Back in the Day...

When I was a kid and this guy was riding through the gates of the city on a colt...

Our typical response, upon hearing that some official had been responsible for causing financial loss to the state, was "We go take him for firing squad!"

Oh, how times have changed. Today I'm hearing three stories:

First, the US has probably been subsidizing and arming Iraqi militias. Although someone at some point might have thought, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't just hand out guns to young Iraqi men haphazardly," this glimmer of lucidity was shortly followed by, "Nah, who cares? What's the worst that can happen?"

Second, the Interior Department has given up reducing its illegal subsidy of oil and natural gas companies. Apparently lawyers for private firms are shocked, since they're going forward in their lawsuits to call the companies to task for underpaying royalties. But the department's auditors have been ordered to stand down, even though they're confident they would win. We're looking at losses in the billions.

But finally, a great victory in the battle against corruption! Here in Ohio, the federal government has been cracking down on state errors in food stamp administration that led to losses. The state has in turn come down hard on the counties, and is requiring the counties to make up the difference. The counties agree that they should pay for their mistakes, but they wonder whether, instead of paying out of pocket, they could just have their future disbursement of food stamp money reduced by the amount of the penalty.

As we used to say, "Kalabuli Man (corrupt official)? We go cut his head!"