(Note: Photo on the left is Phil McCrory’s twitter icon. For the record, I stand with the people, not the power.)

Somebody needs to take away Pat and Phil McCrory’s shovel so they quit digging that hole any deeper. We haven’t seen such cunning and savvy since Don Knotts and Tim Conway teamed up to form the Apple Dumpling Gang. Just when the latest McCrory ethics lapse was about to get knocked out of the news cycle by a holiday weekend and the botched firing of UNC President Tom Ross, Phil McCrory kept it alive.

Phil, the governor’s brother, penned a bizarre letter that ran in the Charlotte Observer this weekend. Phil defends his use of the term “partner” to describe Pat McCrory’s affiliation with Phil’s firm, McCrory and Associates. The letter is a sappy attempt to cast him and Pat in a favorable light, but Phil tries just a bit too hard and sounds alarm bells instead.

Phil writes that he and Pat have been working together so long that he just considers him a partner in all of their ventures. He was just helping his brother out in 2009 after Pat gave up his livelihood for the noble pursuit higher office.

“So in 2008, in the aftermath of the lost election (that my brother gave up his job and security to pursue), I invited my brother to be my partner again because of his extensive business skills and because of the trust that I have in him,” Phil wrote. “And since he’s become governor of this state we love, I’ve partnered with him any way I can, often just by listening. All of this is what brothers do.”

Let me translate that. “After Pat lost, I brought him on board so we could exploit his political connections to make the big bucks. And now that he’s governor, I know he’ll tell me what I need to know and I don’t have to say a thing. In return, I’ll do whatever I can to keep him in office. That’s why I’m writing this letter.”

Phil didn’t call Pat a partner because of his lifelong emotional commitment to his brother. Phil called him a partner because he thought it would bring in business. That’s why he listed him that way on his web site. And somebody told Tree.com and Kewaunee Scientific that Pat’s position with McCrory and Associates was “partner” and that’s why they listed it that way in SEC filings.

Somebody came up with the stupid idea to write that letter and I know who it wasn’t. It was not a public relations or crisis management professional. I suspect that it was a joint effort by Pat and Phil McCrory. As Republicans have told me, Pat McCrory keeps his own counsel. In other words, he’s not listening to anybody. He certainly should.

Thomas Mills

Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >