Iran-Contra revisited and Felons in the government

During the 80's I tried to pay attention to politics, but I have to admit, I got a bit lost trying to understand the whole Iran-Contra affair. Today's Guardian offers a good overview of what Iran-Contra was about and who the main players were. What's frightening is how many of these names have shown up in Bush's cabinet and administration.

I do have to disagree with one comment the author makes. He says that "[i]t would be wrong to argue that convicted felons should not get a second chance." While I agree that felons should be able to continue on in most ways with their lives once they've paid their debt to society, I don't think that they should be allowed into government service. These are people who've already shown that they have little regard for the public by committing the crime they were convicted of. Why, then, should they be allowed into position of trust where they are supposed to serve the public?

I think this is a particlarly valid question when the felony in question was commited while a person was in government service, and especially if they used their government position in the commission of their crime. I would even consider extending such a prohibition to people who admit to have committing crimes for which they would receive a felony conviction, but are immune from prosecution due to immunity deals, though it is possible that such a rule might make some criminals less likely to testify against their co-conspirators. Those situation might have to be decided on a case-by-case business.

The main point, though, is that once a person has shown that they are willing to commit crimes against the public, violating oaths to uphold the Constitution and breaking laws that help define who and what America is as a nation, there's no reason to trust them to do otherwise in the future. It's axiomatic that power corrupts. Power, itself, provides any temptations. Someone who has fallen for it's siren's call once is likely to do so again. They shouldn't get a second bite at that apple.