Another clich

Since Watergate, the conventional wisdom has been that the cover-up is worse than the crime. If only the politician would just face the music, the American people would overlook the slight transgression. Nixon would have served his entire term; Clinton wouldn’t have faced impeachment, et cetera.

Now, with the present dizzying extravaganza of scandals that is the Bush Administration, we’re hearing the same thing from the pundits glibly opining about the cover-up being the problem. But if you stop and consider, it’s no longer true. The underlying scandals are far, far worse than the cover-ups.

These transgressions richly deserve burying. They aren’t somehow improved by shining a light on them. They’re being concealed with the obvious shame and consciousness of guilt they should evoke in anyone with even the most slightly developed conscience.

Anna Monday