Walk the walk, Mr. Geithner!

I confess, I do not know much about Timothy Geithner, except that he is President Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary. I have heard that he is highly qualified to head the IRS and lead us out of this economic mess.

I have also heard about his "innocent" (quote Sen. Max Baucus) mistake in not correctly paying his own taxes for 4 years in a row, which makes me wonder how credible he would be as the head of IRS. After all, this is the position to which we are all ultimately accountable to, for filing our own taxes!

As a country, our strength lies in the fact that we respect our leaders very much and entrust them with enormous leeway to make decisions on our behalf. Maybe because of this and because our leaders have the ability to impact so many lives with their decisions, we hold them to higher standards than we would an average Joe. We expect them to have earned the right to make decisions on our behalf. That right comes with an enormous responsibility. While I agree that no one can be infallible all the time, just look around and see the havoc that has been wrought in these past 8 years because we have not held our leaders accountable to walk the walk.

Granted that there were extenuating circumstances to Mr.Geithner's oversight. Granted Mr. Geithner is an upright, forthright and very knowledgeable individual. Unfortunately, the mistakes made are not only very recent, they are in direct correlation to the job he is seeking. And that job is of enormous importance to this country, especially at this period in history.

Life is such...There are some mistakes that cannot be rectified because they are so context-sensitive. If a fighter pilot loses concentration for a split second, his plane can crash, killing him and others. There is no condoning that mistake. But if a desk worker loses concentration for more than a hour, it wont matter at all. Mr. Geithner's mistake must be viewed in the context of the job he is being asked to perform. It could probably be condoned were he to apply for any other position in the Obama team. But, Treasury Secretary making this mistake? Its like the babysitter pinching the baby first and then rocking the cradle.

Nothing personal Mr.Geithner, but as an average citizen, I think its time we held our leaders to the same standards they expect of us.