Second Chances

We are all familiar with the old cliche "Don't throw stones if you live in a glass house." Of course if this were applied literally, no one would or should have a leg to stand on when complaining about someone not doing what they said they would.

Still, in a political environment with an ever increasing pontificating about who are the real scoundrels, at least an examination of individuals tenure in their present occupation should be examined carefully to see if they actually operate in a truthful and genuine manner.

Our new administration has beat the drum of change we can believe in. They have professed a new transparency in the motes operande of government to make sure the common man is given ample time to review decisions made by it's officials in order to enlighten and offer intelligent debate to the courses of action proposed for our country.

The action of our congress to ram an eleventh hour stimulus bill down our throats without one single congressman having read it, doesn't inspire much confidence however and the best face we can put on this change we can believe in mantra is that the administration hasn't quite worked all the bugs out in this transparency thing yet.

Of course we could possibly draw some more harsh opinions of our new administration when nominee after nominee are having trouble passing muster to even be considered, let alone actually going through the approval process in congress.

When you consider Bill Richardson, Tom Daschale, Kathleen Sebelius and Turbo Tax Geithner, having their troubles with the IRS and in essence getting a pass, when many an ordinary citizen would face jail time or at least be put through the arduous audit process that presumes them guilty until they can prove themselves innocent, points to a real disconnect with the rhetoric of transparency.

If these previous appointments were not bad enough, I urge to to read this little article regarding the Obama's latest nomination to the number 2 post at HUD here.

It's one thing for an individual that has transgressions in his past unrelated to government service being scrutinized for an appointment, or for that matter elected office, but when an individual has a history of shenanigans while in government service, there is little reason to believe that a government hack who moves from one office to another would be any less a hack in his new post.

I'm all for second chances, but when an individual has a history of deception as a government official already, I'd rather have an individual that has paid his debt to society for is transgressions no matter what they were, than an individual that knows how to work the system in order to maintain his position.

Soaring rhetoric of transparency does not make it so and we should demand full disclosure by our press and institutions delegated with the authority to reveal all the facts.