The only persons who should be surprised or offended that Hillary might have used her personal computer and e-mail system to conduct State Department business are those who still cling to their high-school civics class catechisms about the nature of the state and political officials. When Louis XIV declared “I am the state,” he revealed the mindset insisted upon by even the most insignificant government bureaucrat. What police officer, while brutalizing some innocent motorist or teenager, does not operate from the premise – sometimes even verbalized – that “I am the law”? People who are motivated by, and delight in, being able to enjoy the unaccountability of being able to exercise the state’s monopoly on the use of violence, will always be attracted to political systems. They intermingle the pursuit of their interests with the machinery of the state with no illusions of being “servants” of the “public.” If you doubt this, ask yourself why so many politicians have made tens of millions of dollars through their political employment. Nor ought we to forget that song from Al Capp’s musical Li’l Abner: “What’s good for General Bullmoose is good for the U.S.A.”

That politicians or members of the mainstream media would self-righteously pretend to be upset over the revelation of a government official not having covered his/her tracks, reminds me of that wonderful scene in the film Casablanca, where the police chief, Captain Renault, loudly declares “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.” The croupier then hands Renault his winnings.

The rare politician (e.g., Ron Paul) who not only refuses to play this dishonest game – or, worse, reveals its corrupt nature to the public – must be stigmatized, censored, or kept off debating stages. Meantime, members of the public are warned to “pay no attention to that man behind the screen.”

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