AN OPEN SECRET THAT DREW NO GREAT ATTENTION.

AN OPEN SECRET THAT DREW NO GREAT ATTENTION. I can see how it might be thought that so far my only positions on controversial topics are to be opposed to political corruption and assassinations. I was, however, commenting on news cycles. Congressional reform is difficult because usually both parties are involved in current practices. It is only every so often that a party campaigns on reform and succeeds in holding the majority party accountable. It happened in 1994 and again in 2006. Now this New York Times editorial makes the same point I was making. The ethical problem in question “was an open secret that drew no great attention.” until the Democrats successfully made Congressional ethics an issue. We have to hope that reforms in 2007 are far reaching and effective because it is a rare opportunity when ethical issues become partisan. By the same token, we have to hope that there is a big noisy fuss made about the radioactive poisoning because there is a tendency to treat spy versus spy activities as business as usual.