joshbaumgartner

It is not incidental that the sentiment that noone can be a career politician without going corrupt is so widespread. It that very sentiment that is pushed by the corrupted.

If integrity is rare in the field, then it is all the more important that we emphasize standards and act strongly to enforce them. There are polititians who have courage and honor and who act on them. They are by and large sidelined. The media doesn't get any ratings by reporting on honorable behaviour of representatives. When they do get press it is ridicule of their "extremist" positions--one who stands firm on principle must be an extremist, right?

I expect high standards of those who serve me at the high levels of the Federal Government. That I am routinely dissappointed by their actions is not going to cause me to lower my standards, but merely encourage me to be all the more insistant that those who seek such jobs meet those standards and are held accountable when they don't.

An excellent concern. Sting operations have their place, but in my view, they should only be used to target those which the police have specific reason to believe are already engaging in illegal activities. The purpose of the sting is to therefore verify that suspicion while collecting the evidence to that effect.

In the case of a bribery situation, if the police had collected reports, tips, or whatever to lead them to believe there was a significant chance that an individual was taking bribes, then yes, a sting may be warranted to try and replicate a similar opportunity, and see if indeed that person was going to participate. But if they don't have specific information that the person is actively involved in real bribery, they have no business setting up the sting.

I don't have enough details to say one way or the other in regard to the Jefferson case, so don't take any of this as an indication of my feelings on his case in particular. But in general, I share your concern about stings. I do want police to have tools to catch criminals, and am eager to see our law enforcement agencies tackling our government officials when they break the law. But at the same time, the purpose of law enforcement is to deter and prevent crime, not to encourage it just so they can arrest people.