The world is watching the Geithner scandal

I am worried about the nation.

The pending appointment of a person to a position of authority in the new administration, who has questionable personal bookkeeping skills and a cloudy memory for paying taxes, is cause for grave concern in its own right. The citizen -voter-taxpayers might object to such behavior especially at a time when Treasury affairs demand high scrutiny.

What is worse, far worse, is the appointing authority's willingness to forgive the indiscretion. That will not be overlooked by foreign heads of state that might challenge the authority of the new commander of our armed forces.

All experience goes to prove that the effective leader must be pitiless toward the disloyal, the careless, and the idle. The sense of belonging to a picked team is soon lost in an organization where those of questionable behavior are still included.

Any serious student of history knows that the element of fear is vital to authority and enters largely into the atmosphere of leadership. There are leaders who are loved as well as admired but that does not mean that they have never been ruthless. As their authority comes to be firmly established they may have less need to inspire fear but it was always an element in their previous career.