Ethics Schmethics, who cares anyway?

Are Washington Rules Really Changing?

Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, who was just convicted after misconduct that prosecutors say spanned nearly two decades, was just one of many government insiders who forgot they’re supposed to be public servants.

Foggo, who rose to the No. 3 spot in the CIA during the Bush administration, apparently got his mistress hired to a $100,000-a-year job that she couldn’t do and steered millions in federal contracts to a friend, who is already serving time.

Foggo’s actions took quite a bit of chutzpah, but he’s far from unique in that.

Take, for example, Sen. Roland W. Burris and his many-layered story about dealings with now-deposed Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich. Prior to being appointed to the Senate, not only did Burris forget to tell the public he tried to raise money for the former governor, he also forgot to mention that Blagojevich gave his son a $75,000 job.

Instead of apologizing or resigning, as many in his own party and state have encouraged, Burris got mad at the media, said he’s not going anywhere and added he would no longer respond to questions from the press.

If that’s not audacious enough, consider bankers getting billions in federal bailout money now have the unmitigated gall to charge unemployed workers to use state-issued ATM cards to access their benefits. This, on the heels of multi-million dollar bonuses paid to executives and plans to continue with swanky employee trips after receiving taxpayer dollars.

But wait, I’m not done yet.

At the same time these banks were struggling for survival, several of them gave millions to politicians, including the two main presidential candidates in the last election cycle.

Want more? How about the mayor of Los Alamitos, California who emailed colleagues a photo of the White House lawn planted with watermelons. Dean Grose wants his constituents to believe that he was “unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons,” according to The Associated Press.

On Friday, the mayor did what Burris won’t: He resigned.

To read the rest, click here and don't forget to leave a comment over there. If you love me, you'll do it.