Congressmen Behaving Badly
Republicans and Democrats have proved to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that neither party is beyond moral corruption.
The past week has given us an outstanding example of exactly this. On one hand, we have former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. Remember, last year, he suddenly had to take a leave of absence. There was a question of whether he had to check himself into some type of “institution.” Was he sick? Was he depressed? Did he have a nervous breakdown? Did he have some sort of serious psychiatric disorder? All these questions were swirling around as Nancy Pelosi and others in Congress wished him a speedy recovery. As it turns out, Jesse Jackson, Jr. was suffering from a federal investigation. Earlier this week, Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his wife pleaded guilty to using campaign funds as their own private piggy bank. It appears that Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his wife are going to be looking at some jail time.
On the other hand, we have former Senator Pete Domenici. The New Mexico Senator was a longtime fixture in Congress. It was revealed yesterday that the former Senator had an affair with another senator’s daughter back in the 1970s. This affair produced a son who is currently a Nevada attorney.
I’m not going to pretend that there is some deeper meaning in either of these examples of personal failures. I will say that I am always skeptical of any politician who wants to legislate moral behavior. It is my opinion that Congress should stick to civil affairs and we, as individual citizens, should find our moral compasses in our churches, our synagogues and our temples.