Hypocrisy on parade -- or should that be, hypocrisy in flight?

Hardly two months into his term, which he won largely on the basis of basing his campaign on ethics, Steve Beshear is doing exactly the same things he accused Ernie Fletcher of doing and said he would not do.

Beshear has been mixing official and campaign events and flying to them on the state airplane. This is something he roundly criticized Fletcher for and promised he would not do.

His latest dual-purpose trip was to Harlan County, where he announced a Homeland Security grant. However, we know his real purpose there was to try to mend some fences in a community where the locals are angry that their native son, Roger Noe, was not the Beshear administration's favored candidate in the special election to replace Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo in the state Senate.

The Democrats are fractured in Harlan and Noe seems on the verge of leading a revolt, as evidenced by his much-publicized letter to the editor in area papers last week. Hence Beshear's trip down there yesterday, along with a late-night press release announcing that he is recommending approval of a grant for Bell County. Beshear is trying to shore up support for Scott Alexander, the Democrat nominee.

And what did we hear incessantly the past four years? That Fletcher was rewarding his political cronies and contributors with appointments?

Yesterday, Beshear appointed John Paul Chappell to a district judgeship. Chappell had previoiusly contributed financially to Alexander's campaign. While the contribution was minimal ($200) and noted and respected Republican blogger Jonathan Gay (Cyberhillbilly) speaks highly of Chappell's integrity, there is an appearance of something fishy and Beshear's campaign was all about perception instead of reality. (The reality being that the Fletcher administration did NOT do all those things they were accused of.)

People who voted for Beshear, expecting some great mystical ethical figure who would live up to his promises, were badly fooled. So far, Beshear has proven that he would have to look up, way up, to even see the bottom of the ethics barrel.

More proof that Beshear, like most Kentucky Democrats, is a hypocrite and the people of Kentucky have been bamboozled again.