A Good Look at the Dirty Politics in Richmond

Bill Howell: God of the House.

Jeff Shapiro, a superb political columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, takes a look today (here) at the Republican dirty tricks in the General Assembly during the past two weeks.

What has happened--the bribing of a sitting senator to quit his seat and the break-in of the governor's offices--must be illegal and if it isn't something is seriously wrong in the state capitol.

Shapiro's primary point is that the Republicans know how to play the game, staying just inside the boundaries of legality--though morality and ethics have absolutely nothing to do with their actions. Speaker of the House Bill Howell "is a God-fearing man who can bully others with God-like powers." That means he plays the dirty game with a lot of mud and complete impunity.

I think it's time to take Bill Howell and his ilk out of their positions of power and put people of morality and ethical strength in their place. Howell and those like him to not serve the people of Virginia. They serve themselves and their money managers.

(Photo: Washington Post.)