Lost Trust



By Sunny Fry

Sitting smack in the middle of the newly created District 7, from whence a brand spanking new member of the US House of Representatives will come, the view includes:

A ridiculous number of local indictments for mortgage fraud, and perhaps consequently, a number of local banks closing or operating under regulatory orders.  So much fraud, in fact, that it seems obvious that someone must have known about at least some of it.

Local governments operating  under a real cloud of suspicion.  It's doubtful you'd find anyone who believes North Myrtle Beach government or police department has been operating in a completely transparent way, or who completely trusts the government of Surfside.  In Myrtle Beach, there are layers and layers of questionable issues, not least of which is the presumed link between sequential checks bundled by the Chamber and distributed to local politicians who supported the unpopular Ad Tax.  And then the ludicrous game playing, in response to a reporter's request for information, of the document dump in a hot warehouse where the Chipmunk Christmas Song played repeatedly.  At some point, even those of us who know many of the players and like them -- who want to trust them -- have to concede that there's a real image problem, even if no existing laws were broken.

But who do you call?  Out of the blue arise questions about the Horry County Police Department, which again would be easy to dismiss if there hadn't been so many officers arrested for various infractions over the past couple of years.  The Highway Patrol?  They're operating under a cloud as well, though it may be confined only to their current director.  Then we've got a new SLED chief coming in, after the last one publically rejected our Governess's memo instructing him on how to handle his budget.     

And speaking of the Governess, the lady who campaigned on transparency has been a wee bit of a disappointment in that regard, what with the latest kerfuffle regarding deleted emails -- which is a shame, since those emails might have given some idea of her reasoning behind pushing the sudden reversal of a DHEC decision on a Georgia port.

Of course, Eric Holder's memo that government agencies are allowed to respond to inconvenient FOIA requests "as if the excluded documents did not exist" probably renders objections to either the email deletions or the Chipmunk Christmas Song irrelevant. 

Okay, so we throw the bums out.  This is America, right?  Except in Atlantic Beach, apparently, where the clear and blatant election issues are not only exponentially more egregious than whatever concerns were raised about a south Myrtle Beach polling station, but make Chicago's old political players look like rank amateurs. 

There's Fast and Furious, and Holder's obvious lie characterized as just careless, and ignored.  Probably got that tactic from Geitner, the guy in charge of the Treasury, who also said the issues with his income taxes were just careless -- and escaped even paying the penalty.  The response to whether members of congress are engaging in "legal" insider trading is simply to deny that it happens -- when there's an actual sub-industry which has grown around gathering information in Washington to use in playing the stock market. 

The Open Secrets website details just how much industry money is flowing to whom, and you can track votes on bills using that information.  And in fact, when you look at all the banking money in all the campaigns, we're really left wondering if that has anything to do with the fact that there are almost no investigations or prosecutions of any of the people who violated SEC and other regulations.  The S&L meltdown in the 1990s cost just under $88 billion, and resulted in charges against 992 defendants, with 723 convictions.  By comparison, the cost of the banking meltdown of this decade can't even be calculated yet, with admitted violations of law -- and who's been charged?  Anybody? 

Local, state, or national, if you're looking for examples of ways our trusted institutions have proven untrustworthy, there's just an embarrassment of riches.

It's an easy spectator sport, finding flaws and exaggerating failings of what passes for national leadership.  It's far more difficult for many of us to weigh in on local matters, because we know these people.  They're our friends and neighbors; we socialize with them, work with them, go to church with them.  From the head of the Chamber to many of the politicians who received those checks, to a person, I have had and still have an overall high opinion of them as decent humans in difficult jobs.  I know some of the owners of those LLCs -- went to school with them or their siblings.  Know some of the reporters, too, through my church and other activities.  We have friends on the Horry County Police Department, and I know them to be decent people dedicated to their jobs and their families.  I want to continue to believe the best about all of these people, and wish they'd all make it a little easier for me to do so.

Okay, so here's what I want to say to the candidates for the District 7 seat.

Best wishes to all of you, and congratulations on your desire to serve.  We'll be sending one of you to Washington, which from here feels a lot like sending Pinocchio off with Honest John to Pleasure Island, a place where even the best of you will be tempted by the deference accorded you, the power handed you, the attention paid you, and the goodies being foisted on you -- all for the ultimate goal of turning you into another donkey enslaved by your own desires.

Be trustworthy.  Please.  We not only want to trust you; we need to trust you.  That lack of trust in our institutions is at bottom what is tearing us apart, far beyond temporary economic or political differences. 

Remember, please, that there's a reason the Bible says to avoid even the appearance of evil.  Remember, also, that character is what you do when you think nobody is looking.  If you mess up, fess up, and move on -- we'll let you.  If new information causes you to change your mind about a position, just explain it to us.  It's not a flipflop; it's good stewardship of the position you're entrusted with.  And keep your britches on.

Go do whatever it is you feel led to do, in service to those who sent you there -- and by that, I mean your constituents, not your big campaign donors, not lobbyists or PACs or special interest groups.  Us.  We're your special interest group. 

There will always be those ready to attack everything you do or say as craven, corrupt, or a flat out lie, but you already know that.  For most of us, we expect you to be human, to sometimes do things we disagree with.  But if we feel we can trust your good intentions, and we can see your actions matching those good intentions, we'll give you a lot of leeway and a good deal of support.  What we are less likely to be patient with is a "defense" which tries to deflect attention by denial, and then by highlighting and exaggerating someone else's ethical lapses.  There's far too much of that already, from all sides, and we're getting a little tired of it.

