The corrupt culture of government

The Courant's Kevin Rennie continues to tattoo Cheshire's Sen. Tom Gaffey.

As I've already posted here, here and here, Mr. Gaffey should be in some hotwater right now, but it seems as though few in Hartford are interested in protecting the public trust.

Don't believe me that nothing is happening? Even the WRA weighed in today in plain English, explaining the mindset in Hartford:

(Gaffey's) response to getting caught feathering his lover's bed was indignant and instructive:

"Jill is a state employee. ... State employees aren't lobbyists under the legal term of lobbyists." How Clintonian. Her job is to lobby lawmakers, but she is not "a lobbyist" under the Gaffey Gang's definition, so it's all "legal."

"We've got people in the administration who are married to lobbyists. We have legislators who are married to lobbyists. I never thought I had to explain who I'm dating." Sen. Gaffey is a creature of the corrupt culture of government, so it never occurred to him that reasonable people might think his leading the charge to shower his girlfriend's bosses with $950 million might be a conflict of interest requiring his recusal.

But this is the same culture that spawned the likes of Kevin B. Sullivan, who as Senate president pro tempore rewarded Trinity College for giving him a no-show job by funneling hundreds of millions in taxpayers' dollars to the school while his legislative colleagues looked the other way. But it must be said he didn't invent the quid pro quo; he just kicked it up a notch, and Sen. Gaffey has kicked it up another.

Not surprisingly, Democrats agree with the ethics office's assessment of Sen. Gaffey's conduct and relationship with a de facto lobbyist. To disagree would require them to admit the illegality of the multitude of votes they have cast for bills benefiting themselves, their employers, their campaign donors, their friends and relatives, and yes, their lovers.

CSU Chancellor David Carter Sr. and Gov. M. Jodi Rell apparently concur, too. Their silence says all you need to know about their desire to uphold ethics and morality in government.

But this all comes as no surprise. After all, just this year these stalwarts of good government have decided that driving drunk, witnessing a bribe and requesting the mob to "visit" someone are no big deal... oh wait... excuse me... since he resigned, I guess the legislature never really had the opportunity to opine on that one, right?

But on a serious note... do you think it's right that our legislators behave this way?

Remember though, before you just post an anonymous comment here... it's been estimated that only 5-10% of people read blogs... even the big ones like Drudge or HuffPo get only a few million visitors... out of a few hundred million Americans.

So please... let the world know your thoughts. I encourage you to write a LTTE and tell the world if this is appropriate behavior...

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Tim White