Reply #7: You are right, in a way. But in broader sense, it is incompetence.

[Merlin]

It is their incompetence--meaning their incapacity for understanding and doing in accordance with intelligent planning--that leads them to believe they can get away with their knee-jerk cronyism. They do not grasp that actions have consequences. They thought these things were so unimportant, they could simply use them to agrandize themselves. They thought the public is so gullible, that the results would somehow not be noticed. Ooops, wait a minute! The jury is still out on that one!