What this means to most people is that government is corrupt. It’s great for us to celebrate this, but in the end, it’s a sad testament to our government and political system. Fine to say Republican "Culture of Corruption," but instead of celebrating their mistakes we should offer a solid alternative of clean government and transparent operations.

Or, so says Scott Chacon, Dem running for the CA-11:

I am sad that, to a large degree, my side is focusing on this. They want comeuppance, and in my opinion, rightly so. However, it is not what the country needs, it will not improve politics. Dancing on the graves will only continue it’s downward spiral. Increased polarization, increased partisanship will be the ultimate results.

We are just harping on the “culture of corruption”, which I agree is there and needs to be addressed, but I don’t think we should just be pointing everybody at it and saying “at least we’re not them”. Rumor has it that the Democratic slogan for 2006 will be “America – Together, we can do better”.

Here’s a thought – maybe we should just BE better. Demonstrate we are not corrupt by introducing a bill or a website that obviously and dramatically increases government transparency. Open all our campaign books with real time disclosure. Make it obvious through action who is actually not corrupt, not just through finger pointing and repetition but through action. Let’s think differently, try to raise the bar a bit. What do you think? How can we be better?

"Fine to say Republican "Culture of Corruption," but instead of celebrating their mistakes we should offer a solid alternative of clean government and transparent operations"

Absolutely. Progressives and liberals can't run just against the "Culture of Corruption" or against a war mongering Bush. Didn't work in '04, won't work in '08. It's been said a million times, but the reason Democrats haven't been winning is that they haven't offered a robust, no-appology, progressive alternative.

However, one of the great things about this investigation is that it shows that, in our country, even if you're one of the most powerful people in the government, you can be held accountable.

Sure, not enough people in power have been held accountable over the past 25 years, but it shows that there still is the ability to do so.

If government is corrupt, if it doesn't work, then it's not going to work in your interest and you can't trust it. You might as well kill it.

Democrats do best when people trust government, or they believe that government can be a force of good. When people don't like government, they tend to vote Republican.

Fitzmas, if it contributes to an overall sense to disgust towards all government, will hurt Democrats way more than Republicans. If, on the other hand, we lay it squarely on the feet of Republicans and talk about how government should be, then we win.