We liberals pride ourselves on our commitment to clean, open and ethical government. Then we get in power and show that we can be just as hypocritical as the other guys.

Witness the Gang of Four – the members of the Raleigh City Council who have been meeting in private to discuss city business, according to David Bracken at the N&O.

The four are Rodger Koopman, Thomas Crowder, Russ Stephenson and Nancy McFarlane.

Mayor Charles Meeker and the other Council members said the private meetings are improper and unethical.

But the four – who share an anti-growth message – trot out rationalizations that would be worthy of the Bush Administration:

• “The purpose of the meetings is to share information, not get everyone on the same page.”

• “We would never get ourselves in a compromising position where we’re going to break any ethics or open meeting rules.”

• “To me, it’s just a fact-finding mission.”

• “I think it is good when people who serve together in a political body talk to each other, frequently, informally. I think that’s the kind of stuff that the voters actually want.”

Excuse me, but the Bullshit Meter is going off the scale.

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