I heard something of the radio this morning that got me thinking.

When you are elected to public office, it is not only your own personal integrity that is held up to the light. It is the integrity of your staff. The people YOU have selected to manage your office, to write up the laws and amendments that are submitted in your name, to interface with special interest groups, to deal with constituents, to make your public life easier. These staffers who feed at the the public trough. It’s sort of like the chain of command in the military, the ones at the top are responsible for what the underlings do, even if they didn’t countenance the actions.

Conrad Burns contention that Abramoff didn’t influence him, personally, is irrelevant. Abramoff clearly influenced someone on Burns’ staff. Earmarks were legislated that were of no possible benefite to Burns’ state, and of no apparent benefit to the United States, but were of benefit to Abramoff clients. And they were earmarked in Burns’ name.

The Forrest Gump, or GWB, defense is not a valid defense for a public official. It is not unfair for opponents to point out that it happened on your watch, whether you were awake or not. The fact that you are as dumb as a stump and that the staff around you betrayed you and let these undue influences corrupt your office is not a valid defense. It is, actually, a very good reason not to re-elect someone to public office.

Personal aside:

People, just on general principle don’t re-elect an incumbant. For Party Stalwarts, this means ousting the incumbant in the primaries. (Can’t very well ask a died-in-wool-Republican to vote Democrat or vice-versa, now, can we? Although I would remind folks that are ARE more than two political parites in most places.)