Well, you have to admit that Larry Craig is consistent. He keeps making bad decisions, then trying to change his mind. First, he agreed to plead guilty to something he says he didn't do. Now he is going to try to revoke his guilty plea and fight the charge. Then he announced his intention to resign his Senate seat on the 30th of September. Now, he says he may reconsider that decision.
China has a new exhibition in Beijing, with some helpful ideas on how Chinese officials can avoid graft and corruption. The exhibition has been organized to showcase China's battle against corruption. It gives details of several officials who have fallen from grace. I wonder if that would work in this country? Thanks to River West for the info and article.
There is an article by Doug Patton in GOP USA today called "Being a Democrat Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry." Mr. Patton's argument is that Republican voters hold their politicians to a much higher standard than Democratic voters hold their politicians to. I think that Mr. Patton has missed the mark here. I don't believe that Democratic voters are any different than Republican voters when it comes to issues of morality. I believe the different standard is with the Mainstream Media. They are the ones that hold Democrats and Republicans to different standards. They are the ones who gloss over the shortcomings of the Democrats, while making the disasters of the Republicans page one news. I think that if Democratic voters were asked their opinion, they would tell you that they want honest, ethical, moral politicians just like Republican voters do.
I know I promised no more stories on Larry Craig, but after listening to Arlen Specter yesterday, I just had to post this one. Specter, certainly not one of my favorite Republican Senators, said that Craig announced his intent to resign, not his resignation. Specter thinks Craig should fight to have his guilty plea withdrawn, and change his mind about resigning. This could get very interesting.
Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette has a compelling story about why GOP scandals get more media attention than the Democrat scandals merit. Mr. Kelly argues that Democratic voters expect Democrats to steal on their behalf. He goes on to say "Republicans must be squeaky clean to win elections because their voters will crucify them for behavior Democratic voters wink at so long as the pork keeps flowing." Sad but true. I have no problem with Republicans requiring their politicians be honest and ethical, but it is sad that the Democratic voters are willing to accept so little from their politicians.
TPMuckraker reports that Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce was indicted on Monday. Now, normally I don't pay much attention to anything TPMuckraker reports, because they don't always check their facts, but this story interested me. I remember Michael Joyce from my days of practicing law in Pennsylvania. According to the story, Joyce was indicted on Monday on nine counts of money laundering and mail fraud. Supposedly, back in 2001 he was involved in a minor fender bender. No police or paramedics called - vehicles traveling about 5 mph. A year later Judge Joyce filed claims against his insurance company and the other drivers and collected $440,000. Therein lies the problem.
Somehow, someway we have to get the message to public officials, no matter what level they serve, that the American people demand integrity from all of them. There is a story in the SACBEE talking about an ex-school official facing arrest. The headline says "Conflict of interest by former Natomas administrator alleged." What did he do?
Well, it seems this guy owned a consulting firm. In January 2004, when he took a job with the Natomas School District to head up new school construction, he and the Natomas School superintendent said that he had divested completely from the consulting firm. Well, the district attorney's office said not exactly. He did sell the company to his partner, but agreed to take payments over time, and during this period steered no-bid contracts worth $433,900 to the company he founded. Thanks to River West for the article.
Posts
All Comments
