I, like many others, can never get enough Weiner

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

Anthony Weiner is just another garden-variety scumbag with absolutely no personal integrity.

The question I would like to ask is whether we should really care about this?  That is, given the choice, would we rather have people in government who are garden-variety scumbags -- but who advocate for policies that we believe optimally serve the interests of the citizenry -- or people who have high moral character, but are incompetent at governing and/or are completely wrong-headed when it comes to public policy?

My own sense is that I'd rather have someone skim half a million from the public coffers and make decisions that save us billions than someone who is squeaky clean -- but whose incompetence undermines justice and prudence.
 

Comments

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

I'd rather have someone incompetent and honest than a good crook; that's just asking to get robbed. Waste I can deal with, corruption not so much.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

Even if the waste amounts to billions -- or the person's bad decisions cost soldiers and civilians their lives?

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

We're getting into the hypothetical zone where this conversation will become ridiculous... "Oh yeah, but what if the crook will sell the moon to the aliens huh??" It'll go nowhere. Let's put it this way; from my experience I would rather the wasters I've seen to the thieves I've seen. Waste often amounts to billions, but that's nothing compared to what corruption draws out of the system. Waste can feel democratic; ok they just stuffed up but let's agitate for better action! Corruption makes people ask what's the point, the decision has already been paid for, so I'm going disengage politically. I also think that it's a dichotomy that isn't real; is there something that suggests the corrupt are more efficient than the honest? It may often look that way but my guess is that the corrupt are just better at making themselves look good than the honest.

Many more of my countrymen and yours are dying in shitholes because of corruption than incompetence.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

I don't think this is hypothetical at all. I think it is actually quite concrete.

Waste often amounts to billions, but that's nothing compared to what corruption draws out of the system.

I would suggest that this is not universally the case in the US. My friends who work for Medicare at the state level inform that about 10% of funds are wasted because of bad policy and that another 10% or so is stolen because of inadequate governance. But nobody is skimming 20% of Medicare's budget off the top.

Many more of my countrymen and yours are dying in shitholes because of corruption than incompetence.

This might be something worth discussing. But, again, my question wasn't about whether corruption that costs blood and treasure is good. It was about the corruption we tolerate because we are experiencing good outcomes.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

What kind of incompetence would I put up with to ensure that government wasn't captured by corporate interests? Heaps. The US right now has competent government if you look at it through the lens of corporate interests. So do I want idiots working for me, or smart people working against me I'll go for the idiots.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

No, NOT THE MOON! I want my surf waves! (Which is kinda funny cos I've never touched a surf).

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

luckily we can fire people for both.

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

I can't say I entirely agree. I really honestly think Dubya believed everything he said. He was still a disaster.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

The people who put him in office did quite well out of his tenure.

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

Same here.