Troy King's College Scandal

Troy King is the second-highest paid AG in America, second only to California's Jerry Brown. He makes over $160,000 a year, which is not a bad payday. In King's fairness, I don't hold him responsible for his pay. It was set around the year he was born and was set by the legislature to link to judicial pay. However, I do hold him responsible for earning his paycheck.

I read a fascinating piece in the Wall Street Journal, a conservative national publication, yesterday about why so many football coaches vote Republican. As football season nears again (thankfully), we can be thankful that legends like Lou Holtz, Bobby Bowden, and most other coaches are steadily conservative. According to the column, one reason for this was their belief in hard work and discipline. Holtz put it clearly--he believed that one isn't "given" anything, he earns everything. I think that's fair, to hold Troy King as a leader of an office to this standard set by leaders on the football field.

Well, it doesn't take long to find a major shortcoming, and we stop at the two year college scandal. I know you've all heard about it. Chancellor Roy Johnson went down in flames and was replaced by Bradley Byrne, now a GOP candidate for governor, to clean up the process. The whole scandal has even brought down a number of legislators and is the largest ethics investigation in Alabama history. It has been led skillfully and professionally by Richard Minor, the District Attorney from St. Clair County. However, one must ask, where is Troy King in all of this?

It turns out that Troy King had to recuse himself from this investigation and turn it over to Minor. At the same time he was investigating Johnson, he asked for jobs for at least two friends and financial support for VOCAL, a victims' group. One of the jobs was for the mother of an AG staffer, and Johnson gladly performed the favor for Troy King. As a result, King had to remove himself, and he has not been able to participate in this historic ethics investigation.

Thus, the challenge is simple--we pay Troy King a lot of money to represent our interests. One of those interests is defending us against corrupt politicians. Here, at a historic moment to truly make a difference in this state, Troy King is stuck on the sidelines, warming the bench while Richard Minor has come in to lead the team to victory. It's an impressive performance for Minor, to be sure, but it begs the question of whether Troy King is earning his keep. We, the taxpayers on Alabama, pay Troy King a lot of money every year. We're paying him to lead, not sit on the sidelines. With performances like these, that's all the more reason to give this benchwarmer a pinkslip next time we get the chance.