Corruption

The biggest problem with the cult of personality emerges: serious events, that should cause concern, don't even register with the true believers. Now the third IG has been fired, and this one is very important:

WASHINGTON - -- He was appointed with fanfare as the public watchdog over the government's multi-billion dollar bailout of the nation's financial system. But now Neil Barofsky is embroiled in a dispute with the Obama administration that delayed one recent inquiry and sparked questions about his ability to freely investigate.

The disagreement stems from a claim by the Treasury Department that Barofsky is not entirely independent of the agency he is assigned to examine ¿ a claim that has prompted a stern letter from a Republican senator warning that agency officials are encroaching on the integrity of an office created to protect taxpayers.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent the letter Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner demanding information about a "dispute over certain Treasury documents" that he said were being "withheld" from Barofsky's office on a "specious claim of attorney-client privilege."

Ah, Tim Geithner is on one side of this dispute. Good to know that the man in charge is smart enough to cheat on his taxes. Does anyone else suspect that they're making a job opening for Blagojevich?

btw- Something I read in Wikipedia before the election, regarding "political machines":

In the 1940s most of the big city machines collapsed, with the notable exception of the Chicago machine.

OK question: what kind of guy is drawn to a place where the political landscape is generally regarded as unfair? Follow-up: what kind of guy thrives in those conditions?