True North

Yesterday, I posted about the allegations swirling around Lori Swanson and the Minnesota AG's office. After much thought about this, I've decided that these allegations need to be taken out of the political realm & put into Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles' hands.

It's time that we did this for several reasons, the most important of which is that the GOP needs to stand for the rule of law. That means all laws, not just the ones we agree with. While Republicans have disagreed with some of the actions taken by unions, the certifiable fact is that organizing a union is protected by federal law. People engaged in union-busting are breaking those laws.

That isn't acceptable.

I can't say this often enough or forcefully enough: We need to enforce all the laws. If we don't, then we're no better than criminals. How many criminals 'just broke one law'? I'd bet a high percentage fit into that category.

When Mark Ritchie 'appropriated' Mark Giga's & Jack Tomcak's names for his campaign's use after a SecState event, Jim Nobles was asked to investigate. Mr. Nobles investigated that incident thoroughly. In light of Tony Sertich's unwillingness to conduct an investigation of any sort on the allegations swirling around Ms. Swanson, these allegations should be investigated by the Legislative Auditor's office. Here's why:

Investigations by the Legislative Auditor's office:

• carry subpeona power.
• are done under oath.
• thorough & as unbiased as is humanly possible.

That's the perfect setting for this investigation.

Again, the seriousness of the charges warrants a serious investigation. If the charges are without foundation, Jim Nobles will tell us that. Considering the fact that an attorney has gone public with that information, I'd suspect that the allegations are accurate.

This week, we've seen how Eliot Spitzer allegedly broke several federal laws while he prosecuted others for breaking the same laws. That's unacceptable, too. While the specific allegations swirling around Lori Swanson are different, there's several similarities worth noting:

• Lori Swanson is Minnesota's Attorney General. Spitzer's transgressions started while he was New York's Attorney General.
• If the allegation that Ms. Swanson suspended a qualified attorney because she tried organizing a union is accurate, then Ms. Swanson is guilty of breaking federal law. If the allegations against Eliot Spitzer are accurate, then he broke federal law, too.
• If they both broke federal law, then that's unacceptable behavior by the states' chief law enforcement officer. Either they comply with the laws that they're charged with enforcing or they're unacceptable for their job.

In summarization, it's imperative that we take this investigation out of the political realm & put it into Jim Noble's capable hands. That's the best way to guarantee that the rule of law is enforced.

Comments welcome at LFR.