Worst and the Best

The Congressional bribery scandal now being uncovered in Washington is exposing the workings of our government at its worst—but also at its best.

It shows how easily money can buy favors in the nation's capital, how some representatives and senators pledged to work only for their constituents and for the nation as a whole can be persuaded to labor for the interests of the highest bidder.

On another level, the scandal shows the insidious effect of legalized gambling, an industry particularly susceptible to corruption because of the enormous profits involved and the fact that some of those profits can conveniently be converted to paper currency carried in a brief case. Much of the money being thrown about in this scandal by Lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his business partner, Michael Scanlon, came from Indian tribes and their backers who were trying to get into the gambling business.

Bad as the scandal is, though, we can be somewhat comforted to find that the enforcement mechanisms of the federal government have the independence and the backbone to pursue and prosecute crimes that may implicate very powerful people. Here is a pattern of bribes and payoffs that may reach into the offices of a dozen Congressmen and women, and their aides as well, and bring their power and prestige to an abrupt and unpleasant end. In many, many countries around the world, the powers-that-be would never let such an investigation proceed. Yet there's not a whisper here that the Abramoff investigation might be sidetracked or softpedaled or forgotten.

"This investigation continues … however long it takes, wherever it leads," Asst. Atty. Gen. Alice Fisher was quoted as saying yesterday. And top Administration officials, from the President on down, supported that line of thinking. Respect for the system remains strong, and is supported by a press that makes the scandal so public that few would dare to interfere with the prosecutors.

So far it appears that the Abramoff scandal will fall heaviest on Republicans in Congress. That doesn't mean, however, that Republicans are less ethical than Democrats. It means only that the Republicans have the power right now to make things happen.

Democrats may be just as willing to take bribes, but in this Congress, they can't deliver the goods.