It's strange how a sound, smell, phrase, or seemingly disconnected event can trigger memories. This time is was the stench of the Bush administration and the likelihood that they will walk away untouched. Every time I think about Bush and his criminal gang getting away with his assault on our country, its Constitution, its economy, and its defense, I recall a much less critical event. Actually, I imitate Linda Blair and then I recall a much less critical event
(All recollections of comments preserve the meaning, but the exact comments have been lost in the folds of my brain.)
The Event
It was another one of those early morning department chair meetings with the principal; however, this meeting was going to be a hell of a lot more interesting than the usual recitation of "what's up this week." Before it was over I would be yelled at, brow beaten, insulted and half a step away from being physically accosted.
One of the principal's announcements was that a student had won a full ride Bank of America scholarship to the school of his choice. Very nice, right? Well ....
Having previously suffered a severed connection between my brain and spinal cord, I stupidly had to say something, "What? But he was caught cheating on two final exams. Did they know that before they gave him the scholarship? " It turns out that the scholarship had already been awarded based on previous semesters and anticipated semester grades that the teachers had already provided to B of A.
The head counselor then said, "Well, we don't feel that it is really necessary to inform them now. He's already knows that he's getting the scholarship."
Another stupid comment from me was, "Don't you think that we have an obligation to notify Bank of America? After all, others competed for the same scholarship. He cheated. Isn't one of the requirements honesty and character."
The counselor then said, "But he has had some problems at home."
With spinal cord fully disconnected, I said something that would ignite the principal like a Roman candle. I said, rather badly, "That's not important." I really didn't mean that his problem was insignificant only that there was an ethical issue, but that's not what I said. You know what they say, hindsight is 20 20. My foresight is braille.
Then the principal, a former football coach and avid gardener, exploded, "Don't you tell her what's important." He rose from his chair and started walking toward me. "Who do you think you are? You have no right to question what she does."
I rose from my chair. As he approached, I met his stare with mine. He was about two feet away from me now pointing, gesturing and shouting about my arrogance, how I was always causing trouble, etc. Okay, some of it had a ring of truth, but I hadn't castrated his cat or stepped on his petunias, besides the issue was ethics, honesty and consequences.
By this time his face was percolating. He was one shade away from Rudolph Red. My fists were clenched, partly in anger and partly in fear. I looked at him and emphatically said, "That doesn't make it right!" I turned, walked out of his office and went to teach my class.
Nothing happened to the student. He took his scholarship and went off to school. The world didn't end, but I had no respect for either the Principal or the counselor, and I questioned the ethics of the other department chairs who remained silent, although a few came up to me later and thanked me for saying something. It's not that I am the paragon of virtue; I'm clearly not, but there are some things that are obviously wrong. Some decisions are easy; to me this was one of them. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't have sympathy for his problems at home, but that in no way excuses doing something that is obviously wrong.
As is usual at a high school, word of the scholarship, the cheating, and the lack of consequences hit the quad and spread like the Andromeda Strain. Once again the teachers' favorite had received special attention and once again those students who were not the teachers' pet but were honest, worked hard, and took their lumps had more proof that the game was rigged. By not requiring the cheater to face the consequences, the honest students' exemplary behavior throughout their entire scholastic career is not only not rewarded, it is ridiculed and diminished. They then see the system as unjust and they lose faith in it, and they are right to do so.
That loss of respect grew from that point. I left and went to teach at the university where cheating was less tolerated. The eventual loss of respect from others at the school and at the district moved the principal to night school administrator; he ran for mayor of the city and lost, but he did institute the successful bingo night at the high school.
Respect is lost each time our government lets the cheaters, the Presidents, their staff and Congress, evade the consequences. But, it's not just our government who is guilty of devaluing ethics. It's a pervasive, dangerous attitude that infects all of us to some extent and some to a great extent. Its loss can quickly lead to injustice which is the foundation of a free society. Being just and ethical isn't easy; there are times when right and wrong come into conflict with compassion, common sense, self-preservation, delicate egos, and the greater good. This is often a world of grays that demands difficult decisions. The degree to which Americans perceive those decisions to be difficult is an indication of the value that they place on conducting themselves in an ethically disciplined manner. Conversely, the ease with which ethical actions are violated contributes to injustice and disillusionment. Both hasten the end of democracy.
For Congress, at this point, ignoring the Bush crimes is not a difficult decision. It is easy to see that he will face no consequences. This brings forth the question, "What the hell does a President have to do to be held accountable for his actions? Does he have to scale the Texas tower and start picking off progressives and other opponents? Start a bonfire with the Constitution?"
While wrong is wrong, it is not absolute and sometimes not clear. But the Bush bulging portfolio of crimes is not one of those times; it is apparent and clear. Congress may find finely tuned, traditional reasons (excuses) that attempt to condone their rationalization of the Bush administration's crime, but in the process they do disservice to justice and, thus, to the core of our legal system and to the notion that the law stands above partisanship and that all people are treated equally. None of us are naive enough to think it always does, but in the most important instances it has to at least try. Congress is not even trying. It's not like this is the first time that we have had a President and an administration that has failed this country and a Congress who has failed to be the watchdog of runaway Presidential power, but each time this happens we come one mile closer to the edge of the abyss. It will eventually bring an end to trust, reliance, justice, and fairness and will ultimately be just one more thing that will prove that
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar ......
....
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
T.S. Eliot
The sports adage is wrong. It should say, "If you are cheating, you're not trying."