Making little compromises

"Half of Louisiana is underwater and the other half is under indictment." That's how a former Congressman once characterized his own state.

All that will soon come to an end when governor-elect U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal carries out his campaign pledge to end government corruption. I as a Philadelphian applaud this development, as we in the Keystone State are constantly putting an end to the corruption of the previous administration.

Moreover, I was raised in Rhode Island (that would be the state contiguous to Connecticut, where in 2005 former Governor Rowland was incarcerated for selling his office, our own Governor DiPrete having pleaded guilty to 18 charges of corruption in 1998) where Mayor Buddy Cianci was forced to resign under a cloud of corruption in 1984. He ran again and won in 1991, and was subsequently sent to prison in 2001 for racketeering, extortion, conspiracy, witness tampering, and fraud --- proving that he did in fact remove considerable corruption from the Ocean State by the removal of his own person.

No one ever wakes up in the morning and decides to be a thieving lowlife. It happens more like in the wonderful movie Quiz Show, where well-intentioned men make little compromises.

So I think it's a good thing that we engage in this perennial (i.e., campaign seasonal) ritual of self-purging. At least for a few days after the election we can all be virgins again.