Abramoff and Sudbø

Two dishonest and unethical people have entered my radar lately:

• Jack Abramoff, the "lobbyist" who - apparently in a pretty unconstrained fashion - traded in money for influence in Washington, happily lying and deceiving along the way.
• Jon Sudbø, the "scientist" who invented patient records, lied about his qualifications, and heaven knows did what else to promote his medical career.

Abramoff, it turns out, is a professed "Orthodox Jew," which prompted Jon Stewart to comment - with rather less humor than usual - that at least we know that he was a crook only six days a week. Sudbø is of course Norwegian, so there it is: two people I really want to disassociate myself with lest my random association (through religion and nationality) with them allow people to infer that I condone what they did.

What they both have in common (aside from their connection to me) is that they both tried to get around a process we as individuals count on to protect ourselves. It wasn't just that they cheated; it's also that their deceit hurt innocent, trusting people; and reduced our confidence in the political and scientific processes.

There's a cynic in me that says "what else is new?" We all know that politicians all too often are influenced by things that shouldn't influence them, and that some scientists sometimes let their ambition get the better of their ethics. But then I shouldn't let the cynic in me get in the way of necessary idealism and justified outrage.

So here's what I think: We should stop accepting it at face value when politicians and scientists (and other groups) insist that we should take them at their word - that they have a right to be offended when we question them. These are people who enjoy the public trust, and they should never take it for granted - they have to earn it and keep earning it, and they should welcome scrutinty and skepticism that keeps the trust alive.

(In turn, we should also accept that nobody is perfect - nobody's record is above suspicion, after all, so they if we're going to constantly ask tough questions we have to accept that some will not be answered to our full satisfaction. We should not be the ogre to their self-righteousness, either).

Comments

[Franko]

Nice to see so many posts!