A friend recently made an observation about a senior Navy officer who had a larger and nicer rental car than anyone else; it gave the appearance of special treatment. In the military even the appearance of special treatment must be avoided.

Which dovetails with the hearings last week in Washington in which a senior FBI official was questioned about his clearly partisan comments related to an ongoing investigation, and whether such comments might indicate bias against those being investigated.

Naturally, any bias was roundly denied.

But that he made the statements wasn’t denied. And that should be enough to get him “run out of town.” We will not – and we should not – accept biased comments from a policeman; so we must not accept biased comments from senior officials of the FBI.

The concept is simple: as you rise in rank, the standards against which your behavior – public and private – is compared must become more severe, not less. To put it succinctly: “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.”

Government officials, particularly law enforcement officials, the police, the FBI, the Department of Justice, have been given great authority – power – in order to enforce our laws and to protect our rights. Abuse of that power is the greatest wrong they can commit.

Remember what we’ve empowered them to protect: Our Rights. The dictionary says a right is a legal or moral entitlement. But it’s more than that. Rights are entitlements that exist apart from, and often in opposition to, government. Many things often referred to as rights are not; healthcare, housing, food, education, etc. – these are needs and wants; government can provide them only if it first takes from others – in the form of taxation or by coercion. Rights, on the other hand, come before and exist apart from government.

Thus we all have the right to say what we wish – free speech – irrespective of whatever government may want or think. We have a right to defend ourselves; we have a right to practice religion as we see fit, we have a right to life and property, etc.

These rights exist, whether government does or not. We provide government limited powers to protect these rights. Governments often infringe on rights to gain more power, justifying such actions by satisfying wants and needs. But the real goal is power. So, any hint of abuse of power, and concomitant risk to our rights – should be dealt with severely.

As for the individual questioned last week: no one has a right to serve in government. Serving in government, whether as a senior FBI agent or as a local firefighter, is a privilege. With that privilege comes power, but also a duty to adhere to not only the law, but to strict standards of behavior. And as anyone rises in rank the standards to which he is held must increase, must become more strict.

The citizenry should have no grounds to believe that those into whose hands they have placed power are abusing that power – in any way. When there’s the least hint of wrongdoing it’s well within the bounds of the citizenry, as the source of all government authority, to insist upon the dismissal of those abusing power – or even appear to be abusing power – and thereby threatening our rights.

In the military there’s a phrase which covers this: “loss of trust.” Officers can, and regularly are, relieved of command not because of any criminal activity, nor even for boorish misbehavior, but simply because their actions have resulted in their superiors losing trust in them; they’re relieved and their careers ended. It doesn’t require a finding of criminal wrongdoing, it just requires the chain of command view your behavior as inadequate or insufficient.

And that’s as it should be.

Behavior that might mean a dressing-down for a sailor or soldier, or result in censure to a junior officer, may lead to dismissal for a senior officer. Rank may have some privileges, but they must be balanced by a stern adherence to standards that are ever more demanding as rank and position increase. We should insist on the same for the FBI, the IRS and other agencies.

We’ve invested great authorities in these agencies and the men and women who run them – to protect our rights. As with Caesar’s wife, we should insist that they be above reproach.

Copyright 2018 Arrias
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