DADvocate

Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear (D) largely won election by pointing out the corruption in the Ernie Fletcher (R) administration. Most Kentucky voters, rightly, agreed Fletcher's administration was corrupt. I wonder how long the "absence" of corruption will last. Beshear supports casino gambling in Kentucky. William Yung III has gambling interests and contributed $1 million to Beshear's campaign.

William Yung III contributed $1 million to a political group that worked to elect Beshear, a Democrat who made a proposal to legalize casinos in Kentucky a centerpiece in his campaign against former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Yung also made a $1,000 campaign contribution to Beshear for the November election campaign, and contributed $10,000 to help pay for Beshear's inaugural party in December.

Beshear said Monday the contributions don't give Yung an edge on getting one of several potentially lucrative state casino licenses if lawmakers and Kentucky voters decide to legalize gambling in Kentucky. License sales, Beshear said, could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the state over the next two years.

"Nobody's going to have an inside track on them," Beshear told reporters on Monday. "It'll be all transparent and above board.

Yeah. Uhuh!

Having either lived in Kentucky or very close, half a mile, for the past 18 years, I've been amazed at the level of corruption and patronage in Kentucky state politics. I'm not a gambling man but I'm ready to make a bet on a particular guy getting one of those "lucrative state casino licenses."