DUBIOUS DEFENSE

Speaking of the pot calling the kettle black! Even Dartboard was taken aback. Not only did recently re-elected Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, one of the ring leaders of the "keep campaign finance clean" cabal, get smacked with a fine of $300,000 and a reprimand imposed on him for ethics violations because he used tax-exempt funds to fund his own party, but also, he is now considering avoiding personal payment (and responsibility) by paying for that fine through the use of a legal defense fund.

Legal defense funds, as their name should indicate, are usually used to fund legal defense, i.e. lawyers. However, Newt seems to have mastered the "letter of the law" ethic--forget intention, abuse loopholes and take advantage of your position to get more money--so maybe this newest twist is only to be expected.

Still, Dartboard thinks it would be nice if the man who claims to represent the moral pulse of the nation would at least maintain a little bit of moral credibility. Or is that too much to ask of political leaders these days?