This has been coming for awhile. Yesterday Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus—the wife of Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz—wrote a critical column on the ethical troubles of House Democrats Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters:
I’m certainly not suggesting that most lawmakers are as heedless of ethics rules as Rangel and Waters appear to have been — although many members of the public appear disposed to believe so, and the seemingly endless stream of ethics revelations reinforces this misperception.
But there is something in the congressional atmosphere of compliant aides and fawning courtiers that enables and encourages their sense of ordinary-rules-don’t-apply-to-me entitlement.
Marcus likes to take shots at the shortcomings of government officials, which I certainly welcome. But there’s the nagging hypocrisy of her own husband’s career. You see, before his elevation to the exalted, omnipotent status of FTC commissioner, Jon Leibowitz was himself a “compliant aide and fawning courtier” to the Senate Democratic leadership, notably Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin. Leibowitz spent fourteen years as a Senate staff lawyer, which he parlayed into an FTC appointment. Compared to his four immediate predecessors as FTC chairman, Leibowitz was woefully under-qualified for the job. But he had powerful political patrons, so talent and experience were secondary concerns. Being a fawning courtier has its benefits.
Anyhow, I sent Marcus an email challenging her hypocrisy. Amazingly, she took the bait and replied:
My husband is a hard-working, dedicated public servant. He has spent all but a few years of his career in the private sector because he cares more about making good public policy than making big bucks. In my public capacity, I do not write about or participate in editorial discussions that touch on FTC-related matters. In my private capacity, I could not be prouder of him and the work he has done.
At the outset, I’d note that Leibowtiz’s “few years…in the private sector” was actually a lobbyist gig at the Motion Picture Association of America. I wouldn’t call that “private sector.” More to Marcus’s point, if her husband is really isn’t in it for the money, then I assume he won’t take a high-paid law firm or consulting job when his FTC term expires next month. A hard-working, dedicated public servant would never cash-in on his office for personal gain, right?
And while it’s always heartwarming to see a wife stand by her man, given Marcus’s professional position at the Washington Post, it’s quite revealing that she “could not be prouder” of a husband who has relentlessly abused his power and violated the civil rights of American citizens. Was she proud of her husband for falsely prosecuting an 85-year-old man, illegally disclosing his private financial data, and refusing to compensate him for the FTC’s misconduct? Was she proud of him for rigging an FTC administrative proceeding against a small, non-profit hospital that resulted in the hospital losing millions in legal fees and capital investment? Was she proud of him for dragging out the Rambus litigation for seven years despite rulings from four independent tribunals that rejected the FTC’s legal theories? Really, I could go on all day.
And while Marcus talks about her “private” and “personal” capacities, I don’t see how you can separate the two. The Washington Post does not have a good track record when it comes to critical coverage of the FTC. That’s because there is no critical coverage. In the hospital case I mentioned above, one of Marcus’s colleagues on the editorial page actually aided and abetted the FTC’s illegal trial-rigging. The writer told me point-blank he would not report any details to the public that would undermine the FTC’s case. At least Leibowitz is a grateful husband, abusing his authority as FTC chairman to convene a series of hearings on how to save the Post and other traditional newspapers from competing information sources—like this website—that threaten to reduce the quantity of positive coverage the state receives.
UPDATE: Just on a lark, I researched the public records on the Leibowitzes’ home in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s a nice property valued at just under $1 million. Not too shabby for a selfless public servant earning a taxpayer salary of roughly $170,000 per year (plus benefits).
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Please tell me you emailed her this post as well.
Yes I did. Also asked the Post’s “Ombudsman” for his take.
Pointed and direct. Incisive and exasperating.
But I can imagine the snooty epithets amidst the cabernet at Cafe Milano. “They’re clueless. Just crazy right wing fascists again….” It’s deflating sometimes, to think how entrenched the bureaucracy is.
The psychotic hubris and systemic nepotism should be enough for anyone, left or right, to acknowledge the Lord Actonesque root cause. And yet, the conversation will go something like this (and it has, repeatedly for me as it has for most of you):
“Well, if there are ethics lapses, we are a nation of laws, not men. And the electorate has the last word; we can oust the corrupt ones.”
“But what’s to prevent the next one from abusing the office?”
“We’ll get rid of them too.”
“You can’t change human nature; you’re treating symptoms. You are providing the monopoly on force to other men.”
“Then have what? A free-for-all where we blow each other away like the American wild west? Or maybe Don Corleone has Luca Brazi slit your throat if you don’t pay for his protection racket?”
It’s sometimes even hard to know where to begin….
“Then have what? A free-for-all where we blow each other away like the American wild west? Or maybe Don Corleone has Luca Brazi slit your throat if you don’t pay for his protection racket?”
“The American West was the most peaceful region in all of American history. Philadelphia had more murders in a single month than the entire territory of Kansas (which had roughly the same population) did in five full years. The Mafia in America came to power and was able to obtain the resources to commit violence entirely because of government intervention called Prohibition. Even today, the Mafia is highly incapable of engaging in legitimate business and makes its money primarily on the drug trade and money laundering. Repealing alcohol prohibition did more to destroy the organized crime system in America than any police raid could ever have hoped. Legalize drugs and eliminate the fiat dollar system and the Mafia goes out of business.”
Just continuing your line of argument. It’s fun.
You forgot to add: “Speaking of the Luca Brazi treatment, which of these parties do you think will be more likely to break down my doors and point an assault rifle at me? My insurance company for refusing to pay my premiums, or the FBI for refusing to pay my taxes?”
Legalize drugs and eliminate the fiat dollar system and the Mafia goes out of business.
The Boys used to run Vegas about as good as any government could.
Used to. They got roughed up by the free market.
Franklin, don’t forget: if a damned-near-saint fully versed in the supposed law of this land comes along like Ron Paul, they will all laugh at him; never mind the thousands of “libertarians” who will reject him for being too minarchist and the scrap-feeding “Beltway Libertarian” dogs who will downright sabotage him.
That reminds me, Albert Jay Nock once prophesied Dr. Paul’s second career: [paraphrase] “a preacher trying to take over a whorehouse.”
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You get invited to a lot of parties that way, Murray? (haha)
My friends have learned to not discuss politics with me. I’ll paraphrase one of them, “I’ve given up on trying to debate him because he always wins.”
We *are* the freaks, and your friend is normal: “Reason won’t get me what I want right this minute? Take a hike Reason.”
Given the context, shouldn’t it be the pimp trying to take over the church?
I’m sorry , Seattle, maybe I’m witless this morning, I’m not getting you. I was referring to Paul’s Presidential aspirations. A pimp taking over a church is a much more logical and doable thing, of course.
Call my sense of reality skewed, but I very often find the actions of the church to be far less defensible than those of the average whorehouse. A priest taking over a whorehouse would be a bad thing.
Ah, OK, yes many priests, ministers and preachers abuse their powers of persuasion. Which Church? I did say “preacher” (which Nock trained to be, btw), which I think isn’t as sullied a word, and Nock’s meaning was in the best possible way, as far as preachers go.
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