Free Republic

EVERY now and then, we get to see public officials wrestling with moral conundrums. This is one of those times, and it is a reminder of how political ethics can amount sometimes to an oxymoron. (Some would say the same of journalistic ethics, but let them get their own column.) Over the last few days, leading New York politicians have renounced contributions that they took — eagerly took, one might add — from businesses executives now caught up in corporate scandals. These political figures hoped to show high-mindedness. But if anything, their ethical parsing is a puzzlement. Consider a couple...