Some sociologists pointing to the decline of morality in America comment that no one feels shame any more and that people are too quick to point the blame at others.
Those sociologists must live in the nation’s capital, where the telecommunications industry, in general, and the wireless industry, in particular, have roles in the seedy side of politics. No wonder Congress can’t get anything done. It is too busy investigating its members!
House Republican John Boehner (R-Ohio) says he is going to sue Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), saying McDermott violated federal telecommunications privacy law. McDermott came into possession of a taped conversation among Boehner, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and several other GOP leaders in which the men discussed a public defense of Gingrich regarding an ethics committee disciplinary settlement. (The House ethics committee last year found Gingrich violated the law and misled the ethics panel about the financing of a college course that he taught).
One would think Boehner would be sufficiently embarrassed about the conversation that he wouldn’t want the scandal brought up in the media again, regardless of who is guilty of violating the telecom privacy law or any other laws. They weren’t, after all, discussing how to bring about world peace.
I don’t want to downplay the telecom privacy act. Deliberately intercepting cellular phone calls is wrong, and people who do that kind of thing should be ashamed of themselves and punished. But somehow I suspect that regardless of McDermott’s role in the whole ugly affair, what people are going to remember about this case is the initial conversation.
Then there is the imminent probe into the FCC’s planned move to the Portals. Could it be that FCC officials had just finally accepted the fate that they would move to a less attractive location in 1998? Or was the decision to move the FCC in any way related to campaign contributions?
Did former FCC chief Reed Hundt not grumble about moving to the Portals because campaign funds were going to his party? (Has anyone considered that he really didn’t care because he wouldn’t be in office when the move to the less-fashionable Portals would take place?)
No wonder only lawyers are elected to office. Those without law degrees would quickly lose interest.
