Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Interesting argument on the backside of NM Watchdog.

Jim Scarantino has pointed to another batch of "errors" in the dispersion of billions and billions of tax dollars, link.

A reader has taken him to task for not digging to the bottom of the story; suggesting that Scarantino, before reporting on the smoke, needs to find the fire.

Is it really the responsibility of the least powerful, to hold the most powerful accountable? It isn't like Scarantino can just hit a button and find the truth. It isn't like he can ask any legitimate question of a politician or public servant, and then expect a candid, forthright, and honest answer.

In practice, finding the truth in government is rarely straightforward. It often requires filing suit in order to retrieve information hidden for no real justification at all.

Count me among those who believe, if a citizen points to a problem in government; any incompetence or corruption, it is the responsibility of government to dig to the bottom of the problem and report the truth to stakeholders, and not the responsibility of the citizen to play against a deck stacked in favor of those with something to hide, if only their own incompetence.

Jim Scarantino claims to be a "watch dog".
Yet there are those who would have him held accountable
for not being a "guard dog".

Both guard dogs and watch dogs bark to alert their owners of an intruder's presence and scare away the intruder. The watch dog's function ends here; a guard dog is capable of attacking or restraining the intruder. link

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