In defense of Steve Beshear -- for once

Steve Beshear is getting criticism for his dismissal of Susan Bush from the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, both from conservative blogs and the liberal media.

However, we won't be criticizing him for that act.

After all, Bush held a politically-appointive position and served at the pleasure of the governor. Beshear is well within his rights to replace her with one of his own political appointees.

One thing we believe Ernie Fletcher did wrong was to keep many of the political appointees that had served in previous Democrat administrations. Many of those people did not serve the best interests of Fletcher or his political agenda.

Bush may or may not have done a good job. For a political appointment, that's irrelevant. We'd expect Beshear to bring in his own people for sensitive positions, and if he has someone in mind to replace Bush, that's certainly his prerogative to do so.

There's plenty of ammo out there with which to criticize Beshear. This act shouldn't be part of that arsenal.