auditcongress.com

The current lack of trust in the elected and appointed public officials of America is obvious to all. Congressional approval ratings are at an historic low. Few indeed are those who think our Senators and Representatives are honest. If one is to truly appreciate the position we find ourselves in today, we might look to the past for guidance.  After all, how to keep those in positions of power honest is not a new issue. John Dalberg-Acton (Lord Acton) said, in 1877:

"I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. “

Lord Acton made this comment in the context of Pope Pius IX's promotion of the dogma of papal infallibility. This doctrine stated that the Pope was always right, and could do no wrong. Lord Acton states bluntly that we should be suspicious of those to whom we give power, as it is likely that it will corrupt anyone in high office!

Lord Acton continues:

“Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. "

It is natural to many to place trust in those who are in high office, but that is a mistake. We seem to be placing misplaced trust in our leadership.

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If we look even further back, the Romans dealt with these issues almost 2000 years ago:

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, variously translated as "Who watches the watchmen?", "Who watches the watchers?", "Who will guard the guards?", "Who shall watch the watchers themselves?",

Indeed.  Who will watch the Senators?

We’ll talk more about what has been tried in the past, in the hope that it may guide us now.