Lame duck fantasy

‘Groundless suspicions are dancing around,” said President Roh on Aug. 31 at the national television producers’ conference, referring to the recent bribery allegations against former Blue House staff member Chung Yun-jae. Roh seemed to be implying that the media, which is hostile to the current government, has amplified the Chung rumors without any evidence.
Let us set aside unconfirmed suspicions regarding redevelopment plans and an overdraft of more than a billion dollars. Nevertheless one must wonder whether introducing local construction contractors to the head of a regional tax office qualifies as normal office duty for Blue House staff in this government.
And, in any case, isn’t the staff officer responsible for illegal lobbying because the contractor handed a large bribe to the head of the tax office in return for reduced taxation?
Jack and Jill, who are not in the position of responsibility, may have been duped likewise. But a senior secretary for civil affairs at the Blue House is in a position to audit and inspect the corruption of public officials. If this suspicion is groundless, what counts as a grounded suspicion?
President Roh also criticized the media for just reporting rumors regarding Grand National presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak, instead of seeking truth, and that they insisted on closing the case as soon as possible. If it were rank and file readers or viewers who said that, such complaints would be understandable. However, if there really is corruption, whose responsibility is it to analyze and duly penalize those responsible? The government is not justified in amplifying suspicions by publishing a nonsensical announcement based on rumor, after four years of silence on the matter, and then to take electoral advantage of the ensuing scandal.
President Roh is a lame duck and a fantasist. He can only understand the media based on distinctions between friends and enemies. He thinks the media that supports him is good, whereas the media that doesn’t is evil.
We do not want to practice the kind of journalism that distorts the truth to appease authority and divides people into friends and enemies based on political sympathies.
It seems that this intolerant government, which understands the world solely from the viewpoint of political interests, has lost contact with common sense.