So the ladies and gentlemen of congress want to sit in judgement of Toyota. Someone should. At one time it should have been them. But since they have got themselves into the auto business, they are no longer suitable. Judgement requires a disinterested party. They no longer are one.
Of course I would never accuse the Solons in Washington of anything but the highest of motives. (Just look at Charlie Rangel.) But at the same time, I can’t help but suspect that they have a keen interest in the profits of their new auto acquisitions, enough to taint the proceedings going on with all due pomp in Washington. When a judge draws a case and realizes that he or she has an interest in one of the involved parties, that official, if he or she is at all ethical, reuses himself or herself. The opposing attorneys ask the jurors if they have an interest in the case, and if one does, excuses that juror with no objection from any involved. So now the men and women of congress, having given themselves an interest in the success of General Motors and Chrysler, have no business judging their own competition, Toyota. Their interests, however nobel at base, are questionable.
Against such a background, it is comical to watch these clowns pose as if there were no question that they could have anything other than the public interest at heart. Ultimately, however, matters are not so funny. The cruel joke is on the American people, who have had to buy General Motors and Chrysler for congress, and in doing so, have lost an impartial guardian of the public good. Now there is no one who can look out for the public welfare. Congress, of course, is so sensitive to ethics, that it has not even noticed.
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