Vetting and Vetters
When bad picks turn out to be the first rock in a massive landslide
At the July ‘72 Democratic Convention, George McGovern was selected as the Democratic nominee. In the hours before, McGovern was courting Teddy Kennedy to accept the Vice Presidential nomination. After the murder of his brother, Bobby, the youngest Kennedy was heir apparent for the Democratic nomination. Until Chappaquiddick.
On July 18, 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy crashed his car into Poucha Pond where he left Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy didn’t notify the police until the following morning. Shortly after, at just twenty-eight years old, Mary Jo’s body was found. Her death is considered an “accidental drowning.” Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and, by 1972, the scandal had subsided. Except in the hearts of the people who loved Mary Jo. In 2021, they asked Americans to remember Mary Jo for “the things she was passionate about.”
McGovern believed that he and Kennedy would make a formidable team against President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. I mean aside from Watergate, Vietnam and dirty campaign money deals; Agnew was also under investigation for criminal conspiracy, bribery, extortion, and tax fraud. But just before McGovern took the stage, Kennedy shut the door firmly on the idea of a McGovern / Kennedy ticket.
In his autobiography, Grassroots, McGovern details those heart-racing hours. He didn’t know Senator Thomas Eagleton well but the Missouri politician came recommended by several people McGovern did trust including Senator Kennedy. McGovern made the call and Eagleton accepted.
Within a few days, reporters began receiving anonymous tips about Eagleton’s mental health. At first, Eagleton assured McGovern that he was treated for exhaustion some years back. But that wasn’t true. The Eagleton Affair - as it became known - turned out to be a cautionary tale for politicians of all stripes.
Pebbles Falling In Slow Motion
Fifty-one years to the week after the Eagleton Affair became - in the words of George McGovern - the first rock in the landslide; Governor Ron DeSantis picked up two pebbles.
First news broke that current and former members of the DeSantis administration are under grand jury investigation for “bid-rigging.” It’s a scummy tale of the fleecing of public schools. Subpoenas have been issued and right now only the tip of this iceberg is showing. This one will get nasty and it involves people at the highest level of the DeSantis Administration who have long histories in the charter school grift game.
Then news broke that Mike DiNapoli was suspended from his job as Director of Florida’s Affordable Housing Finance Corp., which oversees billions in taxpayer dollars. That revelation was followed quickly by reports that DiNapoli has long had issues with his personal finances and DeSantis’ Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier, directly urged his hiring. Uthmeier has since been named Campaign Manager for DeSantis’ Presidential run. It remains to be seen how much leg this one has because the exact reason for DiNapoli’s suspension is still undisclosed.
Tumbling Public Perception
The lack of proper vetting in the DeSantis administration has led to sloppy headlines like the one about the guy who didn’t resign his seat on the Florida Ethics Commission after being appointed by DeSantis. Or the ones that will undoubtedly come out about administration appointees who failed to file their financial disclosures in June.
But a lack of proper vetting also leads to unserious and unqualified hiring. Forever, the DeSantis wagon is hitched to the men and women he selected to -
Trick Asylum Seekers Into Boarding Planes to Martha’s Vinyard and Sacramento.
Encroach on the home of a civil servant who was on maternity leave.
Continue to pursue the revocation of the license of a former teacher for her belief that Black Lives do, in fact, Matter.
