#ethics watch

There was a time when Jesse Jackson, Jr. had a bright future. The young congressman, who's father is a civil rights icon and a two time Presidential Candidate, was a rock star in Illinois and a hero to the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party. Had Jackson decided to run for Senate in 2004, he would have won the Primary and the Seat, and Barack Obama would not be President; indeed, he was once talked about as the future first black President. Those days are over. Jackson plans to plead guilty for the misuse of campaign funds, and has already resigned his seat. So now we need to ask ourselves: What does this mean? This means that Bob Menendez, whose corruption inspired this blog, can see that nobody is above the law, and that those involved in the creation of laws should be even more bound to them than the rest of us. This means that today's promising young politicians can see that they can fall from grace, and that nobody is untouchable. This means that we, as civillians, can see that our representatives and our neighbors will be treated equally in courts of law. And that last point is really what this is all about. I created this blog not just because of the actions of Menendez, but because of the attitude that corruption is a fact of life. More specifically, the attitude that some people, be they Congressmen or Mayors or Businessmen or Celebrities, will either be immune to punishment, or be punished lightly due to their status. I believe that Congressman Jackson has proved otherwise. At least I hope so.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Senator Bob Menendez. By proving that he is entirely morally bankrupt, and that there is no depth to which our elected officials will not sink, Senator Menendez has inspired me to create this blog, where I will be keeping track of corruption at all levels of the American government, and endorsing candidates that play by the rules, and change those rules to make them fair. In bringing up Mr. Menendez, I am of course bringing up his recent actions involving underage prostitutes and an illegal campaign contributor in the Dominican Republic (look it up if you haven’t heard about it yet, it’s a fascinating read!) Senator Menendez claims all allegations of wrongdoing are politically motivated…but for those of us who have followed his actions throughout his political life, some of which would make Sylvio Berlusconi blush, this comes as no surprise. And now New Jersey is stuck with one Senator who will be embroiled in scandal (who was previously too corrupt to adequately represent are interests,) and one who will be fighting for his political life in a tough primary. For these reasons, I believe Senator Menendez should resign, and should he refuse and somehow manage to last until 2018, I believe he should not be renominated. Should Senator Menendez be renominated, I, a progressive Democrat, will support his Republican challenger. Menendez needs to go. Hopefully, the appropriate action against Senator Menendez will be taken. But this blog is here because we, the people, have a right to know the truth.