Please Tell Me This In't True (UPDATE: It Isn't)

I've long felt that Democratic leaders (not most Dem voters, who I think are generally good folks) will stoop to any level to achieve their political goals, but if the following conversation relayed to HotAir.com is true (and I have strong doubts, but would like them put to rest), then heads should roll:

XM Radio’s Quinn & Rose made the allegation that DNC Chairman Howard Dean called Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius early Sunday morning and instructed her not to request federal assistance in recovery from the Greensburg tornado, and to lie about the federal response to date, on their show, The War Room, today. After I discussed the story via phone with both Quinn and Rose today, here’s what they sent me.

Quinn & Rose relate specific allegations from an anonymous source that claims to be in a position to know of a conversation between Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.

I encourage you to read the account in full.

If correct, Sebelius willfully lied when she stated she did not have enough National Guard troops to respond to the Greensburg tornado, and she did so at the direct requests of Democratic National Committee Chairmen Howard Dean and Democratic Senator Dick Durban of Illinois.

I'd typically discount such claims as conspiracy theorizing, except for the fact that several Democratic governors are now voicing the same concerns, from Maryland's Martin O'Malley, to North Carolina's Mike Easley and Arkansas' Mike Beebe, and with equally questionable reasoning.

Easley states that our state's National Guard could handle the largest natural disaster we face, a hurricane, but bases his complaint on the fact that we aren't equipped to handle a pandemic. This is a devastatingly shallow response: in the case of a pandemic, the surge capacity of our medical system would fail far before out National Guard will.

Were other Democratic governors prodded to a response by Dean as Sebelius reportedly was?

Did Sebelius, Chairwoman of the Democratic Governor's Association, make a call to Democratic governors on behalf of Dean? Or did Easley, Beebe, etc merely respond to a media inquiries?

Frankly, I don't know how much "meat" there is to this story, or if it is true, but think that if Howard Dean would disclose his personal home, DNC, and cell phone calls to the 785 area code for May 5, we could potentially rule out this story fairly quickly.

If the story does pan out to be true—and I do have strong reservations, as to date, it is based upon a single anonymous source—Sebelius should be impeached on ethics violations, Dean should step down, and both they and any other government officials that may be involved should be investigated for charges of conspiracy and racketeering under federal RICO statutes.

I sincerely hope that state and national Democrats would not stoop to such a level.

Lets see those phone records, Dean-o, and put these rumors to rest.

Update: Hot Air is now reporting that the DNC has sent cease-and-desist letters to XM Radio and the Free Republic, stating that the claims made were "demonstrably, uneqivically, and absolutely false."

Let's hope so.

Update: Brownbeck denies the call as well.

Stick a fork in this one.