State of Cape Cod

As the Song Goes, Don't Blame Me

“The federal indictment of former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi — the latest, if convicted, in a long line of elected servants who have violated the public trust — is an indictment of every one of us…”

So began the lead editorial in the Saturday, June 13, 2009 issue of the Cape Cod Times. Well, Times, if you want to accept a share of the blame for the alleged misdeeds of Mr. DiMasi, or any other politician, then beat your breast all you like. Most of the rest of us will plead not guilty, thank you.

Not that there isn’t plenty of blame to go around, but in the end there is still, or should be, something called personal accountability. So Mr. DiMasi must face his tribulations on his own despite what we may presume are the well intentioned efforts of our local media to mitigate his responsibility. So, while no one else is truly responsible for the misdeeds of another, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that we, the voters of Massachusetts, are guilty of placing them, and keeping them, in temptations orbit.

There are many examples of instances where the legislature, our alleged representatives, were sent clear and distinct messages from the voters, and wilfully ignored them. Here are a few, in no particular order.

There is the overwhelming vote to roll back the state income tax to 5%. If you recall, Mr. Dukakis, noted tank commander, raised it as a temporary measure. Here is a direct quote from devalpatrick.com: “In 2000 the voters of the Commonwealth voted to roll-back the income tax to 5%, the level of taxation prior to Mike Dukakis' "temporary" increase. The legislature has not allowed this to happen. “

Were all, or any one, of those legislators who blocked the will of the voters sent packing at the next election? Not on your life. Or, if a few were replaced, you can rest assured it was by someone who takes orders from the same party leaders.

Of course, the more recent gay marriage fiasco is fresh in our minds. Everyone who circumvented our opportunity to vote on the issue should have been summarily impeached, let alone voted out of office at the next election. And what happened to the death penalty? Did the legislators who voted it down no less than three times in a five year span get voted out? You know better.

Then there are our own local pols, Mr. O’Leary and Mr. Turner, who voted to Keep Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day as holidays for a select few, and then offered weak explanations for doing so. Do you think there will be a hue and cry to unseat them when the time comes?

The editorial makes a number of accusations which are supposed to illustrate our culpability for official corruption. This is a palpably naive attempt to prove a point which, while idealistically appealing, has no basis in reality. Discussing each and every one of these blame-boosters would be an exercise in futility: a look at a representative few, however, might be enlightening. Here are those of us who the paper claims are responsible for official corruption, along with some opinions on this conclusion.

“those of us who fail to vote and wonder why there is little accountability.” There are several things wrong with this way of thinking. For one thing, we have the right to vote, not an obligation to vote. For another, by not voting we are, in fact, still expressing an opinion. Abstaining is, in a real sense, a vote. Don't legislators do it all the time? Perhaps neither candidate appeals to us. Why should anyone be forced to choose between two people he dislikes? Maybe some voters genuinely don’t care who wins. Voting just to cast a ballot accomplishes nothing for the country, and could skew the results. Most importantly, there are some people who honestly don’t know much about the candidates and feel unqualified to make an intelligent choice. These people should be praised for not voting.

“Those of us in school departments who hire a friend over a more qualified applicant;” or “Those of us in town government who treat a friend more favorably than another citizen;” Isn’t this what Affirmative Action is all about? Haven’t we been told that this is a good thing? Doesn’t the Cape Cod Times support Affirmative Action? The Supreme Court does.

“The next time you get disgusted about how our government works, and want to find the source of the problem, take a look in the mirror.”  What we ought to do is, next time we get disgusted about how government works, check through back issues of the newspaper in the candidates' districts and see if the official(s) in question were backed by that editor. Then we'd know where a share of the blame really lies.

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