One of the Good Guys

I do a lot of posts covering some of the more seriously messed up individuals in the government. Generally this is from the federal level, but I also like to keep tabs on people in the New York State government, particularly where it applies to George Pataki's administration, given his presidential aspirations. Today, however, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate somebody who has been quietly doing a really good job for a long time - a public servant who truly seems to exemplify what that phrase is supposed to mean.

Thomas Conway is the chief of the New York State Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Fraud and Protection. This guy has had a long, hard climb to get where he is, with 18 years of service protecting the citizens of New York. In the Fraud bureau, he has been responsible for tracking down some of the most odious characters you'd ever want to see - people who will go to any lengths to rip off and swindle innocent folks. Some of the lowlifes whom he's encountered include:

• Predatory lenders and credit scammers
• A guy selling phony 9/11 World Trade Center "silver dollars"
• An "actor" charging other actors hundreds of dollars to join a non-existent union to get into a non-existent film
• Used auto dealerships selling cars that were lemons.

These might seem like small things, but it means something to me that we actually have government officials who go out and track down and stop leeches like those. Read his whole story. He's actually one of the good guys.