A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Does anyone really believe that Lt. Gov. Angela McLean applied for a job in education in late October, but (a) didn’t tell Gov. Bullock what she was doing until the last day of November, and (b) that Bullock didn’t know what was going on until then?
I don’t.
That’s because everything I’ve learned about this situation for the last two months convinces me that Bullock decided to oust her, orchestrated her ouster, and will be glad to see her gone.
So why is he acting surprised, and doing such a bad job of it?
Furthermore, just what happened? What did McLean do, or didn’t do, that soured Bullock on her? Montanans have a right to know, and Bullock and McLean have a duty to come clean. There cannot be issues of privacy when the two highest ranking elected officials in the state are involved.
Did Bullock conclude he erred in choosing McLean? That her staying on the job until her term ended imperiled the stability of Montana’s government? That she was unfit to be governor? If so, why? If so, when?
Indeed, why did Bullock pick McLean for the Job? She had no governing experience. Neither did his first lieutenant governor, John Walsh. Brian Schweitzer tapped a Republican for his lieutenant governor, but no one doubted that John Bohlinger, an experienced and respected legislator, could govern. But Bullock chose for lieutenant governors a man and woman who had never run for dog catcher. Why?
Was the process by which the job for McLean was created and advertised legal and fair? According to the education commissioner’s spokesman, McLean was one of 20 applicants for the job. But did anyone but McLean have a chance of winning the job? Were the other applicants played for fools and suckers? They were if the job was created as a way of moving McLean sideways and providing her with the equivalent of hush money. If that’s what happened, is corrupt too strong a word to describe the process?
Democrats are in a damage control mode. Some are losing enthusiasm for Bullock, but they recoil in horror at the possibility that Montana’s next governor might be named Greg. So they’re circling the wagons, praising McLean, and shouting Hallelujah! Brother Bullock! to the world, while in private they’re cursing his unforced error and praying he’ll redeem himself in time to be re-elected.