I wish I could tell you the dirty details of a sordid gubernatorial affair.
That would be explosive.
Or I wish I could tell you all the details of a gubernatorial affair have simply been invented by the dirty tricks of powerful Alabamians who want to discredit the governor to hold him political hostage.
That would be explosive, too.
But I can't. There have been claims that both of those things are true. There has been talk for months behind the scenes, on the comments beneath stories, on Internet threads and in bars and coffee shops.
But that's all.
Until today.
Gov. Robert Bentley and his wife, Dianne, in 2014.
Several media outlets - bloggers and radio talkers - this morning cited "sources" as they reported that Gov. Robert Bentley has without question had an affair with a female staff member, a torrid love cuddle that caused the governor's wife of a half century, Dianne Bentley, to file for divorce and ask for everything the guy ever made.
All they offered was "sources." Not proof or fact or anything more than smoke.
Perhaps they are right. Perhaps the governor is a two-timing overgrown teenager who better start taking his state salary before he loses everything. Or perhaps they are wrong. They offered nothing in the way of facts, and until we see those we cannot know enough to judge.
I don't know. I just don't know.
I do know there is plenty of smoke. Montgomery has buzzed with rumors of the relationship for ages, and state airplane logs - I have long looked at those things - show the governor traveled with his female staff adviser often.
Where there is smoke there is fire, right? Right. You just don't know what is burning until you find a way to see through it.
That a staff adviser for the governor travels on the same plane as the governor is no smoking gun. It is what advisers do.
That a staff adviser for the governor has his ear and has been effective at convincing him to rethink policy decisions - like raising taxes, for instance - is still no smoking gun. It is what advisers do.
I don't know the truth.
We don't know the truth. But we will seek to find it.
The governor's office did not respond to questions. It certainly did not confirm, but it did not deny either.
I know that if the governor has indeed had an affair with a state employee on state planes in a way that affected state policy he should resign immediately and accept the shame.
And I know that if others in state politics have hatched a plot to discredit him in order to discredit his policies they should roast in hell.
But I can't see through the smoke. I wish for all the world I could, and I will continue to try.
I have heard from dozens of people who claim the truth is an affair and a few more who say the truth is a conspiracy. None of them can provide facts or first-hand knowledge.
I hope to give you more than that, but I cannot yet do it. I have talked to and covered many of the people involved, and still cannot discern the truth.
So I cannot tell you there is fire.
I can only tell you of the smoke. And I cannot see through it.