A Shining Cesspool on the Hill
People tend to rise to the standards demanded of them. Unfortunately, Washington, DC, is a city with standards so low that to meet them one must duck.
Let’s start with an arresting January headline in The Washington Times : “Official keeps job despite lying.” A job where? With the DC Board of Elections and Ethics! Vialetta Graham is chief technology officer. She lied about her computer science degree. She has none. Kenneth McGhie, the Board’s general counsel, explained the city’s decision to keep the liar on, this way: “The reason it wasn’t prosecuted was because it wasn’t a misrepresentation of a material fact. . . . It wasn’t required for the job.” But isn’t honesty a requirement for any job?
The Washington Post headlined a recent story: “City Schools Will Not Punish Most Credit Card Abusers.” A report on the misuse of DC credit cards urged that those abusing the system be suspended without pay or dismissed. But no. Assistant superintendent William Wilhoyte explained the lack of disciplinary action: “If they had gained from it personally, I would say there’s a very different situation.” But the report never even looked at whether school personnel gained personally.
Here’s the kicker: Thirteen DC policemen have been arrested so far this year for crimes ranging from sexual assaults to drunk driving. That’s more than in the cities of Baltimore, Chicago and Philadelphia combined. One reason cited was the lowering of standards for new policemen. Washington: a shining example of low expectations.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
