Editor:
Senator Duffy has been pronounced “not guilty” because his actions broke no rules that could be considered hard and fast enough to be laws. Not mentioned in the finding was that if not rules, there were at least guidelines concerning Senate expenses – guidelines that clearly showed what was intended. Even we of the great unwashed can see that they were clear enough to steer a principled person into doing the right thing. Yet in every case where an element of moral judgment was required in choosing the right thing, Duffy followed the course that best lined his own pocket.
OK, so the learned judge has found Duffy not guilty of criminal behaviour; I guess we must hold our noses and accept that. But further, the good judge delivers a gratuitous scolding to those surrounding Duffy, composed with much care and juristic erudition. In doing so, he conveys the inference that the hapless senator is lily-white and simply a victim of bad guys. That the blandishments of those bad guys found in Duffy a senator whose larcenous spirit was demonstrably already fully ripened is not mentioned. The good judge should well have delivered a parallel harsh bollocking to Duffy, but sadly, juristic insight has camouflaged that senator’s moral bankruptcy under the mantle of cold hard law.
Oh well, it’s done. The Senate has unreservedly welcomed Senator Duffy back. The fox is back in the henhouse, free of blame for the transgressions of his past. With a full five years ahead to grease his chin with impunity, we’ll see whether his larcenous appetite is back with him.
George Pratt, Halfmoon Bay
