The warm-up to the Rove pardon

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Governor Ernie Fletcher says he will pardon current and former members of his administration charged in an ongoing grand jury investigation.

Fletcher says he is granting blanket amnesty to any member of his administration who might be charged with breaking state merit system laws. But Fletcher says he will not pardon himself.

Nine members of his administration have been charged with misdemeanor violations of state hiring laws. He compared those charges to minor violations of fishing laws.

One member of the administration, Dan Druen, is also facing several felony charges. Fletcher used a televised address to accuse Attorney General Greg Stumbo of wasting time on the investigation while ignoring other priorities. Stumbo has called a news conference for Monday night to respond.

Fletcher also said that he will appear before the grand jury tomorrow in Frankfort. But he said he will decline to testify.

Note to MSM: save this story; you will be able to replace "Fletcher" with "Bush" and "Dan Druen" with "Karl Rove," and run it otherwise verbatim when Patrick Fitzgerald goes public in a few months.