Here is my Sunday column …
Eric Sevareid, the late, great newsman for CBS, many years ago coined this astute phrase: “the crimes of the shameless.”
It seems that America in the 21st century is inundated with shameless behavior, whether criminal or unethical or simply despicable. Respect is now something that’s become so vulgarly twisted that it only applies among inner-city gang-bangers. If you “dis”-respect them, you risk being fatally shot.
But the overall lack of American integrity has worked its way to the top of the corporate ladder, the halls of Congress, and the pinnacle of big-time athletics. This past week has put this national trend toward dishonor and disrepute front and center for the whole country to see.
From Happy Valley to the presidential campaign trail, from Dover Air Force Base and Wall Street to the polling places of Ohio, we’ve seen an ugly portrait of America.
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, perhaps the most beloved figure in college sports, was fired for his role in the cover-up of alleged sexual abuse of young boys by his longtime assistant, Jerry Sandusky.
Paterno’s behavior — and that of others at the university — represented a conscious decision to put the football program above the law, and above the well-being of the kids in Sandusky’s “program” for troubled youth.
As alarming as that side of this sordid story is, it’s truly alarming to realize that those involved in this whitewash were trying to protect their brand, Penn State football, an $80 million cash cow. The student riots over Paterno’s firing, and the threats aimed at some of those involved in tarnishing the university, just add to the pall this episode casts over America and our misplaced priorities.
No integrity there.
Meanwhile, at Dover Air Force Base, sacred ground for the military and the main entry point for the nation’s war dead, it was reported that officials running the mortuary knew they had lost body parts of servicemen killed in Afghanistan but did nothing to correct the sloppy practices.
It was later discovered that some body parts had been incinerated and the ashes were dumped into a landfill.
This disgraceful disregard for our military dead was covered up until whistleblowers at the Delaware base went outside the chain of command after supervisors failed to address the problems and retaliated against them.
How is that these Air Force members could be so callous, so treacherous, in treating their own — and our own — American heroes?
No integrity there.
On Wall Street, while most of the crooks responsible for the nation’s 2008-09 financial meltdown still roam the halls of our “too big to fail” banks, one corporate gangster, former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, is heading to prison where he will promptly receive a kidney transplant at a cost to taxpayers of $300,000.
For illegally pocketing tens of millions of dollars, Rajaratnam was found guilty on all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud and sentenced to 11 years in prison. That is the longest prison sentence ever handed out for insider trading. His monetary punishment was finalized on Friday — a total of $156 million in fines, civil penalties and restitution.
But here’s the rest of the story. Rajaratnam is or was reportedly worth up to $1.5 billion. So, the fine is not much of a punishment. In addition, he succeeded, through his lawyer, in getting sent to a federal white-collar prison known for its quality health care, particularly its treatment of those with kidney failure.
So, the shameless Rajaratnam will bypass some of the 80,000 patients on the nation’s waiting list for kidney transplants and he will not have to spend any of his fortune to pay for his medical care. Even his fines will not be applied toward the surgery and recovery.
No integrity there.
Presidential candidate Herman Cain’s alleged sexual behavior has generated a small fraction of the outrage sparked by the Penn State football program, though he is seeking the highest office in the land. Cain is aggressively fighting back against his accusers who say he sexually harassed them years ago while Cain headed up the National Restaurant Association.
The latest women to come forward may have their own disreputable motives, but that doesn’t bury the fact that Cain repeatedly lied on the day the story broke about two cash settlements paid by the Restaurant Association in order to bury claims of sexual misbehavior by Cain.
The Republican frontrunner denied the allegations, then said he didn’t recall any settlements, then said he remembered at least one “agreement,” but none of the details. It’s inconceivable that an executive would fail to remember all — then later most — of the details about the seedy behavior he was accused of, especially when he was the CEO who ultimately was responsible for making the payments and settlements.
As one TV commentator dead-panned: “A normal person does not forget something like that.”
No integrity there.
Yet, at the Oakland University debate, the rabid GOP partisans in the crowd booed when Cain was asked about his personal character. The angry crowd reaction seemed to soften Mitt Romney’s response to a follow-up question and steer the direction of the CNBC debate.
Overall, the lack of American integrity ranges from the disturbing to the absurd.
On Election Day last week in Cleveland, a poll worker who is entrusted with keeping elections clean got into a dispute at a polling place, assaulted a voter and tried to bite his nose off.
No need to point out that there was no integrity there.
In America in 2011 is there integrity anywhere?
Chad Selweski can be reached at chad.selweski@macombdaily.com.
