Wednesday, July 07, 2010

The laughing season is now open

Susan Gaertner cannot shut up. It is fascinating — and excruciating — to watch as she fumbles and dissembles herself into oblivion. I’ve put the Pioneer Press website in a browser tab that opens every morning just to be sure to catch the latest on the slow-motion train wreck of the Obfuscation & Prevarication Railroad, also known as the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

There was another bit from the old O&P today, July 7th. A Ramsey County judge has ordered an evidentiary hearing on the request of Kuoa Fong Lee for a new trial in his vehicular homicide case. I’ve written about this case a number of times; here’s the first one and the second one; they have the most factual background. Here’s a little of what Susan Gaertner had to say:

The county attorney's office also said there was no need for an evidentiary hearing, citing reports from experts it hired that there was no evidence of a problem with Lee's car.

But after the judge's ruling, County Attorney Susan Gaertner said: "It's pretty simple: The parties disagree as to the nature of the evidence. The judge, under the law, has to have a hearing if there's any doubt."

"I'm not surprised there will be a hearing, I'm not sorry there will be a hearing," Gaertner added. "From the beginning, we've wanted to move beyond media accounts and rumors and get at facts and evidence. That's the opportunity this hearing will provide."

It would be fun to cross examine Gaertner on her statement, “I’m not sorry there will be a hearing.”

Whenever I read about this case, I think about a bit from a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song:

I'll never throw dust in a juryman's eyes
(Said I to myself - said I),
Or hoodwink a judge who is not over-wise
(Said I to myself - said I),
Or assume that the witnesses summoned in force
In Exchequer, Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, or Divorce,
Have perjured themselves as a matter of course
(Said I to myself - said I!)

It part of a song sung by the Lord Chancellor in the comic operetta Iolanthe. The Lord Chancellor is — of course — a vain and pompous windbag. You have to believe this what Susan Gaertner hums to herself as she walked down the hall to the courtroom.

o  O  o

Update: In another example of County Attorney Gaertner saying whatever is convenient at the time, you will remember — perhaps a pitiful few of you will remember, anyway — Gaertner’s letter when she bid adieu to the DFL primary race for governor. Here’s one of the reasons she gave for dropping out:

[T]he endorsement of Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher would pit two women against each other in the primary.

Well, okay, I can understand that. We’ve never had a woman governor in Minnesota after all. Step aside and let Margaret carry the ball. Pretty altruistic, really.

Except for one teeny little thing. Susan Gaertner endorsed Matt Entenza.

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