A bad day on the ethics front

MANIFESTO

I suppose I'm a fan of Dick Blumenthal. I think I'm a friend/fan of his on Facebook. I certainly had no qualms about voting for him in his venture to replace Chris Dodd as one of the state's senators. Now, unfortunately, I have a qualm or two. It seems the pure-as-the-driven-snow State AG has averred that he served in Vietnam some decades ago when no such situation transpired. When called to account on this baldfaced lie, the AG was, shall we say, less than forthcoming about the whole thing.

He didn’t apologize. But as he scrambled to resuscitate his battered U.S. Senate campaign Tuesday, Democrat Richard Blumenthal said he “regrets” “misspeaking.”

Then he swung back.

“I will not,” he declared, “allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.”

Blumenthal made the remarks at a 2 p.m. press event at a West Hartford VFW Hall, as he scrambled to contain the damage from a New York Times expose charging that he has falsely claimed to have served in the military in Vietnam, rather than at home in the marine reserves.

That's two strikes as far as I'm concerned: first, the lie and then the nonsensical verbiage. Of course he "regrets" the incident—it's made him look like a lying lowlife. And the notion of his "misspeaking" is every bit as bad as a White House Press Secretary's dismissal of his boss's previous extensive statements on a serious issue as "inoperative."

And then we have the sad story of

Indiana Rep. Mark Souder, an eight-term Republican who promoted abstinence education, [who] said Tuesday he'll resign from Congress after admitting an extramarital affair with a part-time staff member.

Souder, an evangelical Christian who has championed family values and traditional marriage, apologized for his actions but provided no details during an emotional news conference at his Fort Wayne office.

... Throughout his time in Congress, Souder made his evangelical Christianity a centerpiece of his public persona. He was known for his outspoken views on religion and his uncompromising conservative positions on social issues such as abortion.

“I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff ... My comfort is that God is a gracious and forgiving God.” Souder said.

Whatever. The truth of the matter is that Souder is just another sanctimonious blowhard who couldn't keep his pants on.

And finally we have the extremely interesting story of one Adam Wheeler, whose

plan to fake his way into and through Harvard University worked for years ... until he tried to get a university endorsement for a Rhodes Scholarship his senior year.

... Wheeler was arrested on Monday and indicted on 20 offenses, including larceny, identity fraud and pretending to hold a degree. Harvard estimates Wheeler duped them out of $45,000 in financial aid, grants and scholarships. He is scheduled to appear in Middlesex Superior Court Tuesday.

While all of these incidents have to do with duplicity, if I had to rank the above in terms of malfeasance, I'd certainly rank Wheeler's deceit last. I always get a kick out of the smartypants in the Ivy League getting taken for a ride.