Thursday, October 18, 2007
(12:28 PM) | Stephen:
The Dimwit DA
It would be criminal for others to talk about Crazy Phill Kline while I remain silent about it. You can follow the links, but the story is simple. Kline has charged Planned Parenthood in Overland Park with 107 different criminal counts. That's 23 felonies, 29 misdemeanor counts of providing illegal late-term abortions, and various misdemeanor counts of maintaining false records, etc.
Of course, with Phill Kline the story goes beyond such mundane issues. This Planned Parenthood is one of the clinics he targeted while Attorney General, and about which Bill O'Reilly had some way-inside inside information, coincidentally just days before the 2006 elections and right at the time that Kline appeared on the O'Reilly Factor.
In addition, when Paul Morrison restored sanity and ethics to the office of Attorney General, he had to ask Kline what happened to all the clinic records he'd subpoenaed, since for some reason they weren't where they were supposed to be. Kline claimed that he returned those records, but Morrison had to join with Planned Parenthood of Overland Park in a lawsuit against his own subordinate to get the records out of Kline's grubby paws. Kline had actually transferred those documents to the Johnson County DA's office just a few days before taking office.
My read is that Kline has in fact kept those records - illegally - and is using the detailed information in them to try and find charges to file against Planned Parenthood of Overland Park. I doubt he thinks that all of them will stick, but is hoping that a jury will be so overwhelmed by them, so convinced that there must be a "there" there that they convict them of something. It's fairly obvious that Planned Parenthood hasn't done anything wrong, because Paul Morrison has looked over (his copies of) the same records and decided that there is nothing to pursue.
It's important to note that this type of legal analysis was just fine with Johnson County's wacko wingnut coalition for 25 years while Morrison was the Johnson County District Attorney as a Republican. But Phill Kline is a true believer. I can tell you with absolute authority that, like George Bush, he has long believed that God wants him in positions of political power and that he's justified in using any means he considers necessary to accomplish his goals. I've personally seen Phill Kline betray someone who was a close friend and associate of his, I've listened to him lie about people who had befriended and helped him over the years. No law or morality will stop him from doing what he wants to do.
He has "promised" not to run for office next year, which means that the GOP told him to not run or they'd cut him loose. Two of Paul Morrison's old ADA's are running for Johnson County DA, and if Kline stays in we can expect at least one of them to take a page from their old boss's strategy book and switch parties. No way the GOP is willing to hand the Democrats another significant victory because of Phill Kline.
But I also know that he'll never go away.
Of course, with Phill Kline the story goes beyond such mundane issues. This Planned Parenthood is one of the clinics he targeted while Attorney General, and about which Bill O'Reilly had some way-inside inside information, coincidentally just days before the 2006 elections and right at the time that Kline appeared on the O'Reilly Factor.
In addition, when Paul Morrison restored sanity and ethics to the office of Attorney General, he had to ask Kline what happened to all the clinic records he'd subpoenaed, since for some reason they weren't where they were supposed to be. Kline claimed that he returned those records, but Morrison had to join with Planned Parenthood of Overland Park in a lawsuit against his own subordinate to get the records out of Kline's grubby paws. Kline had actually transferred those documents to the Johnson County DA's office just a few days before taking office.
My read is that Kline has in fact kept those records - illegally - and is using the detailed information in them to try and find charges to file against Planned Parenthood of Overland Park. I doubt he thinks that all of them will stick, but is hoping that a jury will be so overwhelmed by them, so convinced that there must be a "there" there that they convict them of something. It's fairly obvious that Planned Parenthood hasn't done anything wrong, because Paul Morrison has looked over (his copies of) the same records and decided that there is nothing to pursue.
It's important to note that this type of legal analysis was just fine with Johnson County's wacko wingnut coalition for 25 years while Morrison was the Johnson County District Attorney as a Republican. But Phill Kline is a true believer. I can tell you with absolute authority that, like George Bush, he has long believed that God wants him in positions of political power and that he's justified in using any means he considers necessary to accomplish his goals. I've personally seen Phill Kline betray someone who was a close friend and associate of his, I've listened to him lie about people who had befriended and helped him over the years. No law or morality will stop him from doing what he wants to do.
He has "promised" not to run for office next year, which means that the GOP told him to not run or they'd cut him loose. Two of Paul Morrison's old ADA's are running for Johnson County DA, and if Kline stays in we can expect at least one of them to take a page from their old boss's strategy book and switch parties. No way the GOP is willing to hand the Democrats another significant victory because of Phill Kline.
But I also know that he'll never go away.
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