Some good work by the Hartford Courant this week, dredging up a story which didn’t wind up having any major, world shaking impact but once again points out the difference between our elite government leaders and the little people they supposedly represent. This story actually took place last Thanksgiving, but it’s only coming to light now thanks to some alert airport security staff and a whistleblower. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and his wife were taking their son to the airport after a holiday visit and the TSA lines were apparently a bit too long for his liking. He also didn’t want his son to have to wait to unpack his backpack and have it inspected. No problem! He simply skipped the inspection line entirely and took the bag (not inspected) with him!

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy bypassed a federal security checkpoint at Bradley International Airport last Nov. 27 while carrying a backpack belonging to his son, Samuel Malloy, through a private corridor to the departure gate area as he and first lady Cathy Malloy saw their son off for a flight, a Courant investigation of the episode has found.

Security camera footage shows Malloy carrying the red backpack on his shoulder through a side door within the Bradley terminal to which airport security personnel admitted him. Then he was ushered by state police with his wife through a secure, non-public interior corridor and ended up at the airport’s departure gates, the video shows.

The corridor bypassed one of the now-familiar security checkpoints where U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents electronically screen travelers’ bodies and baggage with X-ray devices 2 million times a day, the investigation found.

This isn’t some accusation of the Malloys’ son being involved in terrorism or anything of the sort. It’s the plain and simple fact that Dannel Malloy is one of those people to whom the normal rules don’t apply. We’re not talking about some official business trip where the Governor and his staff are being whisked away on a private plane here. In this instance the Malloys were simply another family rushing to get their kid to the airport in time to make his flight after a Thanksgiving visit.

What would happen if you were running late to the airport? If you are very, very lucky you might convince some folks in the TSA line to let you cut ahead and get to the gate on time, but that’s iffy at best. And you most certainly would not be allowed to put a bag through without the inspectors examining it on the x-ray belt. But not so for Governor Malloy. He can simply grab up his kid’s backpack and get a special escort through a private security tunnel and skip the line entirely.

Why do you think so many people are tired of the government elite? Malloy apologized for his transgression, but so what? That was eight months ago. If he actually felt bad about abusing the powers of his office he would have done so on the spot. He only apologized because he got caught. That’s the attitude we’re dealing with when it comes to too many of our leaders. The rules don’t apply to them, and in the rare instances where anyone notices a serious violation (take for example, the hypothetical example of some high ranking federal official exposing government secrets on a private email server… not that that would ever happen), they can simply say “oops,” offer an apology for exercising “poor judgement” and never be prosecuted or held to account.

Great work if you can get it.