OPINION:
How can Graham Platner, who might win the Democratic nomination for senator from Maine in Tuesday’s primary election, ever be seriously considered for such a job, given the amount of personal baggage he carries?
The answer is that we have so lowered our standards and think so little of our politicians that, as the saying used to go, anyone can grow up to be president or senator.
Mr. Platner has been accused of so many things that just one would have been enough to derail his candidacy in another era when character mattered. Today, power is all that appears to matter, and the way in which one achieves power seems less important than the objective.
Corrupt politicians are nothing new because everyone has a flawed human nature. Some control it, others do not. Just a few examples of those who did not exert self-control.
Randall “Duke” Cunningham, California Republican, is among those who did not. Cunningham was widely considered one of the most corrupt members of Congress in American history. Given the levels of indictable and nonindictable corruption within the profession, that is saying something. Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. The bribes included a yacht, a luxury mansion, private jet travel and expensive antiques.
The list is too long to name them all, but here are a few others. Corruption may be the last bipartisan activity in Washington.
William J. Jefferson, Louisiana Democrat, was convicted in 2009 on 11 federal corruption counts, including bribery and racketeering. FBI agents raided his home and discovered $90,000 in cash wrapped in aluminum foil, which he had hidden in his kitchen freezer.
James (“beam me up, Scotty”) Traficant, Ohio Democrat, was expelled from the House (a rarity) in 2002 after his conviction on 10 felony counts, including taking bribes, racketeering, tax evasion and forcing his congressional staff to perform manual labor on his private farm.
In the Senate, Bob Menendez, New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, was convicted on all counts of a massive federal bribery scheme. Federal agents discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a luxury vehicle and more than $100,000 worth of solid gold bars hidden in his home. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison in January 2025.
In the late 1980s, five sitting U.S. senators — Alan Cranston, California Democrat; Dennis DeConcini, Arizona Democrat; Donald Riegle, Michigan Democrat; John Glenn, Ohio Democrat; and John McCain, Arizona Republican — intervened with federal bank regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, a corrupt savings and loan executive. Keating had gifted the senators more than $1.3 million in campaign contributions. The subsequent collapse of his bank left thousands of investors penniless and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
To demonstrate that corruption is not a modern phenomenon, William A. Clark, Montana Democrat and a 19th-century copper tycoon, literally bought his way into the U.S. Senate in 1899 by directly bribing Montana state legislators with envelopes of cash. The Senate refused to seat him, prompting Clark to declare, “I never bought a man who wasn’t for sale.” A profound line and one every member of Congress should put over his or her office door.
John Hipple Mitchell, Oregon Republican, was a sitting U.S. senator when he was indicted and convicted in 1905 for his involvement in the Oregon Land Fraud Scandal. He used his legislative influence to help a syndicate illegally seize thousands of acres of public federal land for private speculation.
Bipartisan committees have been established in the House and Senate to address such behavior, but members intent on gaming the system for personal and professional gain will not be deterred by ethics committees. If you do not subscribe to a high code of ethics before coming to Congress, then you are not likely to develop one when you get there.
An Article 5 Convention of States with term limits and a balanced budget would help rein in corruption. If Maine voters elect Graham Platner, it may be coming sooner than anyone expects.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).
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