Highway Patrol Hubris

Considerable hubris is required for a state agency to claim to have ordered a "full investigation" of serious allegations of political corruption that were uncovered through detailed newspaper reporting last year. That such hubris is so freely exhibited at the Tennessee Highway Patrol is deeply troubling.

One would have thought that the firing of key leaders last year would have changed the course of the beleaguered agency. It would appear that no one in the Governor's office noticed that the problems run much deeper and that a more far reaching engagement of the culture at the state Department of Safety is badly needed.

The Tennessean, which has come under frequent and well-deserved criticism on this website for its tabloid like style, failure to cover significant news events, and juvenile editorial writing, deserves credit for its coverage of this story.