[ale] OT: Well it is going to hit the list sooner or later.

[Jonathan Rickman]

> The Alabama Department of Transportation is a public 
> government department and is beholden to the taxpayers via 
> the elected administration via the upper management of the 
> civil service down to the worker bees of the department.  If 
> the good taxpayers don't do anything then bad things will 
> happen ... or to plagiarize Mr. Franklin "Those who sacrifice 
> honest government for convenience deserve neither cheaper, 
> efficient, and honest government or the convenience of not 
> having to ride herd on it.  The latter job is actually the 
> job of the press - and that is why the Founding Fathers gave 
> them so much freedom.  They were supposed to act as a check 
> upon the government.  Something they have abandoned to sell 
> papers instead.


Greg brings up a good point. This being a government entity does color
things a bit differently. If I honestly believed that this guy was a
taxpayer champion then I might be inclined to cut him a little slack.
However, this particular incident and it's egregious violations of
ethics...not to mention that it is flirting with a violation of federal law,
doesn't strike me as an example of a taxpayer trying to do the right thing.
This smacks of a disgruntled employee seeking retribution for some perceived
wrong. There are several obvious lessons one can take away from this
incident, but going into detail describing them will probably waste the time
of such an intelligent group as this as I'm sure 99% have already picked up
on the more ironic twists of the story.

--
Jonathan