Keller @ Large: Another Blow To Taxpayer Confidence

BOSTON (CBS) --- The local feel-bad story of the weekend has to be the latest developments in the appalling saga of Evan Dobelle, president of Westfield State University, who has allegedly been using that cash-strapped public institution as his personal cash cow, milking it for fancy trips and meals and luxury hotel stays in exotic locations, all in the name of fundraising.

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The case against Dobelle is gaining steam by the day.

The state inspector general has weighed in, accusing Dobelle of spending money "indiscriminately with little or no consideration" for the legitimate needs it was supposed to address.

The commissioner of higher education has excoriated Dobelle and his lapdog board of trustees for letting this alleged thievery go on. And the chairman of the state board of higher education is beside himself, noting that: "You have to have honest leaders at those institutions."

President Dobelle remains publicly unconcerned, telling a reporter the other day who asked if he was going to resign: "Oh gosh no. Why would I?"

Dobelle's world is not the only corner of public life that appears to be a parallel universe where reality dare not intrude.

In an apparent effort to match the cluelessness of Republicans who think they can defund Obamacare, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told an interviewer yesterday that "there's no more cuts to make" in the nearly $4 trillion federal budget. "The cupboard is bare," she says.

I don't know what happens to otherwise intelligent people in public life who, out of egomania or contempt for the taxpayer or both, decide it's OK to deal in such appalling falsehoods.

But it's bad news, and a further blow to already rock-bottom public confidence in the people handling our business.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.