April has been a cruel month for Bill Ritter. The Kolomitz financial scandal engulfing his campaign deals one more blow to the Democrats' storyline of the 2006 governor's race as a morality play. Ritter was supposed to be the Boy Scout, righteously triumphing over the shady cheater, Republican Bob Beauprez. Wrong. That political myth, like the policy myth of Ritter as a centrist, pro-business and pro-life, has lost all credibility in recent days.
First, a jury didn't buy the charge that ICE agent Cory Voorhis broke the law when he outed former DA Ritter's lax treatment of illegal alien criminals, removing the cloud over former congressman Beauprez and leaving the Boy Scout's own laxity as a focus of outrage.
Next, in case anyone missed that little embarrassment for Colorado's chief executive, a constitutional amendment to ban such plea bargains in the future was introduced by state Sen. Ted Harvey.
And now the improper diversion of some $300,000 from Gov. Ritter's inaugural fund to pay off some 2006 campaign debts and enrich manager Greg Kolomitz suggests that it may be the simon-pure Democrat's turn in court.
What did the governor know about the 300K that went astray, and when did he know it? Has Kolomitz been unjustly scapegoated? Getting answers to questions like these, where the state's highest elected official, is exactly the reason we have prosecutors, grand juries, judges, and trail juries. Perhaps even, if necessary, a special prosecutor.
Bill Ritter now has his very own Cory Voorhis.