| It may not have been his fault.
Or it may have been - I really don't know. But with last night's vote in the legislature to transfer control of the investigation of Monday's disaster away from the Turnpike Authority, together with public statements by Sal & Trav and by Republican legislators that Matt Amorello should fade away, it couldn't be any clearer that the entire legislature, as well as the press, the Governor, and apparently everyone else in the state other than Amorello and his family, have lost confidence in Amorello's ability to run the Turnpike.
Here's Amorello on why he doesn't want to quit (yet):
Amorello said he had decided, after soul-searching conversations with his wife and family, that he had a duty to press on. "I have taken an oath of office to serve as chairman of the Turnpike Authority until July 2007," Amorello told reporters at the late-afternoon news conference. "I will tell you that I have done everything humanly possible in my capacity as chairman of this authority to maintain the authority, the stability of the board, to hold the budget price, to open these tunnels, to build the parks on top."
... There were private and public entreaties from political leaders for him to go.... Throughout the day, there was rampant speculation among lawmakers and aides about what would come next. Amorello, though he rejected the calls to leave his job, left open the possibility that he would rethink his role if the "dynamic changes" and he was forced to make a different decision. "We'll take those as they come," he said, taking no further questions.
Does this situation remind you of anything? Over thirty years ago another embattled leader said the following in reluctantly announcing his decision to resign his office:
Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me.
In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort....
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interest of the Nation must always come before any personal considerations.
From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders, I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the Nation would require.
I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad.
To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
Now, by quoting President Nixon I certainly don't mean to imply that Matt Amorello has engaged in criminal activity like Nixon did - there is absolutely no evidence of that. But the situations are nonetheless similar. Nixon quit, not because he wanted to or out of contrition, but because it became clear that he simply could not do the job - he had lost the support of his allies in Congress, the press, and the public. He correctly recognized that as long as he remained in office, he, not the needs of the country, would be the story. That is more or less the situation in which Amorello finds himself.
There's another parallel too. A big part of Nixon's calculus in resigning was to head off impeachment proceedings - he said that he would have preferred to "see the constitutional process through to its conclusion," but that in light of the loss of his political base in Congress, "I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged." Governor Romney has begun the legal machinery to forcibly strip Amorello of his chairmanship. The outcome of that proceeding is a foregone conclusion, and the only real question is whether the SJC will sustain Romney's decision months later. No one, least of all Matt Amorello, needs to see that process go forward, particularly since no one in the state will be backing Amorello. It would be a waste of time, money, and resources that would be much better used in trying to restore some semblance of confidence in the Big Dig.
McGrory got it right this morning:
This ceiling collapse wasn't his fault. He doesn't deserve all the blame. He was hired to finish the project and watchdog the budget. Now we need someone to do something different, which is restore faith. Amorello is not that guy.
Quite right. Amorello needs to step down. |
