Maybe Shields was Right?

I've long been a bemused supporter of Katheryn Shields. She's a gutsy, fearless person who walks her own path and does what she thinks is right, even when the polls suggest she should do otherwise. Of course, she also does some foolish things (like that ridiculous, hideous mural) with the same bullheaded lack of concern for public opinion.

I remember way back in the early 90s when she did the grunt work to protect KC from a sloppy and homophobic ballot initiative - she didn't get many thanks, but she did get sued for her effort. She won, but she had to work hard to defend herself and her motives, when she was really doing the right thing.

A person like Katheryn is easy to ridicule and dislike. She doesn't always suffer fools patiently, and her willingness to eschew the popular approach doesn't earn her a ton of popular goodwill. She tends to work her political magic through skilled manipulation of the needs of different constituencies and interest groups rather than unifying everyone behind a common vision. As a result, for much of her career, Katheryn Shields has had many allies, but few friends.

Katheryn Shields has always been kind to me and my family, but I sat silent when the indictment came down. When she claimed the whole affair was politically motivated, I kind of rolled my eyes.

Now, a scandal is gathering around the politicization of the US Attorneys office, and Gonzalez is likely to wind up bounced from public life because he has, in fact, been a conduit for White House use of the US Attorney's Office for political vendettas and selective prosecution of Democrats. "Nearly 80% of all federal investigations undertaken by the Bush DoJ and targeting elected officials or candidates were aimed at Democrats, with under 18% targeting Republicans. Around the country, that's 298 investigations of Democrats versus just 67 investigations of Republicans."