Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990 TAG: 9007060626
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAXTON DAVIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She was speaking immediately of the savings-and-loan scandal sweeping the nation. But she made it clear that her question, however rhetorical, was aimed at the whole spectrum of scandals, in both government and the so-called "private sector," now threatening to inundate what now seems to be every institution in the United States.
Examples, of course, abound:
The scandal of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The inside-trading scandals, last year, this year and evidently in every year to come until we become outraged enough to halt them, on Walt Street and in business generally.
The ethical charges - involving misuse of public monies and deceptive practices to conceal it - against Sen. David Durrenberger.
Nearly identical charges - which led very properly to his downfall - against House Speaker Jim Wright.
Iran-Contra, the complexity of which - and the number and rank of those involved - make it unlikely that we will ever learn the whole truth about a sordid attempt to circumvent constitutional limits on presidential power.
Watergate, which never goes away entirely.
The drug charges against Washington Mayor Marion Barry.
The sexual peccadillos of Gary Hart.
The scandals that never left the regime of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, whose death in office failed to clear the air.
The fraud and sexual misbehavior that put Jim Bakker in prison.
The near-downfall of Jimmy Swaggart.
That scandals have always gone with politics and high-rolling American business does not diminish the obvious fact that since 1980 they have increased in number at every level - or that few accused of them have ever done better than deny them and claim, unconvincingly, that, in the language that has become a cliche in its own right, they "did nothing wrong."
Now comes Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, whose high-flying gallivanting around the nation since his inauguration in January has already raised a lot of eyebrows.
Wilder last week was accused of using the State Police helicopter at his disposal not only for the official business of his office but - extensively - for personal purposes.
Logs of helicopter use show that Wilder has made at least 18 helicopter trips that did not appear on his public schedule and whose purpose he will not disclose. Ancillary sources report, however, that a number of those flights were to the Albemarle County estate of John and Patricia Kluge, the latter of whom - separated for two months from her husband - accompanied Wilder to Camp Pendleton, the state's gubernatorial retreat at Virginia Beach, and elsewhere.
The Kluges, said to be the world's richest people, were generous contributors to Wilder's gubernatorial campaign last year. Wilder appointed her to the board of the University of Virginia this spring. Rumors of a romance between the two have been circulating for months.
But what does Wilder do when confronted with the evidence that he used state vehicles for personal purposes? He stonewalls - claiming his private life is his business, that the helicopter logs "speak for themselves."
Indeed they do; as does the fact that Wilder has not yet repaid the state for the unauthorized flights - around $20,000 - or admitted even to the appearance of wrongdoing. And all of this at a time when, by Wilder's own acknowledgment, state revenues are precariously short.
No doubt Wilder has a right to protect his private life. But when he mixes public and private as casually as he obviously has, he loses that protection. It used to be said that "a public office is a public trust." In 1990, one wonders. And no one at any level shows even a remnant of shame at dishonoring public office.
by CNB