Say your child comes to you and tells you about something he or she did wrong. Here's your conundrum. You have to take action because of the bad conduct, but if you're too strong, you're going to discourage future disclosures.
Meet our man-child du jour, Governor Mitch Daniels.
The Indiananpolis Star reports today that the Guv has pulled the plug on the IBM/ACS-led welfare system overhaul because it's an unfixable, lamentable mess. What is refreshing is that the Governor actually admitted it was a mistake.
He could have blasted IBM/ACS and said that the problem wasn't privatization of social services, but rather the vendors. He didn't. He gave the full confession and admitted the idea itself was ill-bred.
The Guv made his concession knowing blogs, both local and national, would blast him in an effort to undermine all privatization efforts and his ascendant national spotlight. (Sorry, but if he isn't running for President, he's definitely posturing for a future cabinet post or job as CEO of some conservative-led company. Nobody feeds the national media beast and takes shots at the President the way the Guv has lately without an ulterior motive).
Governor, thank you for your honesty on this issue. But at the same time, I can't give you a free pass anymore than I can my child.
How anybody who knew what transpired in Texas under IBM/ACS's lead could think privatization of social services would work in Indiana was engaging in massively self-delusional behavior that comes only from being so committed to a flawed notion that it overwhelms reason. This is the exact philosophical adherence that caused a misdirected war in Iraq (when we should have been in Afghanistan).
But at least the Governor had the courage to say, metaphorically speaking, "Yeah, there aren't any WMDs, so we're pulling out now." That makes him a step above the "never admit a mistake" president under whom he once served.
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