A heck of a job

In a case of a public official taking the notion of personal responsibility for their failure to an extreme, Wang Wei, the vice-mayor of Jilin, China has apparently hanged himself according to reports from the Xinhua news agency.

Jilin, of course, is the site of that big chemical plant explosion and water contamination crisis that has, to a certain extent, become China's ostensible counterpart to Hurricane Katrina at least as far as the government's inability to respond to the crisis in a timely and seemingly competent fashion.

Wang had been quoted as saying that the accident would not cause widespread pollution.

In fact 112 tons of cancer-causing benzene compounds spilt into the Songhua river which provides drinking water for the 9 million people of the city of Harbin.

I wonder, at any point did he call himself a "fashion god"

Meanwhile, instead of tapdancing around the isssue of accountablity for the situation, Wal-Mart's biggest customer stated that misconduct in the matter would be dealt with.

Official media have reported that Beijing has promised harsh punishment for anyone guilty of misconduct over the incident.

Investigators would also look into attempts to cover up the gravity of the incident, Xinhua news agency said.

hmm.