A disgraced politician鈥檚 lament that he or she suffered from 鈥渁 lapse of judgment鈥� would be more convincing if it were part of a voluntary admission of wrongdoing, rather than the standard reaction to getting caught.
The latest is Alberta MLA Mike Allen, who police say was caught in a prostitution sting in St. Paul, Minn. While the charge of solicitation of prostitution has yet to be proved in court, Allen has apologized to family and constituents for 鈥渁 profound lapse in my personal judgment.鈥�
A lapse of judgment is speeding up to get through a yellow light or even engaging in business activity that is not expressly forbidden but could be construed as conflict of interest.
A lapse of judgment is making an off-the-cuff comment that would have been different if it had been filtered through a few moments of serious reflection. A lapse of judgment is an 鈥渙ops鈥� moment that can happen when attention is distracted.
Agreeing to pay two women for sex, plunking down $200 cash and beginning to disrobe, as the Minnesota police report states Allen did, is a deliberate action with unmistakable intent, not a lapse of judgment.
Allen鈥檚 misdeed was mainly a private one, though he will likely pay a heavy political price. A more serious abuse of the public trust is the use of government resources for political gain, as in the ethnic-outreach scandal authored by senior aides in the B.C. premier鈥檚 office, or the abuse of expense accounts by senators.
These are public officials who should clearly know the rules, yet deliberately flout them.
That is not lapse of judgment, but lack of a moral compass.
