DISCLOSURE Heavens, I mentioned Commonwealth Edison, and I once billed a mess of time to them. Am I compromised now?

I've seen varying versions of this quote - allegedly the late California pol Jesse Unruh admonished young legislators about lobbyists thusly: "If you can't drink their booze, take their money, fool with their women and then vote against 'em, you don't belong in politics."


The issue here isn't money, it's integrity. Good grief, you'd think that money were the only possible motivator. Ideologies have done far more to cause problems (do you need a link for that?). But how long do you suppose it will be before journalists and others are expected to disclose their votes in Presidential elections, or their party affiliations?

If money is the only motivator, we're going about this Afghanistan thing all wrong. All we have to do is outbid Osama Bin Laden for his al Qaeda goons, and they'll come work for us instead. Right?