Thank heavens Marquette is now part of a research agreement to study possible treatments for schizophrenia, because I think the world might be going crazy.
Exibit A: Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to accept Obama's Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner, even after they'd learned that he had been delinquent roughly $34,000 on his taxes in the last decade. He did pay back everything plus interest, saying it was an honest mistake, but something tells me that if paying tuition this year slipped my mind, Marquette wouldn't be making me vice president of finance any time soon.
As top candidates for political seats are increasingly granted clemency for past blunders and lack of experience, my own resume is suddenly beginning to look stronger and stronger.
Profs and career counselors really beat it into us journalism majors that if we're looking for a job or internship, our applications cannot have a single grammatical error or typo. Why? Because it's our job to use correct grammar and spelling, and if we can't do it off the job then there's no guarantee we can do it on the job. Apparently, when applying for the most important financial position in the United States, the office which oversees the Internal Revenue Service, you are not required to demonstrate meticulous attention to detail — or the law for that matter.
I would forgive it seeing how Geithner was an international employee with a complicated tax process, but the organization he worked for paid him extra to compensate for his taxes!
Nimrod Blagojevich is a given in the incompetency arena. He's been doing a circus tour of news and talk show appearances rather than defending himself at his impeachment proceedings. As if it weren't enough to keep quoting cheesy literature and comparing himself to great peacemakers, including Martin Luther King and Gandhi, he said he had considered appointing Oprah Winfrey for the Senate seat now occupied by Roland Burris (who, out of decency, should have declined the governor's appointment and waited until after the impeachment trial had reached a verdict).
His appearance on ABC News could have easily been mistaken for a Saturday Night Live parody. Anchorwoman Cynthia McFadden was bleeped multiple times reading quotes transcribed from the FBI wiretaps. My favorite part went like this:
McFadden: So, this kind of talk would be OK, as long as you didn't act on it is that what you're saying?
Blago: That's a question you should ask lawyers.
McFadden: I'm asking you, you're a lawyer.
Ouch, burn!
The "Deny, deny, deny" strategy can't keep him in office, even he admits to that, but it can help protect him somewhat from the inevitable criminal trial, and if things go his way, he may still have a political career in the near future.
Actually, he's proved himself to be a master of spin. If he were hired as a lobbyist or PR consultant, at least he could boast oodles of experience.
Certainly the world is not yet doomed to insanity. But those MU researchers better hurry up with their tests, because I'm pretty sure the pandemic is getting worse — there have been 4 million Snuggies sold since August 2008.