The TV show "Hogan's Heroes" is long gone. Today, nearly all that remains of that old comedy is the memory of Sergeant Schultz, the befuddled prison guard who repeatedly discovered the prisoners of war doing things against the rules and who then announced "I see nothing! I hear nothing!" or some variant of those phrases. Obviously, Schultz saw and heard everything. He just denied the reality. Sadly, Schultz's methodology is now being used by a series of politicians. Obviously, the best example is president Obama, but today I want to focus on an example right here in Connecticut.
Governor Dan Malloy is the latest to use the Sgt. Schultz playbook. Malloy has a multimillion dollar home in the waterfront area of Stamford. Malloy used to be mayor of that city. Last weekend, it was reported that landscaping at the Malloy home was being done by Stamford city employees using trucks and tools owned by the city. Get that? The governor is having his home cared for by the city workers. When confronted with the evidence of this arrangement, Malloy tried the Sgt. Schultz defense. Malloy first said that he had no contract for any such work. (One might wonder what sort of politician would have a written contract for this sort of work.) Malloy then said, when pressed, that he had gotten a bill for the work. Okay, so there was no contract, but a bill was presented? Seems a bit strange. What will happen next? Will we hear that city workers are painting the place without request and then presenting a bill? Maybe the city workers will replace the roof on their own and then present a bill?
The truth is that Malloy appears to have been caught using his office for personal gain. Malloy should remember that Hogan's Heroes is off the air, and no one wants to see reruns.
Governor Dan Malloy is the latest to use the Sgt. Schultz playbook. Malloy has a multimillion dollar home in the waterfront area of Stamford. Malloy used to be mayor of that city. Last weekend, it was reported that landscaping at the Malloy home was being done by Stamford city employees using trucks and tools owned by the city. Get that? The governor is having his home cared for by the city workers. When confronted with the evidence of this arrangement, Malloy tried the Sgt. Schultz defense. Malloy first said that he had no contract for any such work. (One might wonder what sort of politician would have a written contract for this sort of work.) Malloy then said, when pressed, that he had gotten a bill for the work. Okay, so there was no contract, but a bill was presented? Seems a bit strange. What will happen next? Will we hear that city workers are painting the place without request and then presenting a bill? Maybe the city workers will replace the roof on their own and then present a bill?
The truth is that Malloy appears to have been caught using his office for personal gain. Malloy should remember that Hogan's Heroes is off the air, and no one wants to see reruns.
No comments:
Post a Comment