Case in point: a Japanese minister has resigned in disgrace after failing to pay into a national pension plan.
The resignation of Mr Fukuda is also a major personal loss to [Prime Minister Junichiro] Koizumi.
He has been the government’s chief spokesman, and a key ally and adviser to the prime minister, for the past three years.
“I am ashamed of myself for having undermined the trust of the nation as a result of the non-payment of pension premiums,” Mr Fukuda told a press conference.
“I would like to apologise for having intensified distrust in politics due to an inept response on my part as the cabinet’s spokesman,” he said.
A pension plan.
In America, after a few weeks of headlines, the entire Enron scandal just blinked off of our radar, and there were many connections between that and the current administration. Now, this gentleman is stepping down and apologizing for an infraction that, from the article, seems to pale in comparison to much of what goes on over on this side of the pond.
If only our politicians had this kind of integrity.
iTunes: “When You Don’t See Me (German Release)” by Sisters of Mercy, The from the album Temple of Love (1992, 4:47).