WP: Recent Washington Scandals Test 'Honesty Is the Best Policy'

[kskiska]

Tuesday, April 12, 2005; Page A01

In the decades after Watergate, Washington figures in legal or political hot water heard some familiar words of wisdom:

The coverup is almost always worse than the crime. Never hunker down. Above all, never lie.

Lately, though, the evidence is mounting that this tried-and-true advice may no longer be true.

Recent evidence suggests that hunkering down can sometimes work just fine, in a political and news media environment that has changed significantly in recent years. Examples include legal controversies involving prominent Democrats as well as the Bush White House. Even people who got caught in falsehoods have resolved their cases with no apparent penalty for the deception.

(snip)

At the moment, it is House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) who is most urgently facing the classic Washington choice about how to respond to an ethics uproar.

One option commonly taken by political figures is to try to "get in front of the story" by voluntarily disclosing as much information as possible, and by projecting an aura of nondefensive cooperation with legal and media inquiries. At the other end of the spectrum is a strategy of denouncing questions as illegitimate or politically motivated, disclosing little information, and hoping the storm will pass.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44997-2005Apr11.html

[KoKo]

1. But, never once does the Mainstream Media take the blame for Bush/Iraq

Enron/Corporate Coruption or any of the rest of it. They did NOT inform..although they will tell you on page A-16 they had a small column of dissent...if you hold them against the wall on it. Forget the TV Cables...long since gone.

It's our fault...we the people. Sick of these "mea culpa's" from WaPo/NYT's etc. but the articles worth a read..thanks.