Even politicians have right to change their minds

Cynics will chortle at this posting -- and I'm usually one of them when it comes to politics -- but I was impressed with U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis' admission that, if he knew then what he knows now, he wouldn't have criticized Ken Lucas for sending so much taxpayer-funded mail to constituents.

The practice, called franking, came to light again when Davis showed up on a list of the Congress members using (or abusing) the practice the most. He reportedly sent more than 700,000 pieces out in 2006 at a cost of more than $165,000 to taxpayers.

This seemed more than a little hypocritical since Davis bashed Lucas, the former occupant of NKY's seat in Congress, in 2002 for the practice, only to spend a lot more.

In a follow-up story done by our Pat Crowley, Davis said this:

"We have a very big district and we were looking for effective ways to communicate. One of the ironies of this job is if you reconsider anything down the road, in politics you're considered a hypocrite. In business or journalism you're considered a thoughtful moderate."

Well, only Davis knows what's in his heart, but he has a point. We've all changed our minds about things as we've grown older and allegedly wiser. Even brilliant business leaders such as Bill Gates have made bad decisions. I guarantee you that Microsoft would have invented Google if it knew then what it knows now.

It's our job in journalism to be watchdogs and call leaders out when they say and do things in conflict with previous acts or comments. But, just as it's wrong to assume someone's motives are pure, it's wrong to assume that every change of heart makes someone a calculating hypocrite. Otherwise, we're holding our leaders hostage to all past acts and comments.