Shoplifting and Tapdancing

A Parable

One day little Armstrong was standing outside a grocery store, and he was a-hankering for a candy bar. So he snuck in quietly and grabbed one when the shop clerk wasn't looking. It was easy. So he did it a bunch more times until one day the shop clerk caught him in the act. Poor little Armstrong was so sad.

Luckily little Armstrong's friend Jonah was walking by. Jonah ran into the store and immediately chastised little Armstrong, but then he turned to the Shopkeeper. "Mr. Shopkeeper, I don't know why you are making a big deal about this. Poor little Armstrong walked out with a candy bar, but I've seen lots of boys do that. Why just the other day I saw little Jesse walking out with a candy bar. And Paul, I saw him enjoying a candybar on his way out of the store too."

The Shopkeeper shrugged and said, "Yes but Jonah, both Jesse and Paul bought their candy bars. Little Armstrong didn't."

Jonah shrugged back and said, "I still you should let Little Armstrong off."

The preceding parable was inspired by Jonah Goldberg's latest article, in which he defends Armstrong Williams by suggesting that the fact that Jesse Jackson and Paul Begala have appeared on the air somehow negates Williams' dishonesty. The difference, of course, is that Begala and Jackson haven't hid their "conflicts of interest." They are open for all to see. Armstrong didn't let people know he was being paid to express a certain point of view, because to do so would have eliminated his utility for the administration.