GOD MUST LOVE JOHN YARMUTH-- HE JUST GOT THE MOST ABSURD CHALLENGER ANY INCUMBENT COULD HOPE FOR

You'd be smiling just like John Yarmuth if you just found out your opponent was Erwin Roberts

This morning's Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Erwin Roberts announced that he'll be challenging freshman Congressman John Yarmuth. Every Democrat should be so lucky. (They should also be so conscientious and progressive as Yarmuth, by the way; he has the one of the half dozen best voting records of any of the newly elected members of the House.) This is one race I won't have to stress out about.

Is Roberts a serial pet rapist or an illegal gay alien or something? No, he's really bad news-- and on two counts. Peculiar to Kentucky, here's someone who has just announced he's running for high office after having been not just a member-- but a lynch pin in the heart of darkness of the single most corrupt state administration anywhere in America, that of indicted Governor and Republicrook Ernie Fletcher.

Roberts was Fletcher's personnel secretary when a whistleblower's complaint triggered an investigation into allegations that the administration had illegally awarded civil service jobs on the basis of politics rather than qualifications.

That investigation produced indictments of Fletcher and 14 known defendants, as well as 14 sealed indictments. Fletcher pardoned others, and the misdemeanor charges against him were dropped when he admitted to strong evidence of wrongdoing in his administration's hiring practices.

Roberts was identified by prosecutors as an un-indicted co-conspirator in one court filing. And he asserted his Fifth Amendment right in declining to testify before the grand jury.

What could be worse? Well... Roberts was one of the U.S. attorney types who did not get canned for refusing to politicize the Justice Department. In fact, looking at who was let go and who carried out Karl Rove's diktats that perverted justice, it's very clear which side of the line the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky is likely to have been on-- the same side as the crooked U.S. Attorney from Arkansas, Tim Griffin. The Arkansas Times announced that trash was finally thrown out "resigned" today. "Griffin, a former protege of Karl Rove, was formerly research director of the Republican National Committee. In 2004, BBC News published a report showing that Griffin led a "caging" scheme to suppress the votes of African-American servicemembers in Florida. He was the poster boy for the politicization of the U.S. attorney process.

Nothing to do with Kentucky or the crook who's running against Yarmuth-- at least not directly... so far-- but the Justice Department formally notified the Senate Judiciary Committee that it is expanding its probe of the firing of U.S. attorneys last year to include allegations of improper politicizing of hiring at the agency, including the actions of former senior official Monica Goodling. I guess they've had enough time to make sure all the incriminating evidence was disposed of. And, as I've said all along, investigating the circumstances of those-- like David Iglesias-- who were fired is important, but so is investigating the low-life criminals who were rated satisfactory by Rove to stay... like the fellow in Kentucky.