Pitt is more lapdog than watchdog

President Bush never should have nominated Harvey Pitt as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. And the Senate never should have confirmed him.

As an outbreak of corporate crime corrodes confidence in our economic system, Pitt's SEC has been a yipping little poodle, not the ferocious watchdog the market needs right now.

So I have to disagree with my colleague, Scott Herhold, who sees little harm -- and even imagines the possibility of some positive results -- in keeping Pitt on the job.

On some points, Scott and I agree. Here's one: Pitt is not the villain some make him out to be.

To the contrary, he's a gifted lawyer and lobbyist who, as far as anyone knows, has not been personally culpable in the misdeeds of his former clients. The SEC has at long last begun to step up enforcement, and Pitt did ask for more resources earlier this year.

Let's even assume that Pitt is one of those rare people who can turn around and, without flinching, destroy the very people who made him rich. Let's assume his past defenses of the people who've helped create the current mess would incline him toward tougher action now on behalf of honest markets.

It still doesn't matter.