The walls are closing in on Ohio GOP Rep. Bob Ney, a Tom Delay acolyte who was deeply involved with the political machinations of crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

This means that the chances that his conduct didn't violate ethical rules, not to mention laws, are slim indeed. Despite that unavoidable conclusion, Ney just won his primary in a walk against a Republican challenger who may not have had a great deal of experience or name recognition but at least had the benefit of presenting no immediate likelihood that he would soon be in the slammer. In short, Republican primary voters concluded that Ney deserved their votes because he had been an "effective" representative. The fact that he cut ethical corners, accepted favors and benefits from lobbyists and tip-toed ever so closely to putting his Congressional support for sale didn't matter as much as the fact that he watched out for his district.

Meanwhile, over in "Little Rhodey," Rep. Patrick Kennedy appears to be in no imminent danger of getting voted out of office despite strong evidence that he was recently driving drunk, had an accident in front of the Capitol, and used influence with the police to avoid either arrest or a breathalyzer test. He also lied about the incident and may well be using a prescription painkiller addiction alibi to counter the testimony of several witnesses that the Congressman was bar-hopping on the night in question. He too is viewed as an effective representative, though in New England "effective" for lawmakers named Kennedy is a loosely applied term.

Here in Virginia, we have shoo-in Democratic Congressman John Moran, caught dead-to-rights twice taking low interest loans from lobbyists and corporate interests, yet still loved by his constituents. Two former aides to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) have alleged that he repeatedly violated House ethics rules by demanding that aides illegally work on several local and state campaigns and forced them to baby-sit and chauffeur his children at taxpayer expense. Conyers is a Congressional fixture, even money to outlast the Capitol itself.

The lesson of these and many other examples of flagrant Congressional misconduct is not that Congress is immersed in an unethical culture, which is hardly newsworthy, but that American voters are completely responsible for perpetuating it. They profess to be shocked by scandals, but continue to make the character and integrity of their representatives subordinate to their party affiliation, their positions on key issues, their seniority and influence, and their "effectiveness." America could reduce the corruption on the Hill to a trickle in one election cycle if it would simply vote for honesty above all. Forget abortion, the war, taxes, public works, gun control, gay marriage, judicial philosophy and all the other issues, and just vote for candidates who tells the truth, can't be bought, and have the courage to do what they think is right. Send the message that in this country effectiveness doesn't trump ethics, and suddenly there would be a lot more ethical politicians running for office.

Let's really shock the establishment this year and vote for ethics. I have a hunch that we'd get that and effectiveness too.

8/7/2006: Congressman Ney announced on August 7th that he will not be running for re-election, and a special election will be held in September to determine who will take his place on November's ballot. Thus Ney, at least for now, has moved ahead of his supporters in ethical awareness. Knowing his history of influence peddling, they still voted for him in the GOP primary. Now they'll have a rare second chance to prove that they understand that ethics matters after all.