Congress Braces for a Storm

Ah, our elected officials, voted into office to supposedly look out for our interests as our representatives, are shaking in their shorts as Jack Abramoff, lobbyist extraordinaire, has agreed to testify for prosecutors. He has put in a plea of guilty to fraud charges and apparently is about to blow the whistle on some 20 members of Congress and top aides to congressional leaders, who allegedly accepted bribes from the lobbyist in order to gain votes on a variety of bills. According to initial reports, included in this group is Illinois' own Speaker of House Dennis Hastert. President Bush has just returned $6000 in campaign contributions from Abramoff, and I am sure this will be the trend the next few days as members on both sides of the aisle race to separate themselves from yet another Washington scandal. Much more to come, I'm sure, on this and other countless blogs over the next days and weeks. I suspect this will turn out to be a good thing as we have now entered an election year, as we the voters will have a chance to show our point of view and perhaps clean house a bit at the ballot box come November.