Remember how two years ago Jeff Fartenberry was the victim of “political violence” (his words) when some terrible criminal “vandalized his reputation”? Of course you do, because that is probably the only thing you know about Jeff Fartenberry. Though please, please check out his web site to learn more!
You probably also remember that Fart’s chief of staff, Reyn Archer, tried to get a U of Nebraska political science professor, Ari Kohen, fired from his job for liking the photo of the silent but deadly deed on Facebook. It was, in fact, this absurd overreaction–not even Fart’s insistence on a full scale CSI investigation by Lincoln Police–that made Fart a laughing stock in international news.
Yet despite all this, Reyn–“It is prrronounced RENN!” he told Kohen–kept his job on Fart’s staff, even though it led to an ethics investigation. Well, as friend of Seeing Red Phil Montag has just discovered, it looks like there’s a good reason for this.
Reyn and Fart are family. Specifically, Reyn is the cousin of Fart’s mother-in-law.
As I have written about in the past, Reyn was a strange choice for chief of staff. You can read more about his bizarre history here, but if you know nothing else about him, please know that his medical career began as a celibate gynecologist.
Yes. A celibate. Gynecologist.
I mean… methinks the fellow doth dwell on vaginas too much. It’s kind of like a Handmaid’s Tale equivalent of “Fish are friends, not food.”
To be clear, unlike when he used the power of his office to penalize the private speech of state employees, Fart probably didn’t violate congressional ethics violations with this hire because Reyn is not Fart’s “father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister,” the only familial relationships enumerated in the ethics rule. But come on.
The whole thing is just part and parcel of the ridiculous way that the mediocrity of Nebraska elected Republicans leads to people being hired and promoted for any number of reasons besides talent.
