We're not as dumb as they think

Nepotism shmepotism. Who cares about this rule anymore? Not Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, Texas. Ms. Johnson awarded scholarship funds from the Congressional Black Caucus to four of her family members and her aide's two children. Though the congresswoman is on the board of directors for the CBC, she claims she had no idea that what she did was wrong. What a coincidence – none of our leaders knows the difference between right and wrong.

When addressing the application process for the CBC scholarships, Johnson said, "I recognized the names when I saw them. And I knew that they had a need just like any other kid that would apply for one." It's funny that she is distancing herself from the family members that benefited from these scholarships, yet on her website she calls them by name and implies that they all have a close relationship with her. So she either knows them well or doesn't know them at all. Either way, liar liar pants on fire.

The corrupt congresswoman gave over $25,000 to two grandchildren, two great-nephews and to her aide's children over the course of five years. Johnson's family and friends received consecutive scholarships at least three years in a row. So I don't believe her "I didn't know who they were" story for one second. At some point the students must have been excited to be chosen for the scholarship. I'm sure they told their families. Somewhere along the line Johnson knew that this was wrong, but she chose to lie about it and continued to award the scholarship to them. Here's the icing on the cake: Neither her family members nor her aide's children were in her district. So right there is another violation of the scholarship rules. The CBC scholarships were to be awarded to students in her district and could not be a relative.

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What kills me is that Johnson claimed that there weren't any "worthy applicants" in her district so she gave them to relatives and friends. How is that possible? If the applicants in her district were in no way related to the congresswoman or her staffers, those students were already more qualified than her family members and friends. I hate when influential people have the opportunity to come clean and make things right, but instead they completely underestimate our intelligence and continue to lie about the "misunderstanding." Just say you messed up and apologize. I don't need a song and dance about how you were confused or misinformed. We all know the truth, so just admit it.

According to the Dallas Morning News, "The foundation – which is supported by private and corporate donations, not taxpayer money – provides $10,000 annually for each member of the Congressional Black Caucus to award in scholarships. Each gets to decide how many ways to split the money and whether to create a judging panel, choose personally or delegate the task." The application process is very specific about nepotism. Relatives of the CBC and their affiliates (aka Johnson's staff members) are not eligible to receive these scholarships. It's written in black and white, yet the congresswoman claims she knew nothing of that rule. How are you going to be a part of a selection committee and not know the rules? Give me a break.

At the very least Johnson's moral code should have kicked in. Though I suppose you have to forfeit that when you are sworn in these days. I know if it had been me and I "recognized the names" I would have made darn sure that they weren't who I thought they were. It's called double checking, it doesn't take that long and I hear it's pretty useful.

Johnson swears that she will pay the money back to the CBC, but is that really a punishment? Paying the money back won't regain the trust of her constituents. It won't help the deserving students that were betrayed by her. She should have to pay back that money because she stole it. She's trying to make it sound like an honorable thing, when really the honorable thing would be to resign. If you're too dumb to recognize your own grandson's name, you shouldn't be in office. And if she is going to "pay it back this week" then those family members weren't really in much need, were they? If she happens to have $25,000 just lying around, why didn't she just use her own money for her family to begin with?

The CBC will investigate the "oversight," and I assume Ms. Johnson will be kicked off the board. If they don't remove her from that position, there is no hope for this group. They will end up in this situation once again.

The relatives that received the scholarships lied, too. The students all had to sign a contract stating that they were not related to anyone on the board. It looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I think all parties involved with this scandal could use a dose of honesty with a side of responsibility. The students who lied in the application should have to pay restitution. They blatantly broke the rules and were not entitled to those scholarships. Why should they continue on as if nothing happened?

The most infuriating thing about this mess is that politicians are always, "smart, qualified, responsible and caring" when they are running for office. Yet when they are caught red-handed in a lie, all of a sudden they're misinformed, or didn't understand what they were doing. Really? You can't be smart in one breath and stupid in another. Americans are sick and tired of being lied to. We're not as dumb as they'd like us to be. And we cannot stand for it anymore. I hope that's a dose of honesty we all can agree on.