Take Jiminy Cricket with you, and Godspeed.              

Local governments operating  under a real cloud of suspicion.  It's doubtful you'd find anyone who believes North Myrtle Beach government or police department has been operating in a completely transparent way, or who completely trusts the government of Surfside.  In Myrtle Beach, there are layers and layers of questionable issues, not least of which is the presumed link between sequential checks bundled by the Chamber and distributed to local politicians who supported the unpopular Ad Tax.  And then the ludicrous game playing, in response to a reporter's request for information, of the document dump in a hot warehouse where the Chipmunk Christmas Song played repeatedly.  At some point, even those of us who know many of the players and like them -- who want to trust them -- have to concede that there's a real image problem, even if no existing laws were broken.

But who do you call?  Out of the blue arise questions about the Horry County Police Department, which again would be easy to dismiss if there hadn't been so many officers arrested for various infractions over the past couple of years.  The Highway Patrol?  They're operating under a cloud as well, though it may be confined only to their current director.  Then we've got a new SLED chief coming in, after the last one publically rejected our Governess's memo instructing him on how to handle his budget.     

And speaking of the Governess, the lady who campaigned on transparency has been a wee bit of a disappointment in that regard, what with the latest kerfuffle regarding deleted emails -- which is a shame, since those emails might have given some idea of her reasoning behind pushing the sudden reversal of a DHEC decision on a Georgia port.

Of course, Eric Holder's memo that government agencies are allowed to respond to inconvenient FOIA requests "as if the excluded documents did not exist" probably renders objections to either the email deletions or the Chipmunk Christmas Song irrelevant. 

Okay, so we throw the bums out.  This is America, right?  Except in Atlantic Beach, apparently, where the clear and blatant election issues are not only exponentially more egregious than whatever concerns were raised about a south Myrtle Beach polling station, but make Chicago's old political players look like rank amateurs. 

There's Fast and Furious, and Holder's obvious lie characterized as just careless, and ignored.  Probably got that tactic from Geitner, the guy in charge of the Treasury, who also said the issues with his income taxes were just careless -- and escaped even paying the penalty.  The response to whether members of congress are engaging in "legal" insider trading is simply to deny that it happens -- when there's an actual sub-industry which has grown around gathering information in Washington to use in playing the stock market. 

The Open Secrets website details just how much industry money is flowing to whom, and you can track votes on bills using that information.  And in fact, when you look at all the banking money in all the campaigns, we're really left wondering if that has anything to do with the fact that there are almost no investigations or prosecutions of any of the people who violated SEC and other regulations.  The S&L meltdown in the 1990s cost just under $88 billion, and resulted in charges against 992 defendants, with 723 convictions.  By comparison, the cost of the banking meltdown of this decade can't even be calculated yet, with admitted violations of law -- and who's been charged?  Anybody? 

Local, state, or national, if you're looking for examples of ways our trusted institutions have proven untrustworthy, there's just an embarrassment of riches.

It's an easy spectator sport, finding flaws and exaggerating failings of what passes for national leadership.  It's far more difficult for many of us to weigh in on local matters, because we know these people.  They're our friends and neighbors; we socialize with them, work with them, go to church with them.  From the head of the Chamber to many of the politicians who received those checks, to a person, I have had and still have an overall high opinion of them as decent humans in difficult jobs.  I know some of the owners of those LLCs -- went to school with them or their siblings.  Know some of the reporters, too, through my church and other activities.  We have friends on the Horry County Police Department, and I know them to be decent people dedicated to their jobs and their families.  I want to continue to believe the best about all of these people, and wish they'd all make it a little easier for me to do so.

Okay, so here's what I want to say to the candidates for the District 7 seat.

Best wishes to all of you, and congratulations on your desire to serve.  We'll be sending one of you to Washington, which from here feels a lot like sending Pinocchio off with Honest John to Pleasure Island, a place where even the best of you will be tempted by the deference accorded you, the power handed you, the attention paid you, and the goodies being foisted on you -- all for the ultimate goal of turning you into another donkey enslaved by your own desires.

Be trustworthy.  Please.  We not only want to trust you; we need to trust you.  That lack of trust in our institutions is at bottom what is tearing us apart, far beyond temporary economic or political differences. 

Remember, please, that there's a reason the Bible says to avoid even the appearance of evil.  Remember, also, that character is what you do when you think nobody is looking.  If you mess up, fess up, and move on -- we'll let you.  If new information causes you to change your mind about a position, just explain it to us.  It's not a flipflop; it's good stewardship of the position you're entrusted with.  And keep your britches on.

Go do whatever it is you feel led to do, in service to those who sent you there -- and by that, I mean your constituents, not your big campaign donors, not lobbyists or PACs or special interest groups.  Us.  We're your special interest group. 

There will always be those ready to attack everything you do or say as craven, corrupt, or a flat out lie, but you already know that.  For most of us, we expect you to be human, to sometimes do things we disagree with.  But if we feel we can trust your good intentions, and we can see your actions matching those good intentions, we'll give you a lot of leeway and a good deal of support.  What we are less likely to be patient with is a "defense" which tries to deflect attention by denial, and then by highlighting and exaggerating someone else's ethical lapses.  There's far too much of that already, from all sides, and we're getting a little tired of it.

Take Jiminy Cricket with you, and Godspeed.