Tiller the Killer found "not guilty"

What you've heard by now, if you've been watching the news, is that infamous abortion doctor, George Tiller, also known as "Tiller the Killer", was found not guilty of violating Kansas state abortion guidelines in performing heinous late term abortions, many on victims that were very near delivery.

What you don't know may surprise you.

Tiller is the poster-boy, not just of near-birth abortions, but also of political corruption.  Aside from his murder of innocent unborn children, one of the biggest complaints the people of the state of Kansas have against Tiller has always been his ability to use political connections to avoid the enforcement of state regulations governing late-term abortions.  His direct and indirect support of Kathleen Sebelius (current governor and nominee for Obama's HHS secretary), combined with a judicial selection process that is completely opaque and deeply political, bought him years of immunity and reduced the state's late-term abortion laws to a statutory wink.  The laws were there, but enforcing them was never an option.

That changed when activist pro-life State Attorney General, Phil Kline, was elected in Kansas in 2002.  Conservatives almost never win statewide office in Kansas; the state is run by a coalition of "moderate" (read center-left) Republicans and Democrats.  In taking on Tiller, Kline took on the political establishment in Kansas, most notably Sebelius's political coalition and the once powerful Kansas City Star, a paper so devoted to the cause of unrestricted abortion that it used to accept awards from Planned Parenthood for its unstinting adoration of the "right to choose," no matter why, when or by whom that choice is made.

Kline made powerful enemies, of course, and was ultimately destroyed politically and financially.  Although he's now teaching law in Virginia, they still pursue him.  But on his way out, he launched a couple of investigations, including the one that has brought Tiller to court.

Kline's successor, Paul Morrison, was recruited by Governor Sebelius to run the Attorney General's office in a Tiller-friendly fashion.  He successfully tossed out many of the charges he would have faced under Kline, but not because not all of the lower court judges are Sebelius loyalists.  The "technical" misdemeanors with which Tiller had been charged somehow survived.

Morrision later resigned amid a sex scandal and was replaced by another avidly pro-choice Attorney General, Steve Six.  The governor, one of the most aggressive supporters of abortion in the country, thus had a great deal of say over this process.  In Kansas, much of the judiciary is under the control of the governor through a closed-door appointment process unlike in any other state.

It was expected that Tiller would be acquitted before the trial ever started.

The state's lackadaisical case was "embarrassing" according to knowledgeable observers. The state assigned a single prosecutor to the case.  Tiller had a five-member team, including a former U.S. Attorney.  The state called one witness - Kristin Neuhaus, the doctor who signed off on Tiller's near-birth abortions.  She was an extremely hostile witness who avoided answering questions directly. The prosecution had "reams of documents" available to them dealing with the case, but didn't use them.  Tiller's accountant wasn't even called, a surprising move if the prosecution wanted to win the case, given that the case rested on the financial relationship between Tiller and Neuhaus.  

Ironically, as more than one trial-follower noted, the only thing that might convict Tiller, given the prosecution's "botching" of the case, was Tiller's own statements asked by his defense team.  There he let slip that Neuhaus had worked for him and was part of his "organization", before quickly correcting himself.

One person described the case as a "show-trial."  That person meant it literally.  It was just for show, so that Tiller's supporters could say that he got his day in court and won.

This trial will now be used to devastate the effort to enforce abortion laws in Kansas for years, or decades, to come.  Those illegal abortions will go on forever, and the whole thing will be blown up in the press as a "witch hunt" launched by Phil Kline.  

The case was a "lay-down".  The Attorney General's office did not want to win the case.

As bad as that is, what's worse is what will happen to other cases in Kansas.  Planned Parenthood has been charged with falsifying documents as a way of justifying not reporting illegal abortions, including those done on children as young as 12, 13 and 14 years old.  There are, literally, thousands of these cases and every single one is a sex crime that will never be prosecuted.  Tiller's acquittal will make a successful prosecution of Planned Parenthood virtually impossible (even if the office of the Attorney General wanted to be successful in prosecuting these cases.)

Don't expect this to show up in the news, however.  The MainStream Media will report this as vindication for the "right to choose."