I'm still not sure how such an... interesting... religion as "Christian
Science" gets a newspaper as generally level-headed as the
Christian Science Monitor, but they've
got a nice
editorial on the Cunningham case and state of corruption in Congress:
Either way, money still talks in Washington and the legal/illegal
distinction gets easily blurred in all the backroom dealings with private
interests until, that is, a brazen case of bribery pops up. Then
Washington, if it had any sense, might ask if the laws and rules that
regulate campaign donations and lobbyist gifts are tough enough or
prosecutors are vigilant enough....
No wonder dictators laugh at US demands for representative democracy. They
can easily point to American democracy's big failing: allowing the
well-monied to corrupt lawmakers by dictating government actions - either
legally or illegally.