Bentley ouster move is dubious

Is Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley guilty of gross official misconduct, or of just being gross?

Certainly most Alabamians, and indeed most of the nation (which has had quite a laugh at the governor’s and the state’s expense) would have to concede the latter. Bentley’s admittedly “inappropriate” conversations with former top political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason — exchanges he continues to insist never went beyond soft-core phone sex —are a public embarrassment even to a public for whom politicians’ sex scandals have become familiar fare. (In this case, with recordings of Bentley’s calls posted on the Internet, the “eeeuw” factor is especially acute.)

To some members of the Alabama Legislature, this is more than just an embarrassment; it’s official corruption and willful dereliction of duty. Last week, 23 state lawmakers signed articles of impeachment, a move that will launch an official and likely drawn-out inquiry.

Bentley said at a press conference that he had “done nothing — absolutely nothing — that is illegal or unethical,” and shrugged off calls for his resignation from office.

"Distractions that come around us all the time, that is not going to keep me from carrying out the purpose that I believe God put me here to do," Bentley said. "That's to do this job well and to do it in a way that glorifies Him but also to do it in a way that it helps the people of this state."

(OK, Governor … time out. Maybe you’re right about the “illegal” part; the ethics part, when we’re talking about sex play with a married, taxpayer-salaried woman, is at the very least debatable. In any case, this seems like one of those occasions when glorifying God, at least for the moment, might be a matter more wisely left between you and Him.)

Unless and until state legislators and their phalanx of lawyers and investigators turn up evidence of legitimately impeachable offenses, it’s impossible to dismiss the notion that this impeachment thing is less about seeking justice than exploiting a political opportunity.

The Republican governor and the majority-Republican legislature have clashed, sometimes bitterly, over Bentley’s refusal to approve deep budget cuts to human assistance programs such as mental health, food assistance, children’s medical insurance and the like. Many lawmakers, stung by the implication and image of pure callousness, wouldn’t mind seeing Bentley politically neutralized.

This bizarre — and let’s say it, stunningly stupid — sex scandal might have provided just the occasion for that. This has to be, at least for some in the Capitol, political advantage posing as moral outrage. (It’s interesting, and hardly unfair, to wonder how many of the signatories to this impeachment measure have private lives that would comfortably bear close scrutiny.)

If Bentley is shown to have committed impeachable offenses (stay tuned to the Mike Hubbard case), he should be removed from office. Meanwhile, a state House Judiciary Committee investigation will begin looking into whether there are indeed grounds for impeachment. Depending on how long that probe lasts, it could render Bentley politically irrelevant. Which might be the point.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Bentley ouster move is dubious."