Our founding fathers, in particular James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, designed our government, not to appeal to the better nature of their fellow man, but to take in to account the self-centered, rationalizing, worst in each of us. Federalist Paper 51 (James Madison) is devoted to this subject - that we are not angels.
What does this mean? It means we are a government of men (meant gender neutrally). Those in government are imperfect human beings where even at our best will make mistakes and at our worst will govern for maximum personal advantage.
Like so many things in life, this means we get the lowest common denominator. Yes many in government try to do a good job, and some strive for excellence. But there is much to be gained for those who will turn the system to their advantage. And so we also get those who corrupt for their personal gain. And many others who cut a few corners for some advantage.
So what stops the system from degenerating into a total mess? First the many people in government who do a good job. That is the foundation. Second is the voters who demand a given level of competency and integrity. When it gets too bad (ie G.W. Bush) the voters finally say enough and throw the rascals out.
But the voters differ from location to location. Voters in New Jersey and Louisiana accept behavior that, here in Colorado, leads to resignation or at a minimum the end of a political career. The voters are the final arbitrators of how good a government we will have.
This is why the Crystal Gray issue matters. Will we accept a politician who defrauded her employer (which without a rebuttal from Crystal is the assumption most of us are making)? If we leave Crystal in office, then we have lowered the acceptable level for the political class here in Boulder.
Congrats to Suzy Ageton for trying to address this. The other 7 council members took the easy way out and accepted the degradation of our acceptable level of political behavior. A political system does not become corrupt in 1 day. It is a myriad of little steps and this is an additional step in that direction.
The worst part of how this has played out is the political elite has closed ranks around Crystal to protect her and say her behavior was fine. This sets the precedent that if you are part of the political elite, your actions are above reproach (ie McLean/Stevens).
If 10 years from now Boulder is facing the same corruption issues that have so recently dogged Jefferson County, then Richard Polk, McLean/Stevens, and Crystal Gray will be viewed as the initial steps on that long road to a debased political sphere.
My hope is the voters of Boulder will bring enough pressure to bear to, if not force Crystal off the council, to have the council censure her and remove her as deputy mayor. I'm an optimist and I believe in the ability of the voters to act when it matters.
But we will have to wait and see...
