It comes with the territory. Governor Beshear, who hyped his superior understanding of government ethics in both his campaign and post election statements, finds himself vulnerable to castigation in the Miller affair.
Beshear has tried to deflect criticism of his own judgment by suggesting that any improprieties be handled by the personnel board. But that wasn't good enough for Ernie Fletcher, and it shouldn't be good enough for Steve Beshear.
Certainly, questions regarding the promotion and pay increases for a merit employee in the Treasurer's office should be personnel board matters. But so should the merit hiring complaints in the previous administration.
The questions that need to be answered by Beshear are not "deflectable". The questions for him have to do with whether his judgment will be clear, or clouded by partisan loyalties, the same question with which the press dogged Ernie Fletcher for three years.
In this instance, the subject of his judgment is Jonathan Miller, appointed as cabinet secretary after the election and previously dubbed chairman of the Kentucky Democrat Party by Beshear before the election after he withdrew from the primary and threw his support behind the new governor.
The other shoe has yet to drop, but so far the press continues to suggest that there was much more improper about Miller's relationship with a top aide than her pay increase.
Now, Beshear's administration has given her a job in another cabinet. If Miller's appointment was quid pro quo, her new job raises even more questions about how Beshear handles scandals.
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