When I think of how our state is governed, it rarely calls to mind Biblical parallels (other than the Plagues of Egypt found in the Book of Genesis, of course).
But as new developments emerge in the Mississippi welfare fraud saga (an audit revealed that $77 million in welfare funds were directed to well-connected people for purposes that had nothing to do with helping poor people), I again return to the Scriptures, specifically 2 Samuel, chapter 2.
To refresh your memory, the chapter begins after King David had one of his soldiers sent to the front lines where he was certain to be killed, thus covering up the king’s affair with the soldier’s wife, Bathsheba, whom he would later marry.
“Not cool,” the Prophet Nathan said, confronting the king with a parable.
To paraphrase:
There were two men in a certain town, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had a large flock of sheep. The poor man had only one little lamb, which he treated like a member of the family. One day another big shot came to visit the rich man. Rather than pick a lamb out of his large flock to prepare a feast for his visitor, the rich man stole the poor man’s only lamb and used it for the feast instead.
That’s pretty much the whole Mississippi welfare scandal boiled down to a few verses of scripture.
Often, as new information emerges, analogies such as this one begin to fall apart.
In this case, though, it grows more insightful, more relevant, with each new chapter in this sordid story.
The most recent development came when Tupelo attorney Jim Waide, who is representing one of the defendants in this case, said Gov. Tate Reeves may be complicit in the scandal for using his influence to direct $1.1 million in welfare funds to fitness trainer Paul Lacoste. Waide said Reeve’s firing of Brad Pigott, the attorney hired to investigate the scandal, was also an attempt to protect some of the governor’s wealthy donors on the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation Board.
When Pigott expanded the investigation to discover how the USM Foundation secured $5 million in welfare funds to build a new volleyball facility at the university, he was summarily fired and the Jones Walker law firm was hired at a rate 500 times the amount the state was prepared to pay Pigott for his services. You get what you pay for and, in this case, you probably get precisely what you pay for.
Over the years, members of the USM Foundation have donated huge sums of money to Reeves’ campaign. If USM needed a $5 million volleyball facility, those members could have easily funded it out of their own pockets.
That would be silly, of course, when the poor man’s lamb is right there for the taking.
So, who really are the welfare queens in our state?
Is it the single mom who gets a couple of hundred bucks a month to help keep her lights on?
Or is it Reeves’ wealthy political cronies?
The $5 million that went to the USM Foundation is the biggest chunk of misappropriated welfare money provided to any one source. Efforts to shield those responsible for the most egregious act of unmitigated greed speak volumes about how our state does business.
When all is said and done, a few sacrificial lambs will be led to slaughter. But the big boys, perhaps including the one who now occupies the Governor’s mansion, will likely escape the scrutiny in the investigation.
To follow up on the Bible story, when King David heard about the rich man’s greed, not initially realizing he himself was the subject of the story, he was immediately angry with the rich man.
King Tate is mad, too.
Only he’s mad at Nathan, slamming the reporting that has exposed his role in this sordid affair.
The only real hope for a thorough investigation that holds all parties accountable is the Department of Justice to take complete control.
Unless and until that happens, it’s likely that a lot of guilty people are going to continue to feast on the poor man’s lamb.
But, really, what else is new? It’s Mississippi we’re talking about here, after all.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion