Daily Inspiration Quote by Richard V. Allen

Vetting sounds like a procedural nicety, but in Richard V. Allen's hands it reads as a warning label. "In general" is the tell: a bureaucrat's throat-clearing that pretends neutrality while setting up a rule meant to be violated only at great cost. The parenthetical "('vet')" does double duty. It translates insider shorthand for outsiders, but it also narrows the meaning to a specific, quasi-clinical act: inspect, probe, certify. Not "consider" or "evaluate" - "vet" implies risk management, the assumption that something could be wrong and that finding it early is the point.

Allen's profession matters here. Public servants traffic in consequences, not vibes. The sentence is built like policy: "incoming administration" (the churn of democratic turnover), "nominees" (people not yet tested by the full machinery of scrutiny), "high public office" (roles where personal failure becomes institutional failure). It's less a moral appeal than an operational one: mistakes at the top aren't private embarrassments; they metastasize into governance crises, headline cycles, and legislative paralysis.

The subtext is defensive, almost weary: administrations don't just inherit agencies, they inherit landmines. Vetting isn't about discovering saints; it's about preventing self-inflicted wounds - conflicts of interest, undisclosed liabilities, past statements that will detonate under confirmation hearings. Coming from someone who lived inside the appointment ecosystem, the line quietly rebukes the fantasy that loyalty or charisma can substitute for due diligence. It's a reminder that competence in government begins before anyone is sworn in.