Baseball umpires don't do it. But apparently it's okay for election officials to take sides. We Americans would be in an uproar if umpires made it clear which team they were rooting for, but when officials charged with administrating fair elections actually campaign for one of the candidates we let them away with it. As a New York Times editorial points out, the American government criticizes other countries for the same ethical lapses we tolerate at home.
Katherine Harris was Florida's top election official in that state's botched presidential election in 2000. She was also the state's co-chair for the Bush-Cheney campaign. And it's not an isolated incident, according to the Times. The same conflict of interest is appearing in such battle states as Missouri and Michigan, where top election officials are also opening campaigning for Bush's re-election.
Also, a major company making new voting machines is a huge Bush contributor; its CEO has stated he is "committed" to having the president re-elected.
Not only do we ignore democratic principles at home, but also abroad. Earlier this week, the military shut down an Iraqi newspaper, charging that it was making false claims to incite the populace. Undoubtedly the newspaper is guilty as charged, but how in the world do we teach a country how a democracy works if we shut down their newspapers? Rather than minimizing the perceived threat, the decision will likely inflame the situation on the ground. The argument could be made, however, that this administration is tone deaf to such concerns and would gladly do the same thing to a domestic newspaper -- if it could. |
