The Wondering Mind

We all know the age when politicians and public servants took responsibility for anything is long gone. But when you read about the blatant lack of accountability these days, it’s like watching a bunch of 5 year olds running the country.

While I’m not an attorney, and I don’t know for sure if what the Republicans did in hiring unqualified candidates for positions in the federal government was a crime, I know it should be. The actions of the individuals involved was a reckless and selfish disregard of the public good not just for crazy political ideals. It was also for private gain, as these party operatives will cycle through the party political machinery and gain rich personal rewards for the party fealty. That is, or should be, criminal misuse of public funds for private gain.

If these acts are not currently criminal, as the nation’s top law official Mukasey should be urging Congress to make them criminal as quickly as possible and taking steps for the Justice Department to file civil suits pursuing those individuals to make an example out of them.

And if unqualified candidates were hired, they should be reviewed and fired as being unfit for their jobs. At the very least, they should be made to reapply for those jobs, along with any qualified candidates who may now wish to apply. There is nothing unfair about demanding people who got the jobs on unqualified grounds justify their continued employment in the face of real competition.

With all the double-talk and excuses coming out of the Attorney General’s mouth, you wonder what constitutes a crime in his world.

I think George Bush could wander out onto the White House lawn with a bloody knife, screaming, “I’m glad I killed the bitch with my own two hands,” in front of a crowd of tourists, have the Secret Service find the bloody corpse of some female staff member in the Oval Office, and still have the Attorney General declare,

“…not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”