[lit-ideas] Re: Scrushy and the King of Arkansas

  • From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 18:42:09 -0500

David Ritchie wrote:

"The drafting difficulty: as I read their sentence, conflicts of
interest, which usually exist in one of two contradictory modes of
being--real or merely perceived--but which can also be simultaneously
real and perceived, here exist as things that are perceived but only
sometimes real."

Again, I don't see the problem.  If the conflicts are real but not
perceived, there isn't anything one can do.  It seems to me the concern
for administration lies primarily in perceptions of conflicts of
interest, and secondarily in the question of whether there is any
validity.  I don't want to appear to be giving David a hard time.  It
seems to me that the statement addresses the problem, the perceptions of
conflicts of interest, with all the appropriate nods that living in a pc
culture requires.  That is, I don't think the muck up lies in the
statement but in a culture that requires such a statement.  Since it is
aimed at addressing sensitivities rather than practical problems, I
don't see why the statement should be particularly practical in
application.  Surely it is effective if it appears to acknowledge
problems of conflicts of interest?

As to David's Clinton anecdote from another post in this thread, I
thought it quite humorous.


Sincerely,

Phil Enns
Toronto, ON

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