors this serious, especially when committed while presenting himself as the ethically superior candidate for attorney general, reflect such a profound lack of judgment and honesty that Morrison should resign.”
Newsbusters thinks they’ve found the spin the MSM will use to cover this story. Morrison used to be a Republican. He switched in 2005 to run against Kline.
We’re bracing for it.
