Bevin’s rant unmasked ignorance or dishonesty

Gov. Matt Bevin presented himself as either ignorant or dishonest Wednesday in his strange five-minute rant against Attorney General Andy Beshear.

Bevin took to Facebook to claim, incorrectly, that Beshear is not defending House Bill 2, an anti-abortion bill passed by the General Assembly this month and signed by Bevin.

The governor spun out his tirade based on a filing in the case by Beshear’s office asking that the AG be removed as a defendant in a lawsuit challenging the law filed by the ACLU.

Beshear’s office pointed out that its job is not to carry out or enforce the law, which is true. That job falls to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Beshear’s office is representing the affected agencies and has petitioned to have the challenge to the agencies’ work dismissed.

So, citizens and voters are left with one of two conclusions, neither very heartening: our governor took to the internet to assail a fellow constitutional officer on the basis of a legal filing he just didn’t understand; or he understood that Beshear was doing his job and chose to lie about it for his own political ends.

Either way, Bevin disrespected the people of Kentucky and the office to which he was elected.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Bevin’s rant unmasked ignorance or dishonesty."