FOR ONCE we can agree with Brad Choate, the demoted-well, reassigned-and discredited head of the ironically styled Advancement Division of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

The happily former chief of that deficit-generating division showed up Friday to testify at a legislative inquiry into its scandals, but was dismissed without being given a chance to tell his side of the story. So was his former aide and current scapegoat Joy Sharp. Neither was heard from at what was supposed to have been a hearing.

Brad Choate called Friday’s hearing, such as it was, a “whitewash.” That about sums it up in one allpurpose word. Like this supposed hearing, whitewash covers everything up with goo. The report of the state’s auditors was accepted and that was that, case closed, no need for any further witnesses or statements, thank you. Meeting adjourned.

After all, a diligent prosecutor in Washington County, his assistants and investigators, had found no evidence that any law was broken, so why not just close the books and go home?

This is now the legislative standard for an institution, a university no less, that is supposed to train up the next generation in the way it should go, not only incorporating and upholding the highest standards of the past but raising them in the future.

But since the prosector assigned this case found no law was broken by the university’s higher-ups, why go into details? Such as their lack of candor and accountability, their withholding records from the public until Arkansas’ statewide daily had to go to court to get them, the multi-million-dollar deficits run up year after year in an absence of mind and responsibility, the general carelessness with which public funds and private contributions were treated, the back-biting and blame-shifting and conflicting testimony from the university’s top brass . . . . None of that merits any further interest on the part of this legislative committee, or at least a majority of its members.

AFTER THE auditors’ report was accepted, all it took was one objection to shut down the proceedings and it came right on schedule from Bill Sample, a state senator from Hot Springs.

Yes, there was a public-spirited member or two (13 of them, actually) on the committee-like Kim Hammer of Benton-but they were outnumbered by the majority that voted to accept the auditors’ report.

It’s not clear whether all the legislators knew what they were doing when they cast their votes, but the end result was the same: This “auditing” committee has sent a message as clear and concise as Ring Lardner’s classic line: “Shut up,” they explained.

The roll call on the vote to accept the auditors’ report, and so move on without further testimony, is one that merits saving. Particularly the recorded votes of two candidates for lieutenant governor next year: Charlie Collins of Fayetteville did his part to shut off debate, while Andy Mayberry of East End summed up what the majority had done: “I think we gutted ourselves of a lot of legislative oversight.” And failed to give all concerned a chance to hear, learn, crossexamine and generally do what a legislative auditing committee should.

Brad Choate pretty well summed up the import of what the heedless majority of this Legislative Joint “Auditing” Committee did Friday: “It’s pretty outrageous. It’s shocking. There’s a lot of information that has not come forward. I really, really wanted to talk. I’ve been under a gag order for 18 months.” He had come to the hearing armed with a 15-page typed statement to deliver but wasn’t allowed to present it-or be questioned about it.

Happily, one member of the committee, the public-spirited Bryan King of Green Forest, did release it to the press and public, but there are still questions to be asked about how well the university’s top brass supervised its financial affairs. Or didn’t.

Friday’s hearing wasn’t the first whitewash attempted in this longrunning scandal. This one may have worked. For now. But the truth has a way of outing, if not now, then surely later.

FOR BRAD CHOATE not to have accepted the gag he now complains about-he promised not to talk about the terms of his leaving UA-F when he stepped down-would have taken courage, candor, self-sacrifice, dedication to the public interest . . . you know, all the virtues a college education was once supposed to nurture instead of suppress.

Aren’t our educators supposed to be role models, and set an example? Alas, some of those at UA-F do. And it’s not a good one. Instead, it’s a good way to raise up a whole generation-of selfies. This is the standard our Legislature now has meekly accepted on the part of what used to be called the state’s flagship university without irony.

The same goes for those who serve on the university’s board of trustees, whose clearest response to Friday’s hearing was an effort to change the subject: from the university’s all too clear failings to the achievements of its faculty and students. Impressive as those achievements are, they weren’t the subject of this hearing. But they can be used to distract the public’s attention from what ought to be bothering the state’s educators and taxpayers.

So long as no law was actually broken, who cares? If it’s not illegal, then any conduct (or misconduct) must be acceptable, the audit okayed, any further witnesses turned away, the gavel banged and the curtain lowered. So it was ordered, and so it was done. Case closed, hearing adjourned.

Not for the first time when reading the morning news, a thought and prayer crossed our mind: God help us all.

Editorial, Pages 14 on 12/16/2013