Take your nose-plugs

The plot thickens at the federal Department of the Interior. The latest revelation about shadowy misdeeds comes courtesy of the Washington Post, which reports that David North, a public affairs officer with the department’s Insular Affairs Office, allegedly ran a smear campaign against Rep. Phil English, R-Pa, using a government computer on government time. English was evidently targeted because of his views that the CNMI should remain in control of its labor and immigration laws.

When lifetime, entrenched bureaucrats can–at taxpayer expense–launch smear campaigns against elected officials, that raises some profound questions. Indeed, perhaps things in the U.S. are so far gone that there is sort of a shadow government at work, one that grinds away at its own agenda, away from the light of scrutiny. After all, with such a massive government, a lot of things can fall into the nooks and crannies. Government serving–government. Government the means, government the end. That’s a far cry from the founding dream of America. But it seems to be the new reality.

The David North affair smacks of scandal, and we haven’t heard the last of this one. It will be like pulling a loose thread on a knit sweater. Indeed, the sanctimonious wind in the Insular Affairs Office’s sails seems to have died off. The CNMI has a legitimate beef with the David North affair if the allegations are true.

This isn’t the first black eye the Department of the Interior has received this year. The biggest embarrassment would have to be a February 22 ruling handed down by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The ruling held Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, in contempt. “I have never seen more egregious misconduct by the federal government,” Lamberth said in his order, according to ABC news. Babbitt was busted for his slippery dealings surrounding the status of Indian trust funds.

Now really, this is so absurd it’s almost comic. A cabinet member getting busted for contempt? I imagine that not too many years ago that would be cause for at least a resignation. Heads would roll, no doubt. But, these days, is there anything you can’t do in Washington and get away with? The only ones doing the rolling appears to be the interns.

An honest society won’t tolerate liars, which makes you wonder where America is heading. Kids are armed Nazi geeks shooting up their schools. The guy next door in Atlanta murders his family with a hammer and then goes on a murder rampage in some offices. The entire nation seems to have mutated somehow. The child molesters could put on a “child molester pride” parade through the city streets, no problem (celebrate diversity, after all), but high school students aren’t allowed to mention “God” in graduation speeches. Little wonder, then, with such a soulless electorate, that things in Washington seem to stink more and more. Maybe the CNMI delegates to the Washington hearings should wear nose-plugs.