Recently, Rachel Maddow has been breathlessly reporting on members of congress who've lived at C-Street and have been paying ridiculously low rental rates for their housing. Maddow is indicating, with considerable justification in the opinion of the Furriners editorial department, that their rent is being subsidized and is therefore a violation of the rules against members of congress accepting gifts and not reporting it on financial disclosure forms.
The problem, as I see it, is the committees that investigate congressional ethics accusations have the same authority on ethics violations as Tiger Woods has on marital fidelity.
I mean - and I know this doesn't fall under the purview of the congressional ethics committees - Dick Cheney goes out on TV advocating war crimes and nothing happens. Unless you count his standing ovation at the 2010 CPAC Convention.
Or what about Ted Stevens? That old fuckin' curmudgeon (and internet expert) was accepting gifts from oil company executives and merely suffered the indignity of a standing ovation from his congressional colleagues upon completing his final term in the Senate. My research can not confirm that he ever faced any discipline for the Senate Ethics Committee. (And I know you might say "but Furriners... the Stevens conviction was overturned!" And I would respond... "yeah, and O.J. was innocent too!")
So, anyway, Rachel... keep up the good work... but my bold prediction... nothing is going to come of these accusations. You can't punish someone for farting when they are surrounded by shit.
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