Lying, Cheating . . . whatever

I read a couple of articles today that made my blood boil, not only because of what happened, but because I am certain that there will be absolutely no accountability imposed for lying and cheating. Exhibit 1, involving the DOJ and that miserable hack, of course, involves admitted perjury by a justice lawyer, presumably an "officer of the court." H/T HotAir. From PJMedia.

Stephanie Celandine Gyamfi, reportedly told investigators from the Inspector General’s Office that she perjured herself during an inquiry into Justice Department leaks during the previous administration. Despite the admission, she has not been fired for criminal malfeasance. Indeed, it appears she has not been disciplined in any meaningful way at all.
. . .
According to numerous sources within the Section, Ms. Gyamfi had been asked in two separate interviews whether she was involved in the leaking of confidential and privileged information out of the Voting Section. Each time, she flatly denied any knowledge as to who was responsible for the leaks. In a third interview, she was once again questioned about her role in the leaks. At first, she adamantly denied involvement. Then, however, she was confronted with e-mail documents rebutting her testimony.

And here is the kicker, and what drives me to despair. The lack of accountability.

Amazingly, despite Ms. Gyamfi’s admission of committing perjury not once, but three times, she so far has been neither terminated nor disciplined by the Justice Department. In fact, her boss, Voting Section Chief Chris Herren, continues to assign her to the most politically sensitive of matters, including the Department’s review of Texas’s congressional redistricting plan.

Mere mortal employees of the federal government, such as yours truly, would find ourselves out on our butts, our security clearances revoked and generally unemployable if we were determined to have perjured ourselves. Further, we would not even have to be convicted beyond a reasonable doubt, the mere preponderance of evidence would be necessary to get ourselves fired. But because Ms. Gyamfi's political positions are useful to this administration, jack will be done.

Exhibit 2 is even more painful, because it expressly violates the will of the voters in California. Olga Pierce and Jeff Larson have a devastating article in ProPublica titled, How Democrats Fooled California’s Redistricting Commission. The whole article is almost too much for me to take. It is such an obvious first step on the road to dictatorship that I have difficulty absorbing the article's entire contents.

In previous years, the party had used its perennial control of California’s state Legislature to draw district maps that protected Democratic incumbents. But in 2010, California voters put redistricting in the hands of a citizens’ commission where decisions would be guided by public testimony and open debate.
. . .
n the weeks that followed, party leaders came up with a plan. Working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — a national arm of the party that provides money and support to Democratic candidates — members were told to begin “strategizing about potential future district lines," according to another email.
. . .
When they appeared before the commission, those groups identified themselves as ordinary Californians and did not disclose their ties to the party. One woman who purported to represent the Asian community of the San Gabriel Valley was actually a lobbyist who grew up in rural Idaho, and lives in Sacramento.
. . .
The losers in this once-a-decade reshaping of the electoral map, experts say, were the state’s voters. The intent of the citizens’ commission was to directly link a lawmaker’s political fate to the will of his or her constituents. But as ProPublica’s review makes clear, Democratic incumbents are once again insulated from the will of the electorate.

We used to have a consensus in this country that crimes against the public trust were serious and important enough to warrant punishment, regardless of the politics of the perpetrator. If we accept that any amount of lying and chicanery is acceptable in the name of political gain, then we have surely lost our way.