Doyle and the grand jury

Now I understand why Jim Doyle has been so happy to make the prison system a priority over education for the majority of his tenure in office: he realizes that he may soon be patronizing it.

Indeed, several state newspaper, including the Wisconsin State Journal, are now reporting that a federal grand jury has been empaneled to investigate whether or not Mr. Doyle rewarded those who gave him campaign money by giving them state money. Specifically at question is the state travel contract that has become known in local political circles as the governor's own “travelgate.” The State Journal reports:

Frank Kooistra, who was on the seven-member committee that evaluated competing proposals for the three-year $750,000 travel contract, said Saturday that he testified before the grand jury in Milwaukee early last week.

And while certainly disheartening, it seems hardly surprising to learn that Mr. Doyle, a governor who has enjoyed a casual-at-best relationship with ethics, is now under the lens of a federal grand jury. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, hardly a right-wing rag, notes in an October editorial:

As a candidate for governor, U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) may have a political motive for criticizing Gov. Jim Doyle, but on one point he's exactly right: Doyle's political connection to a businessman awarded a state contract has "cast a cloud on state government."

While it would certainly be premature to call on Mr. Doyle to step down, this grand jury is certainly another significant step in exposing the governor as the shady character he truly is. And so long as state Democrats cry foul about Jack Abramoff and stand behind their governor, hypocrisy will continue to abound. (Not that it didn't already with Russ Feingold being linked to the controversial lobbyist on his own terms.)

Perhaps most disturbing, though, is the pattern that is now emerging. Relative silence surrounds the trial of Gwen Moore's son, even when he essentially pleads no contest to charges closely related to election fraud. And now a grand jury investigates the governor and nary a peep is heard.

I'm just left wondering how much of a firestorm would be raised if Mr. Doyle and Ms. Moore were Republicans.