Congratulations, Judge Zel Fischer

The Missouri Plan worked again yesterday, as Governor Matt Blunt chose one of three well-qualified candidates as his final appointment to the Missouri Supreme Court. Judge Fischer has served on the bench in Atchison County since 2006, after having served his community in a solo law shop for years.

I've known Judge Fischer for years, and he is going to be a fine member of the Supreme Court. I say that despite the fact that he and I are worlds apart in politics. Zel and I worked together on the Missouri Bar Young Lawyers Section, which gave us plenty of opportunity to sit around in the evening and discuss our views on various issues (as well as share a few laughs). Suffice it to say that we saw things differently. Despite the disagreements, though, we shared a respect for the judicial system and its role in society.

It says something positive about Zel and his approach to conflict that I was always enthusiastically invited up to Rock Port for a round of golf and a good steak. We were never going to be best of friends, but he was open-minded enough to invite this city liberal up for a good time. I wish I had taken him up on the offer.

Zel Fischer is a true conservative and a good man. While I suppose I could complain that the Supreme Court seat should go to someone closer to my own political philosophy, I respect the fact that Governor Blunt gets to pick the judges. Besides, political affiliation matters much less to me for a Supreme Court judge than does quality of mind and fidelity to the job of applying law to the facts of the case in front of the Court.

Congratulations to Judge Zel Fischer. Congratulations to Governor Matt Blunt - you got yourself a true conservative who will serve the Supreme Court long after you have left office. Congratulations to the Supreme Court nominating committee - you sent the Governor a panel with three excellent choices.

Most of all, though, congratulations to Missouri - you have once again benefitted from the best system for judicial appointments in the United States - the Missouri Plan.

Kinder has Multiple Scandals - Turns to Karl Rove to Help

Missouri has a bunch of great contests this year, and the Lieutenant Governor's race is one where we stand a strong chance of replacing a Republican incumbent with a great Democrat.

Peter Kinder, the incumbent, got caught up in a sex scandal when his Chief of Staff was arrested for having pornographic conversations with a cop he thought was a thirteen year-old girl. The police report is nauseating. Kinder drew himself into the fray by declaring, 3 hours after the arrest, that an investigation had determined state computers weren't used, and the criminal conversations took place during "comp time".

Bad enough? Yes, but there's more . . .

It turns out that people at the Chief of Staff level do not receive comp time, and computer experts are pointing out that forensic investigations of computers cannot be conducted in three hours. What we're seeing here is a little CYA.

Wait, there's more . . .

The person in charge of the office that supposedly did the computer investigation has now been hired by Peter Kinder as Chief of Staff to replace the pervy predecessor! Not only that, but that new guy is already under investigation for helping the one-term sitting governor violate Missouri's sunshine law by deleting public record emails.

Yes, there's more . . .

The Governor who has been hiding the emails has now left the country. That means that Kinder has the ability to release the emails and quell the scandal. Sam Page, the Democrat running against him, has called upon him to do just that, but Kinder has refused.

Instead, he's bringing in Karl Rove today, to speak at a $2700/plate fundraiser, and, presumably, offer some off-stage advice in how to juggle multiple scandals.

And, just in case you were wondering if that was all, there's (at least) one more scandal related to this sordid story. Kinder's campaign fundraising got rocked this past week by the explosion of a money-laundering scandal.

If you want to help Missourians replace their corrupt Republican Lieutenant Governor with a solid, ethical candidate who happens to be one of the nicest and best-qualified candidates I've met this election cycle, give his website a click and maybe even put some money in his kitty to offset Karl Rove's visit today.

Matt Blunt, Zen Master

Everyone's buzzing about Matt Blunt's decision to step away from the Governor's mansion at the end of his term. Clever insiders are speculating about replacements for the top of the Republican ticket, odd sycophants are continuing to express loyalty, and our next Governor is graciously focusing on the future.

Me? I'm just left wondering about his reason for quitting - he said he had accomplished all he set out to do.

Wow. So Matt Blunt woke up yesterday morning, took a look around the state of Missouri, and said, "Yup, this is it. This is pretty much the ideal political world. Can't get much better than this . . ."?

Really? This is it? This is what he had in mind?

There's something very Zen about this. He denied 100,000 kids health insurance, but he hadn't denied all of them health insurance. He made college out of reach for thousands and thousands of Missourians, but some are still able to afford it. He never even got around to making it impossible for the poor and elderly to vote. And yet, somehow, Matt Blunt has found inner peace.

Inner fulfillment is a rare and precious thing. Our governor has found it, by deciding that Missouri has the proper balance of wealth and stark poverty, of health and desperate illness, of enfranchisement and disenfranchisement. I'm left behind, marveling at his achievement, and wondering how Governor Nixon will rid the Governor's mansion of the scent from incense and patchouli.

I have not yet achieved Matt Blunt's level of Zen awareness. I still want things to get better.

Matt Blunt Makes a Great Choice

I'm surprised and pleased by Matt Blunt today. He appointed Alok Ahuja to the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District to fill the spot created when he put Judge Patricia Breckenridge on the Missouri Supreme Court. I have known Alok for years, and he is widely recognized as one of the smartest and most thoughtful attorneys in town. He embodies what an appellate judge ought to be - incredibly smart, rigorously analytical, and intellectually creative.

While I am sure that Governor Blunt was influenced by the Republican connections of the Lathrop & Gage law firm, including "Mr. Kansas City" Jack Craft and a young woman by the name of Amy Blunt, I take my hat off to Governor Blunt for stepping outside the bitter partisanship that has lately surrounded judicial appointments, and appointing the best person for the job, even though that person happens to be a (very moderate) Democrat.

Wow.

I am sincerely impressed with Governor Blunt tonight.

And pleased for Alok, and the state of our Judiciary.