Thoroughly Unprofessional

What has happened to Terry Goddard?  I have several friends in the Democratic hierarchy who view Goddard as the consummate professional.  That's why I was stunned by this blurb in Sunday's Insider. 

Where's Renzi? ... Congressman Rick Renzi has made himself a tad, shall we say, scarce in recent months with his business dealings under federal investigation.

He isn't expected to seek re-election, and Democratic state Attorney General Terry Goddard made a bit of fun of Renzi's recent reclusiveness during Saturday's Arizona Democratic Party gathering in Prescott.

"Has anybody seen Rick Renzi?" Goddard mocked. "Have there been any sightings, any sightings at all? There are cobwebs on his office door in Window Rock."

The Congressman is under federal investigation and the Attorney General publicly mocks him?  That's completely unprofessional.  Can you imagine Paul Charlton doing that to someone who is under state investigation?  Would Napolitano have done that as AG or US Attorney?  Of course not.  It's that type of immature behavior that gets Freshman Legislators in trouble.  An elected AG who has his eye on the 9th floor (I realize that's redundant) should have better judgment than that. 

Unfortunately, Goddard's poor judgment and partisanship appears not to be confined merely to mocking Republicans.  Recall the series of Tribune articles in which Mark Flatten examined Goddard's record of indicting Republican office holders to great fanfare...only to have the cases turn into minor paperwork violations. 

That record of poor performance led to this editorial. 

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard risks turning into a 21st century Barney Fife if he continues to pursue costly, time-intensive conflict-of-interest cases against elected officials which end with either small-change plea deals or larger charges being thrown out in court.

But without exercising better judgment, Goddard risks going into his post-attorney general political future being viewed as a partisan hack or a Fifeesque character who can’t be trusted with a loaded gun.

Better judgment?  Not so far.

Comments

[The Guard]

If only we had elected Bill "The Shield" Montgomery...

[Carlos Merchant]

Yes, Most definitely "The Guard". Then we could hire illegal immigrants to shoot all of the state's t.v commercials too.

[jamcool]

AG 3-Sticks Goddard is too busy trying to see if a he/she's rights were violated when he/she was kicked out of a bar for having a stand-up wee in the ladies room. Yet nothing about our stratospheric crime rate.

[Ann]

He was clearly pandering to what he hopes will be his base. The comment was made at a meeting of the AZ Dem Party, where he very likely felt insulated from the professional duties and was in more of a “just call me Terry” format. Janet has been doing this kind of stuff for years, he was just following suit in order to be the “party guy” and offset some of the heat he no doubt feels from Phil Gordon. Janet gets away with it because she actually has timing and knows how to pull it off, besides she has the art of teflonicity down to a science.

This guy is in trouble and he knows it. No real record, no real personality, not to mention how many times has he run for Governor and lost?

[Bill Montgomery]

Hi Greg,

I always enjoy catching up on events on your blog. In this posting, I noted an erroneous assertion, first put forth by my opponent during my campaign for Attorney General, that illegal aliens were hired to shoot a commercial. Since truth matters, let me set the record straight (and for some liberals they may need to read this several more times before it sinks in): No one was paid to participate in shooting any campaign commercials. For the slow witted, this means no one was hired. Again, for those who have a hard time thinking, EVERYONE who appeared in my commercial was a volunteer. I also reject the premise that just because someone “looked” Hispanic I had an obligation to check their “papers.” I had volunteers who looked Scandinavian, too. Suffice to say, race-based arguments are no better than race-based tactics liberals are supposed to be opposed to. I’ll let them struggle with their consciences and I’ll treat people the way I’d like to be treated: with respect and without suspicion.

Take care,

Bill Montgomery

[Faith]

Bill, I can understand your resentment at being misrepresented in your last campaign, but calling someone "slow witted" is not treating them with respect.

Sounds more like "immature behavior that gets Freshman Legislators in trouble."

Geez. With this kind of behavior from both parties' candidates, it's no wonder most people can't tell the difference between the two and don't bother to vote.

[EVDave]

I reread Montgomery's post and can't see where he called someone "slow witted?" I guess Faith is too slow witted to understand the post. OOps! I just called someone slow witted. Well, I guess I won't be running for anything.

[ron]

EvDave,

This what Mr. Montgomery wrote, " No one was paid to participate in shooting any campaign commercials. For the SLOW WITTED, this means no one was hired. Again, for those who have a hard time thinking, EVERYONE who appeared in my commercial was a volunteer"

Seems that Mr. Montgomery called some people, SLOW WITTED.

Ron

[Mark]

Ok Ron - whom did he call slow witted? Please name who. In fact he did not call anyone slow witted, did he?

Geez you people need to get a life!

[Travis]

Mr. Montgomery did not call anyone slow-witted.

It's beginning to look like it's time to name some names though...

There seems to be a list started on www.democrats.org.

[Faith]

EVDave,

I'm sorry to see you did not see the slow witted remark when you "reread Montgomery's post."

Try reading it again, starting with the phrase "for some liberals they may need to read this several more times before it sinks in."

If that doesn't work, try reading it out loud.

[Carlos Merchant]

So wait. Paid or unpiad. Were the actors in your ad illegal or not?

If they were, and your just playing coy, thats reason enough to not vote for you; since you can't be honest.

If you did, i don't care if you would seal up the border- like many of us want, but you automatically disqualify yourself first as an American and then as a Republican candidate.

I would vote for Hillary Clinton over someone who used illegal aliens in an ad. Your just as guilty as the rest of corporate America. What part of illegal don't you understand?

[Bill Montgomery]

Dear Mr. Merchant:

Playing coy is not my game and as a former prosecutor, illegal is a concept I've helped a number of juries understand in holding people accountable for their conduct. No illegal aliens were used, let alone harmed, in the filming of my campaign commercial. Consequently, the other charges leveled were ridiculous.

Sincerely,

Bill Montgomery