McMahan: "It is with sadness and regret..."

[OKCTalker]

Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan resigned today (6/16/2008) with this one-sentence letter to Governor Brad Henry:

"It is with sadness and regret that I resign my position as Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector effective immediately."

Does it bother anyone else that his only expression of regret is that his life has become a train wreck, but not that he betrayed the public's trust or cost the taxpayers of Oklahoma a bundle on his investigation, prosecution and conviction?

[BabyBoomerSooner]

It bothers me that corruption is par for the course in Oklahoma politics. I'd like to think that we're just better at finding wrong doing, but I think we're just better at committing wrongs.

[bornhere]

I don't think corruption is 'par for the course,' here or anywhere else. We notice the bad guys because they get press coverage, but there are plenty of people who do their jobs honestly and are never recognized for it.

[John]

Gary Jones was and is right...

Still can't believe that crook got elected again.

Good riddance, Jeff! Have fun in the big house!

[jsibelius]

"I am not a crook!"

[OKCTalker]

I don't think corruption is 'par for the course,' here or anywhere else. We notice the bad guys because they get press coverage, but there are plenty of people who do their jobs honestly and are never recognized for it.

Bornhere: I beg to differ. You can't turn around without reading about another elected official getting caught either breaking the law, doing something inappropriate, or giving the perception of an impropriety. I'm no saint (so don't tell me about glass houses and calling the kettle black) but when you run for public office, win and swear an oath to serve, you've accepted a higher standard of performance. Yes, the papers are full of stories about these breaches, but not printing them won't mean that the problem went away. One of last week's stories was about Christopher Ward embezzling at least $817,000 from various Republican election committees, and the investigation and new financial controls have cost an additional $900,000.

What ever happened to the principle of honorable public service? Anymore, politics seems only to attract sleazy people to a world full of money and lacking in checks & balances, and the "Mr. Smiths" who go to Washington are the exception instead of the norm.

[Prunepicker]

Does it bother anyone else that his only expression of regret is that his life has become a train wreck, but not that he betrayed the public's trust or cost the taxpayers of Oklahoma a bundle on his investigation, prosecution and conviction?

He's a democrat, right?

[Spartan]

Ladies and gentlemen, stay tuned. In the last 5 years we're seeing the collapse of the Good Ol Boy Democratic Party System in Oklahoma. Anything and everything tied to Gene Stipe, or Steve Phipps, or any of those guys - s*%t is gonna hit the fan. It will be something else.

[soonergal]

sorry you have such a limited vocabulary you have to resort to such language.