The Republican Governor Eric Greitens was recently indicted for felony invasion of privacy, having been charged with taking nude photos of his mistress or consort and threatening to put them on the Internet. The House voted unanimously to investigate the governor’s conduct.
On the education front, Greitens stacked the state board of education with appointees who pledged to oust the state commissioner of education and replace her with someone that Greitens wanted, a charter advocate. His hand-chosen board fired Margie Vandeven, but then ran into a problem. None of Greitens’ appointees had been confirmed by the State Senate, as required by state law. Thus, the state board lacked a quorum because only three of its eight members were legitimate. It remains a puzzle why their firing of the state commissioner was okay.
Now, the governor has fired and reappointed his five hand-picked members, to give their appointments a new lease on life. Some Republicans in the legislature are not happy. The board continues to lack a quorum, and all decisions requiring its approval are stalled.
A handful of senators had vowed to block Greitens’ appointees, and if Greitens hadn’t withdrawn their names from consideration, then opponents would have had to stall the process for only 30 days to kill the nominations — and ban them from serving on the board for life.
Because the appointments were resubmitted after the legislature convened for the 2018 session, the Senate has until it adjourns in May to contemplate the nominations.
Parker Briden, spokesman for Greitens, said the governor made the moves after being contacted by members of the Senate seeking more than the allotted 30 days to review and vote on the board appointees.
“I know there is a desire among senators to be involved in this process and to give our advice and consent to well-qualified appointees,” Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “Today’s action will free up extra time for the Senate to give prompt consideration to a number of the Governor’s other important interim appointees.”
Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, a Jefferson City Republican, said that “allowing the Senate additional time to weigh in on these very important positions on the State Board of Education was a positive decision by the governor.”
But two Republican senators made it clear Wednesday that they would still work to stop Greitens’ appointments from being confirmed.
State Sen. Gary Romine, a Farmington Republican who heads the Senate education committee, said the five appointees don’t deserve to be considered because they showed poor judgment in voting to fire Vandeven at the governor’s behest.
He was joined by state Sen. Rob Schaaf, a St. Joseph Republican and frequent critic of the governor, who said Greitens would do well to find new nominees.
“If he resubmits those names to the Senate, there is a big chance those people will be barred forever from serving,” Schaaf said.
Later, Schaaf discussed how long a filibuster of the governor’s nominees might go.
“We could go a long time,” he said. “A very, very long time. An infinite amount of time.”
I ask again, in case this post is read by any member of the legislature in Missouri, how was the board selected by Greitens but not approved by the State Senate allowed to fire the state commissioner? The board was not legal when it fired her. Why was she removed by an illegal board?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If you know what SNAFU actually stands for, it’s particularly apt. This is business as usual now, folks.
Situation Normal, All F——- Up
After 20 years or more of failed reform, SNAFU is the right word.
Correct. Normal being the operative word.
One of the great military acronyms of all time.
Semi-nude not nude according to the indictment. Big difference, eh. While his wife was upstairs is what I have read. Basically, he’s pulled a Gingrich without leaving his wife. Can’t get much lower.
Duane,
The part about this Missouri story that I find funniest is that Greitens threatened his girlfriend that she should be quiet or he would post the photos on the Internet. That’s what I read. Didn’t he have that backwards? Wasn’t he the one with the most to lose?
People heard saw the words “Navy Seal” and automatically assigned to Greitens intelligence, loyalty, service and other characteristics that he does not have. He’s a self-promoter big time.
Unfortunately the St. Louis prosecutor (a Dim) is not known for her prosecuting skills and many Missourians see this as a political witch hunt. She just dropped charges on two brothers and set them free in a roadrage shooting of a toddler that left the toddler with serious brain injuries. Dropped even though they found stolen guns and illegal drugs in the car when they were pulled over.
Needless to say many compare the two and see political witch hunt with Greitens (not that I agree with that assessment) and complete ineptitude on her part (not sure about that as I don’t know enough about her total record).
I agree with your last question. Yes and it shows really how arrogant he is to have done something like that (having an affair when your wife is pregnant and then threatening the consort).
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
Wow…Special.
And Utah is rushing headlong into getting rid of our elected state school board and putting in a governor-appointed board. And the guy sponsoring the bill? Supposedly the most progressive senator in the legislature.
Just shows that BOTH parties hate public education.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2018/03/03/outspoken-democratic-senator-jim-dabakis-seeks-to-abolish-the-state-school-board-and-a-senate-committee-agreed-with-him-unanimously/
How low.
Arrogance and hubris definitely come into play with this Greitens guy.
St. louis schools get by with a three member appointed board(no voting that matters allowed for more than ten years)….KIPP has 15 bankers for a few hundred students…..