What Prompted This? Suddenly, Kinder Cares About Ethics

Over the last four years, there is a list longer than your arm of ethical improprieties in Jefferson City and across Missouri which Peter Kinder saw fit to ignore completely.  Kinder never, not once, piped up to talk about ethics in government during any of the following ethical lapses and scandals...

• The fee office scandal
• The Jewell Patek-Andy Blunt favored lobbyist strongarm
• The Fred Ferrell sexual harassment scandal
• The Blunt brothers' Show Me Ethanol escapade
• The Nathan Cooper illegal immigration saga
• The Carl Bearden lobbyist-and-legislator-at-the-same-time trick  
• Catherine Hanaway's Sweetheart Deal for Nathan Cooper
• The Scott Eckersley firing
• The Governor's Sunshine Law violation and cover-up
• The Randa Hayes fiasco
• Rudy Farber's $50K Purchase of a Transportation Commission seat 
• Mike Kehoe's illegal in-kind bus donation to the Matt Blunt campaign

Yet now, all of the sudden, Kinder is drawing a bead on Rod Jetton, rolling out an ethics package clearly aimed at the Speaker.  I wonder if Kinder knows something the rest of us don't that he's trying to get out in front of by throwing Jetton under the bus?

Whatever his reason, it's interesting to note that Kinder acted here in true weaselly GOP fashion by waiting until there is absolutely no downside risk before launching his attack, as Jetton is on his way out and the session is over.  Kinder certainly wasn't bashing Jetton's ethics when Jetton was helping him ram his pal Paul McKee's $100 million tax credit through the legislature.