Bentley reign comes to ugly, just end

The administration of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley began on the most discordant of notes, rose to moments of rare political and humanitarian courage, and on Monday came crashing to earth in a humiliating and rightful ending.

Bentley, facing impeachment charges that would undoubtedly have resulted in his ouster, resigned Monday in a plea agreement with the Alabama Attorney General’s office.

Flash back to January of 2011 when Bentley, only days in office, told an audience at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony that “anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister” — a remark that drew widespread backlash, much of it from Christians. The damage control from his office included a statement that “He is the governor of all the people, Christians, non-Christians alike.”

That statement came from Bentley’s then-communications director, Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

It is, of course, Bentley’s sordid affair with Mason that led to his political and personal downfall. Among the legal particulars against him were a charge of using campaign funds to pay legal bills for Mason, and a House Judiciary Committee report which concluded that the governor created an “atmosphere of intimidation” to cover up the relationship. Current and former employees testified they were threatened and harassed in efforts to keep the affair from public knowledge. (Bentley’s now ex-wife Dianne rendered those efforts moot.)

The report also alleged improper use of state aircraft, and possible irregularities with Bentley’s links to companies that paid Mason’s salary as manager of his reelection campaign.

The political back story of this impeachment saga should not be ignored. The Republican governor alienated many of his fellow Republicans in the legislature — ironically (in light of subsequent events), for morally sound reasons. Long before his personal scandal became public, Bentley had fought lawmakers over their unwillingness to fund basic medical, mental health, educational and social services for the very old, the very young and the very poor.

But such moral high ground was impossible to hold as Bentley was forced to reveal his own gross hypocrisy in having cultivated the political image of a devoted faith-and-family man and, worse, having violated the law to protect it.

Bentley is the third of the last six Alabama governors to run afoul of the law while in office. Guy Hunt was forced out in 1993 for having illegally used funds from his inaugural account; and Don Siegelman has just been released from prison after a 2006 bribery conviction.

The governor’s resignation also completes Alabama’s ignominious branches-of-government trifecta of misconduct: former House Speaker Mike Hubbard remains free on bond after his June 2016 conviction on 12 felony ethics charges; and Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the bench (again) for multiple violations of the canons of judicial ethics.

So again … reset.

Best of luck to newly sworn Gov. Kay Ivey. She obviously will need it.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Bentley reign comes to ugly, just end."