Sometimes, when you are really good at something, it helps to cut people some slack when you can, particularly when their lives and decisions have been restricted for years by things which you chose not to negotiate with for a living.
Years before Ms. Erdely began to investigate the University of Virginia, Ms. Erdely and Ms. Eramo chose diametric life paths. Ms. Eramo chose to work within a system, and Ms. Erdely didn't. Ms. Eramo had to make decisions within the framework of that system, and Ms. Erdely didn't.
There are people who leave corrupt systems because they hate them; there are others who stay because they don't want to abandon the people whom those systems are supposed to be helping. Most of the people who decide to stay in corrupt systems eventually are warped by them to some extent.
I also wouldn't say that Ms. Erdely has been at her most courageous for the past few weeks.
Copyright L. Kochman, October 24, 2016 @ 7:59 p.m.
